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A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco

A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco

Authors :
Emily Y. Hallett
Curtis W. Marean
Teresa E. Steele
Esteban Álvarez-Fernández
Zenobia Jacobs
Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni
Vera Aldeias
Eleanor M.L. Scerri
Deborah I. Olszewski
Mohamed Abdeljalil El Hajraoui
Harold L. Dibble
Source :
iScience, Vol 24, Iss 9, Pp 102988- (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Elsevier, 2021.

Abstract

Summary: The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal ornamentation, new tool forms, and regional technological traditions are widely recognized as the earliest indicators of complex culture and cognition in humans. Here we describe a bone tool tradition from Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, dated between 120,000–90,000 years ago. The bone tools were produced for different activities, including likely leather and fur working, and were found in association with carnivore remains that were possibly skinned for fur. A cetacean tooth tip bears what is likely a combination of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic modification and shows the use of a marine mammal tooth by early humans. The evidence from Contrebandiers Cave demonstrates that the pan-African emergence of complex culture included the use of multiple and diverse materials for specialized tool manufacture.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
25890042
Volume :
24
Issue :
9
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
iScience
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.bd918fc64cd148fc99ec28ea2234c519
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102988