When you imagine about Neanderthals , “ master crafters ” probably is n’t the condition that comes to beware . But our patrimonial cousins arenothing if not surprising – and , concord to a raw study out of the University of Wollongong , their power to finely hone Harlan Stone tool is just one of many thing we ’ve fuck off wrong .
Go back 200,000 to 400,000 years , to whenour Neanderthal ancestorswere kicking about , and the latest in manufacture engineering was a method now lie with as Levallois . essentially , you take a piece of stone , bash it into a special embodiment , and then get to knapping .
If you make that particular shape properly – it should look a little like a tortoise shell – then everything you cut off off will be a nice , operable tool already . It ’s an clever method acting , really , which is why even before now it was seen as a sign of some pretty impressive intelligence on the Neanderthals ’ part .
The experimental setup.Image credit: Lin et al., Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 2025 (CC BY 4.0); modified by IFLScience
“ [ T]he structured reduction pattern of the Levallois method is commonly attributed to more advanced cognitive abilities among hominin toolmaker , ” the new report explain , “ involving foresight , planning and long - term memory to execute a ‘ grammar - similar ’ action sequence . ”
“ Some research worker [ have ] argued that the uniform geomorphology of Levallois artefacts further signal the presence of linguistic and active instruction content among hominin toolmaker , ” the investigator add .
But there ’s always been a limit to how much credit we ’ve given them . The Levallois proficiency may be smart , but it ’s never been considered as entirely under those ancient crafters ’ control . The frame and sizes of the death products – those short arrow heads , knives , scrapers , and classify othertoolsthat made Middle Paleolithic life so much well-fixed – were , ultimately , a consequence of the core , rather than the knapping .
In other words : lie with up the preparation of that initial stone , and no amount of clever honing will unsex what comes off it .
But the raw study seems to negate this idea . By 3D printing soda - lime glass cores – their design was based on a real flint - knapped Levallois nucleus – the researchers were able-bodied to show by unmediated experimentation that , in fact , the angle at which the Levallois core is struck plays a much grownup part in determining the answer than antecedently take over .
“ The results [ … ] demonstrat[e ] a clear consequence of pound AOB [ angle of gust ] on the morphology and fracture trajectory of Levallois flakes , ” the team describe . “ Our findings are logical with those of previous experimental studies , testify that when core morphology and platform configuration are carry unceasing , strike a Levallois nitty-gritty more perpendicularly , at a lower AOB , produces larger and heavier flakes compared to those strike at a more devious AOB . ”
Not only does this force us to rethink how Neanderthals approachedtoolmaking – and , by extension , how much more cognitive control our ascendant possess than we previously retrieve – but it also clears up a few mysteries surrounding Levallois artefacts . “ old survey have mark that discriminatory Levallois scrap lean to have more equally distributed thickness and more obtuse edge angles than non - preferential flakes , ” the squad take down . “ The core of AOB observed here may wreak a role in explaining this variation . ”
So , while more research is needed to investigate precisely how and why the slant of blow can affect tool production , one thing is for sure : our Neanderthalian ancestors likely were , in every sense , sharper than we incline to accept .
The field of study is bring out in the journalArchaeological and Anthropological Sciences .
