Period: Early Paleolithic (c. 500.000-250.000 BC)

Project title: Chopping, scraping and splitting: Working wood, bone and antler with a lower Paleolithic Clactonian tool kit

Researcher: Hannah Fluck, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

E-mail: hlf(at)soton.ac.uk

Year: 2006

Abstract:

The traces after the predecessor of modern man, Homo Erectus, are limited. At a few sites in England and Germany, flint tools and worked organics material (wood, antler and bone) have been found. We do not know much about how the tools were actually used and therefore practical experiments were undertaken using a reconstruction of a basic flake-tool tool kit typical of the sites of Clacton and Swanscombe, England. The tools were used for a range of tasks on a variety of materials. Through the experiments, a better understanding of the tools were obtained and thereby also a glimpse of the early period of the human history.

The investigation focused on how useful different artefact types were in working wood, bone and antler. Generally speaking the simplest artefact types were the best with the unreworked flakes ideal for wood whittling, disjointing bone, good for cutting antler and useable for cutting wood. Unretouched notches were excellent for whittling wood – slightly more stable than unretouched flakes. Flakes with denticulated retouch were best for cutting wood and antler.

The woodworking experiments found that the most effective way to work hardwood (in this case yew) was a combination of fire and unretouched flakes to cut off the carbonised wood. A ‘spear tip’ similar to that found at Clacton, England was made in less than an hour where previous experimenters working the wood without fire had taken more than twice as long.

This experiment supports the idea that the simplest stone tools, including flakes which are often not seen as tools at all, make an extremely flexible and efficient toolkit.

Reference number: HAF 03/06