Handaxe Design Study Reveals Two Distinct Neanderthal Cultures

Posted on August 20, 2013

A University of Southampton study has found that there were at least two distinct Neanderthal cultures living in what is now northern Europe between 115,000 to 35,000 years ago. Dr. Karen Ruebens from the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO) examined the design of 1,300 stone tools originating from 80 Neanderthal sites in five European countries.

Dr. Ruebens uncovered new evidence that two separate handaxe traditions or designs existed. One of the handaxe designs came from a region now spanning south-western France and Britain. The other handaxe design was further to the east in what is now Germany. Dr. Ruebens also found an area covering modern day Belgium and the Netherlands that demonstrates a transition between the two. Neanderthals in the western region made symmetrical, triangular and heart-shaped handaxes, while during the same time period, in the eastern region, they made asymmetrically shaped bifacial knives.

Dr. Rubens says in a release, "In Germany and France there appears to be two separate handaxe traditions, with clear boundaries, indicating completely separate, independent developments. The transition zone in Belgium and Northern France indicates contact between the different groups of Neanderthals, which is generally difficult to identify but has been much talked about, especially in relation to later contacts with groups of modern humans. This area can be seen as a melting pot of ideas where mobile groups of Neanderthals, both from the eastern and western tradition, would pass by - influencing each other's designs and leaving behind a more varied record of bifacial tools."

A research paper was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

ARCHAEOLOGY