H2020Индивидуална стипендия2017–2021

TIP-N-POINT · Middle Palaeolithic projectile weapon TIPs: a regional and assemblage scale perspective on Neanderthal POINT technologies across Europe

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2017-11-01 → 2021-11-30
Финансиране от ЕС: 171 461 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-CAR

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Каменните върхове на копия от средния палеолит се анализират в контекста на целия набор от инструменти, използвани от неандерталците. Това помага да се разберат техните ловни стратегии, както и техническите и когнитивни способности на хоминините.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Middle Palaeolithic projectile weapon TIPs: a regional and assemblage scale perspective on Neanderthal POINT technologies across Europe

Identifying the origin and widespread use of projectile technologies, one of the most significant technological innovations in human evolution, remains a key challenge of Palaeolithic archaeology. Reconstructions of early weapon technologies do not only allow assessing past hunting strategies, but also the technical and cognitive capacities of Palaeolithic hominins. In this framework, the appearance of stone-tipped spears has been described as a tipping point in human evolution, facilitating an important advancement in prey acquisition through distance hunting. The exact timing of the appearance and subsequent spread of hafted hunting weapons remains a point of contention, but claims for Neanderthal projectile technologies are frequent. Neanderthals occupied large parts of Europe and western Asia from ca. 300,000 to 40,000 years ago (a period known as the Middle Palaeolithic (MP)). Across this large spatio-temporal range thousands of find spots with stone tools and animal bones have been recovered. Recent zooarchaeological studies and isotope analyses continue to demonstrate that Neanderthals were skilled hunters, with a hunting strategy targeted on prime aged large and medium sized animals. Due to unfavourable preservation conditions remains of organic spears and hafts from Palaeolithic contexts are sparse. Hence, recognising Neanderthal hunting technologies is reliant upon the identification of lithic weapon tips in the archaeological record. So far the predominant focus has been on in-depth analyses of individual points to assess their specific use as a weapon tip. Conversely, TIP-N-POINT aims to contextualise pointed elements within the framework of the entire stone tool assemblage, assessing characteristics used to imply projectile use or hafting across both pointed and non-pointed blanks. TIP-N-POINT further aimed to integrate datasets from various disciplines (zooarchaeology, lithic analysis, dating methods, biomolecular approaches) to provide an enhanced perspective on Neanderthal hunting practices.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Stone-tipped hunting weapons are an important marker of the technical and cognitive capacities of Palaeolithic hominins and represent a crucial tipping point in human behavioural evolution. Neanderthals were skilled hunters, as indicated by zooarchaeological and isotope analyses, but preserved remains of organic spears are sparse and potential lithic weapon tips are not ubiquitously present during the Middle Palaeolithic (MP, ca.300,000-40,000BP). Unravelling this enigma and reconstructing the technology underlying MP hunting events is one of the key challenges in studies of Neanderthal behaviour.Securely identifying hafted weapon tips is complex and past analyses of MP points have mainly focused on individual artefacts, their morphometric characteristics, use-wear and residue traces. Conversely, studies that contextualise MP points at an assemblage level, cross comparing various blank and tool types, are sparse, especially for the European record, even though they are key to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of point shapes in the Neanderthal tool kit.TIP-N-POINT fills this current research gap by bridging review and primary assemblage level data across Europe, providing a much needed data-driven perspective on Neanderthal hunting. At its centre stands the timely application of a suite of state-of-the-art analytical tools, including geometric morphometrics, GIS edge damage mapping and quantitative approaches (incl. generalised linear modelling). As a result, TIP-N-POINT will significantly advance methods in Palaeolithic archaeology and knowledge on Neanderthal behaviour as well as enhance the skill portfolio of the applicant. Necessary training and expertise are exclusively available at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Germany) and TIP-N-POINT will contribute to the research profile of this world leader in human evolution by forging new transnational collaborations and establishing border-crossing European research excellence.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENКоординаторГермания