A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco
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
Affiliations
Emily Y. Hallett
Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany; Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; Corresponding author
Curtis W. Marean
Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape 6031, South Africa
Teresa E. Steele
Department of Anthropology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Esteban Álvarez-Fernández
GIR PREHUSAL, Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Salamanca, 37002 Salamanca, Spain
Zenobia Jacobs
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni
Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
Vera Aldeias
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Eleanor M.L. Scerri
Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
Deborah I. Olszewski
Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Mohamed Abdeljalil El Hajraoui
Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, 10001 Rabat, Morocco
Harold L. Dibble
Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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.
