Extinct rhino teeth found in Spain and France were likely used to shape stone tools
Neanderthals may have had an unexpected tool in their kit: rhinoceros teeth.
Markings on fossil rhino teeth found in caves in France and Spain suggest they were once used as versatile, sturdy tools. A new study reveals that these ancient hominids used the massive molars to shape stone tools and process all kinds of materials, such as plant fibers or hides.
Rhinos no longer live in the wild in Europe. But around 100,000 years ago, Neanderthals coexisted with several species, including the narrow-nosed rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus). The new research, published in May Journal of Human Evolutionsuggests that rhinoceros teeth were versatile tools that these hominids used for various purposes, exploiting their hardness, robustness and durability.
Archaeologists have long known that Neanderthals used animal remains such as bones and antlers as hammers or retouchers. to keep their stone tools sharpbut few studies have looked at teeth. Intrigued by several teeth bearing unexpected marks, Alicia Sanz-Royo and her colleagues studied a dozen archaeological sites in France and Spain. At El Castillo in Spain and Pech-de-l’Azé II in France, they found teeth with grooves, notches, slide marks and scrapes, suggesting repeated blows. Microscopic analysis of the teeth showed that these marks were not caused by chewing or other natural damage, before or after death.
Using modern rhino teeth from zoological reserves, the researchers reconstructed tasks that Neanderthals might have performed regularly, such as using the teeth as hammers to carve stone tools and as anvils to cut plant fibers and leather. The experiments damaged modern teeth in patterns very similar to the damage seen in fossils.
