How sapiens were Neanderthals?: Very. new info (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, May 08, 2020, 23:42 (1451 days ago) @ David Turell

They selected only certain bones for scrapping leather:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200508112856.htm

"The Neanderthals left behind a tool called a lissoir, a piece of animal rib with a smoothed tip used to rub animal hides to make them into leather. These lissoirs are often worn so smooth that it's impossible to tell which animal they came from just by looking at them.

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"The results show that the bones used to make lissoirs mostly came from animals in the cattle family, such as bison or aurochs (a wild relative of modern cattle that is now extinct). But other animal bones from the same deposit show that reindeer were much more common and frequently hunted for food. So the Neanderthals were choosing to use only ribs from certain types of animals to make these tools.

"'I think this shows that Neanderthals really knew what they were doing," Martisius said.

"'They were deliberately picking up these larger ribs when they happened to come across these animals while hunting and they may have even kept these rib tools for a long time, like we would with a favorite wrench or screwdriver."

"Bovine ribs are bigger and more rigid than deer ribs, making them better suited for the hard work of rubbing skins without wearing out or breaking.

"'Neanderthals knew that for a specific task, they needed a very particular tool. They found what worked best and sought it out when it was available," Martisius said."

Comment: They have to be thinking smartly to make the choices they did