The wooden artifacts from Schöningen's Spear Horizon and their place in human evolution

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Leder, Dirk; Lehmann, Jens; Milks, Annemieke; Koddenberg, Tim; Sietz, Michael; Vogel, Matthias; Boehner, Utz; Ae, Thomas Terberger
• 署名单位: University of Reading; University of Gottingen; University of Gottingen
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10275
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2320484121
• 发表日期: 2024-04-09
• 关键词: use-wear; TECHNOLOGY; schoningen; tools; site; pleistocene; assemblage; culture; residue; weapons

摘要

Ethnographic records show that wooden tools played a pivotal role in the daily lives of hunter- gatherers including food procurement tools used in hunting (e.g., spears, throwing sticks) and gathering (e.g. digging sticks, bark peelers), as well as, domestic tools (e.g., handles, vessels). However, wood rarely survives in the archeological record, especially in Pleistocene contexts and knowledge of prehistoric hunter- gatherer lifeways is strongly biased by the survivorship of more resilient materials such as lithics and bones. Consequently, very few Paleolithic sites have produced wooden artifacts and among them, the site of Schoningen stands out due to its number and variety of wooden tools. The recovery of complete wooden spears and throwing sticks at this 300,000 - y - old site (MIS 9) led to a paradigm shift in the hunter vs. scavenger debate. For the first time and almost 30 y after their discovery, this study introduces the complete wooden assemblage from Schoningen 13 II - 4 known as the Spear Horizon. In total, 187 wooden artifacts could be identified from the Spear Horizon demonstrating a broad spectrum of wood- working techniques, including the splitting technique. A minimum of 20 hunting weapons is now recognized and two newly identified artifact types comprise 35 tools made on split woods, which were likely used in domestic activities. Schoningen 13 II - 4 represents the largest Pleistocene wooden artifact assemblage worldwide and demonstrates the key role woodworking had in human evolution. Finally, our results considerably change the interpretation of the Pleistocene lakeshore site of Schoningen.