TY - JOUR
T1 - A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco
AU - Hallett, Emily Y.
AU - Marean, Curtis W.
AU - Steele, Teresa E.
AU - Álvarez-Fernández, Esteban
AU - Jacobs, Zenobia
AU - Cerasoni, Jacopo Niccolò
AU - Aldeias, Vera
AU - Scerri, Eleanor M.L.
AU - Olszewski, Deborah I.
AU - El Hajraoui, Mohamed Abdeljalil
AU - Dibble, Harold L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The project at Contrebandiers Cave is a joint Moroccan-American project under the auspices of the Moroccan Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP). We thank A. Akerraz and A. Oujaa (INSAP) for their hospitality and access to collections. B. Bougariane (Université Moulay Ismail) provided access to personally collected comparative faunal skeletons. The Institute of Human Origins (IHO) at Arizona State University (ASU) provided access to photographic equipment and imaging software, and E. Fisher (IHO, ASU) aided with imaging methods and software. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (grant BCS-1251354 to C.W.M. and E.Y.H.), the University of Salamanca (grant to E.A.F.), the Institute of Human Origins (fellowship and travel grant to E.Y.H.), a John Templeton Foundation grant to the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (travel grant, research award, Dean's Advanced Scholarship to E.Y.H. and Arizona State University (Graduate Fellowship to E.Y.H.). Funding for the excavation of the site came from the National Science Foundation (grant BCS-0935491 to H.L.D.), the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project grants DP0666084 to Z.J. and DP1092843 to Z.J. and H.L.D.), the Leakey Foundation (to D.I.O), the National Geographic Society (to H.L.D.), and the University Research Foundation of the University of Pennsylvania (to H.L.D.). E.Y.H. conceived and performed the study and wrote initial drafts of the paper; T.E.S. provided comparative bone tool data and background research; Z.J. performed OSL dating and analyses of the site, and wrote the ages portion of this paper; E.Y.H. T.E.S. and E.A.F. identified, analyzed and interpreted the function of the bone tools; V.A. studied the stratigraphy and geology of the site; H.L.D. and M.E.H. are the project and excavation co-directors and permit holders; H.L.D. contributed to excavation methodology and stone tool studies; D.I.O. contributed to the stone tool studies; M.E.H. contributed to bone tool studies and Moroccan prehistory; E.Y.H. C.W.M. and E.M.L.S. took the lead in contextualizing results and writing the paper; J.N.C. and E.Y.H. created the figures and revised the main text. All authors contributed to the writing of this paper. The authors declare no competing interests. One or more of the authors of this paper received support from a program designed to increase minority representation in science. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote gender balance in our reference list. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location where the research was conducted who participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.
Funding Information:
The project at Contrebandiers Cave is a joint Moroccan-American project under the auspices of the Moroccan Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP). We thank A. Akerraz and A. Oujaa (INSAP) for their hospitality and access to collections. B. Bougariane (Université Moulay Ismail) provided access to personally collected comparative faunal skeletons. The Institute of Human Origins (IHO) at Arizona State University (ASU) provided access to photographic equipment and imaging software, and E. Fisher (IHO, ASU) aided with imaging methods and software. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (grant BCS-1251354 to C.W.M. and E.Y.H.), the University of Salamanca (grant to E.A.F.), the Institute of Human Origins (fellowship and travel grant to E.Y.H.), a John Templeton Foundation grant to the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University , the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (travel grant, research award, Dean's Advanced Scholarship to E.Y.H. and Arizona State University (Graduate Fellowship to E.Y.H.). Funding for the excavation of the site came from the National Science Foundation (grant BCS-0935491 to H.L.D.), the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project grants DP0666084 to Z.J. and DP1092843 to Z.J. and H.L.D.), the Leakey Foundation (to D.I.O), the National Geographic Society (to H.L.D.), and the University Research Foundation of the University of Pennsylvania (to H.L.D.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/9/24
Y1 - 2021/9/24
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Anthropology
KW - Biological sciences
KW - Evolutionary biology
KW - Evolutionary processes
KW - Paleobiology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121031223&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85121031223&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102988
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102988
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121031223
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 24
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 9
M1 - 102988
ER -