Bone tool

Bifacial points, engraved ochre and bone tools from the c. 75 -80 000 year old M1 & M2 phases at Blombos cave (Image by Henning: Permission Chris Henshilwood)

Bone tools have been documented from the advent of Homo sapiens and are also known from Homo neanderthalensis contexts or even earlier. Bone has been used for making tools by virtually all hunter-gatherer societies, even when other materials were readily available. Any part of the skeleton can potentially be utilized; however, antlers and long bones provide some of the best working material. Long bone fragments can be shaped, by scraping against an abrasive stone, into such items as arrow and spear points, needles, awls, and fish hooks.

As an organic material, bone often does not survive in a way that is archaeologically recoverable. However, under the right conditions, bone tools do sometimes survive and many have been recovered from locations around the world representing time periods throughout history and prehistory. Also many examples have been collected ethnographically, and some traditional peoples, as well as experimental archaeologists, continue to use bone to make tools.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution (when machine mass production of sharp tools became viable), many everyday tools such as needles were made from bone; such items continue to be valued today as antiques.

Bone folders are still used by bookbinders.

References

• Backwell, L. et d'Errico, F. (2004) - « The first use of bone tools: a reappraisal of the evidence from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania », Palaeontologia africana, 40, pp. 89-152.
• Baffier, D. et Julien, M. (1990) - « L'outillage en os des niveaux châtelperroniens d'Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne) », in: Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe, Colloque international de Nemours (9-11 mai 1988), Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire d'Ile-de-France, 3, pp. 329-334.
• Biddittu, I. et Celletti, P. (2001) - « Plio-Pleistocene Proboscidea and Lower Palaeolithic bone industry of southern Latium (Italy) », in: La Terra degli Elefanti - The World of Elephants, Cavaretta, G., Gioia, P., Mussi, M. et Palombo, M.R., (Éds.), Actes du Ier Congrès International, Roma, 16-20 oct. 2001, pp. 91-96.
• d'Errico, F. et Backwell, L. (2003) - « Possible evidence of bone tool shaping by Swartkrans early hominids », Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 30, 12, pp. 1559-1576.
• d'Errico, F. et Henshilwood, C.S. (2007) - « Additional evidence for bone technology in the southern African Middle Stone Age », Journal of Human Evolution, 52, 2, pp. 142-163.
• d'Errico, F., Zilhão, J., Baffier, D., Julien, M. et Pelegrin, J. (1998) - « Neanderthal acculturation in Western Europe? A critical review of the evidence and its interpretation », Current Anthropology, 39, pp. 1-44.
• Henshilwood, C.S., d'Errico, F., Marean, C.W., Milo, R.G. et Yates, R. (2001) - « An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa : implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language », Journal of Human Evolution, 41, pp. 631-678.

See also

• Blombos Cave