About 30,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers left behind what could become a “personal toolkit” in the present Czech Republic, new research finds.
Researchers discovered an extraordinary cluster of artifacts during an excavation at the Paleolithic site of Milovice IV in 2021. The “kit” includes 29 stone blades and blades that are chunked together. The nature of the discovery shows that tools were bundled when deposited in a container or case made from rotten material, perhaps, according to a study published in the Paleolithic Journal on August 13th.
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The discovery offers a prominent glimpse into the lives of hunter-gatherers from the Paleostone age, spanning around 3.3 million years and over 10,000 years ago.
Artifacts can highlight episodes of one person’s life. This was “very rare” for researchers at Paleolithic author Dominique Cirachura, a researcher at the Archaeological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, he told Live Science in an email.
Furthermore, discoveries could shed light on the behavior of prehistoric people during migration and hunting trips.
Stone Age Site
The Milovice IV site, where the artifacts were found, provides evidence of human activity over thousands of years of the Paleolithic age. However, studies have shown that the specific archaeological strata in which the cluster was recovered represents a “relatively narrow time span” of human occupations around 30, 250 to 29, and 550 years ago.
Evidence from the layers indicates that Paleolithic humans may have used the site to use activities such as camping, tools, and butcher animals. However, it remains unclear whether such activities occurred during a single occupation or in several consecutive episodes.
If we found artifacts in the proposed Hunter Toolkit to be isolated, they would not have stood out from other discarded or worn artifacts commonly found on the Mirovice IV site. “It’s a context that makes them interesting,” Chlachula said.
Analysis of tools and their wear traces revealed that they are being used in a variety of ways. Although some tentative evidence of its use as a projectile, others may have been employed for cutting, scraping and excavation. The study suggests that the tool, according to the study, may be used for activities such as meat, animal skin and wood treatment.
“It can be argued that clusters are related to hunting expeditions, the first slaughter of the game, and perhaps tasks performed based on weapon maintenance or exploitation of woody plant resources,” the author wrote in his paper.
The latest discoveries are related to the prehistoric culture of Greitten, which existed in Europe about 33,000 years ago, and have stuck to different variants for thousands of years. They were known for hunting mammoths, living with dogs, and likely using spear throws and bows.
“Their economy was based on hunting and gathering, but they developed complex cultural, technical and social behaviors with long distance connections,” Chlachula said.
Stone Age Quiz: What do you know about the Paleostemic, Mesosonic, and Neostemic Ages?
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