Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

Abstract

Excavations for the construction of thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Tuscany, central Italy) exposed a series of wooden tools in an open-air stratified site referable to late Middle Pleistocene. The wooden artifacts were uncovered, together with stone tools and fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Paleoloxodon antiquus The site is radiometrically dated to around 171,000 y B.P., and hence correlated with the early marine isotope stage 6 [Benvenuti M, et al. (2017) Quat Res 88:327-344]. The sticks, all fragmentary, are made from boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and were over 1 m long, rounded at one end and pointed at the other. They have been partially charred, possibly to lessen the labor of scraping boxwood, using a technique so far not documented at the time. The wooden artifacts have the size and features of multipurpose tools known as "digging sticks," which are quite commonly used by foragers. This discovery from Poggetti Vecchi provides evidence of the processing and use of wood by early Neanderthals, showing their ability to use fire in tool making from very tough wood.

Keywords: boxwood; charring; digging stick; early Middle Paleolithic.

Fig. 1.

Poggetti Vecchi, U 2: details of the paleosurface divided by an erosion channel. The spatial distribution of wooden tools is shown; those charred are shown in black, those not charred are shown in red, and all of the other findings are shown in gray.

Fig. 2.

Poggetti Vecchi wooden tool drawings (charred parts are shown in red, blue spots indicate measurements of film thickness) and photographs. Handles: no. 2 (A), no. 9 (B), no. 50 (C), and no. 18 (D). Pointed tips: no. 55 (E), no. 41 (F), and no. 3+28 (G).

Fig. 3.

(A) SEM image of the cross-section of the charred outer layer of one (49b) of the Poggetti Vecchi sticks made from B. sempervirens. The anatomical structure of boxwood is unchanged; however, with respect to fresh wood, the cell walls of its fibers and vessels are thinner, homogeneous, and compact despite the handmade fracture surface. This is the typical aspect of charred wood at SEM. (B) Removal of a splinter starting from the tip of point no. 3+28. (C) Notch on the tip of point no. 41. (D) Detail of handle no. 2. (E) Detail of handle no. 50. (F) Detail of flattened knot of stick no. 9. (G) Scratches on stick no. 14. (H) Cut marks on stick no. 2. (I) Cut marks located in the area of the knot on stick 33.