Jordi Serangeli

On the evidence for human use and control of fire at Schöningen

When and how humans began to control fire has been a central debate in Paleolithic archaeology for decades. Fire plays an important role in technology, social organization, subsistence, and manipulation of the environment and is widely seen as a necessary adaptation for the colonization of northern latitudes. Many researchers view purported hearths, burnt wooden implements, and heated flints from Schöningen as providing the best evidence for the control of fire in the Lower Paleolithic of Northern Europe. Here we present results of a multianalytical study of the purported hearths along with a critical examination of other possible evidence of human use or control of fire at Schöningen. We conclude that the analyzed features and artifacts present no convincing evidence for human use or control of fire. Our study also shows that a multianalytical, micro-contextual approach is the best methodology for evaluating claims of early evidence of human-controlled fire. We advise caution with macroscopic, qualitative identification of combustion features, burnt flint, and burnt wood without the application of such techniques as micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, organic petrology, luminescence, and analysis of mineral magnetic parameters. The lack of evidence for the human control of fire at Schöningen raises the possibility that fire control was not a necessary adaptation for the human settlement of northern latitudes in the Lower Paleolithic.

Investigation of equid paleodiet from Schöningen 13 II-4 through dental wear and isotopic analyses: Archaeological implications

The paleodietary traits of the equid population from Schöningen 13 II-4 were investigated through tooth mesowear and microwear analyses, as well as stable isotopic analyses. The mesowear pattern observed on the upper teeth indicates a low abrasion diet with a significant amount of browse in the diet of the horses. The tooth microwear analysis and the isotopic data confirm that the horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 were mixed feeders, like many populations from other Pleistocene localities in Northern and Eastern Europe. Microwear also provides information on seasonal changes in the diet of the horses and offers the possibility to test hypotheses about the presence of one or several horse populations. Our analysis determined that the assemblage of horse remains from Schöningen 13 II-4 resulted from multiple accumulation events, which took place at different periods of time.

Residue and microwear analyses of the stone artifacts from Schöningen.

Stone artifacts from Schöningen 12 and 13 were examined microscopically to identify residues, wear, and manufacturing traces in order to clarify their possible anthropogenic origins and their function. We present evidence showing that the stone tools were used for working wood and hide and for cutting meat. The results from the use-wear and residue analyses proved complementary in several instances. Suggestive evidence of hafting was observed on a few pieces, which is particularly interesting given the identification of wooden hafts at the site. The positive results of this analysis demonstrate the efficacy and potential of these techniques for Lower Paleolithic sites such as Schöningen.

The European saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens) found in the “Spear Horizon” at Schöningen (Germany)

The 300,000 year old Lower Paleolithic site Schöningen 13 II-4 became world famous with the discovery of the oldest well-preserved and complete wooden spears. Through ongoing excavations, new archaeological discoveries of scientific importance are still being made from the same archaeological layer where the spears were found. In this context, remains of a rare carnivore species, the European saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens), were recovered. Here we present five teeth and one humerus fragment that are unambiguously from two individual saber-toothed cats. The humerus is a unique specimen; it shows evidence of hominin impacts and use as a percussor. The Homotherium remains from Schöningen are the best documented finds of this species in an archaeological setting and they are amongst the youngest specimens of Homotherium in Europe. The presence of this species as a carnivore competitor would certainly have impacted the lives of late Middle Pleistocene hominins. The discovery illustrates the possible day-to-day challenges that the Schöningen hominins would have faced and suggests that the wooden spears were not necessarily only used for hunting, but possibly also as a weapon for self-defense.

The Middle Pleistocene tunnel valley at Schöningen as a Paleolithic archive

Schöningen represents one of the key sites for Lower Paleolithic archaeology in central Europe, where a Middle to Late Pleistocene sedimentary succession, locally up to 45 m thick, has been preserved in an Elsterian tunnel valley. After deglaciation, the tunnel valley remained underfilled and provided the accommodation space for Holsteinian interglacial deposition and also kept the artifact-bearing strata below base level for subsequent erosion. The Holsteinian (MIS 9) succession consists of laterally and vertically stacked lacustrine delta systems, which were controlled by repeated lake-level changes. In the face of changing climatic and environmental conditions the long-lived interglacial lake provided an attractive site for animals and early humans. Artifacts were deposited on the subaerial delta plain and became embedded during lake-level rise. Although the area was considerably affected by erosion and glacitectonic deformation during the subsequent Saalian glaciation, the artifact-bearing Holsteinian strata were preserved in the deeper part of the tunnel valley. Tunnel valleys should be regarded as potential archives for interglacial deposits, which may contain important Paleolithic sites. Tunnel valleys may provide accommodation space and also have a high preservation potential. Interglacial lakes situated within underfilled tunnel valleys represented attractive sites for animals and early human hunter-gatherers.

A new approach for deciphering between single and multiple accumulation events using intra-tooth isotopic variations: Application to the Middle Pleistocene bone bed of Schöningen 13 II-4

It is often difficult to differentiate between archaeological bonebeds formed by one event such as a mass kill of a single herd, and those formed by multiple events that occurred over a longer period of time. The application of high temporal resolution studies such as intra-tooth isotopic profiles on archaeological mammal cohorts offers new possibilities for exploring this issue, allowing investigators to decipher between single and multiple accumulation events. We examined (18)O and (13)C isotopic variations from the enamel carbonate of 23 horse third molars from the Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Schöningen. We employed a new approach to investigate processes of fossil accumulation that uses both bulk and intra-tooth isotopic variations and takes into account animal behavior, age at death and dental development to test the degree of isotopic affinity of animals from the same fossil assemblage. Oxygen and carbon isotope bulk values indicate that the horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 experienced relatively similar climatic and dietary regimes. Inter-individual differences of the bulk values of the horses sampled in the current study present nevertheless inter-individual variability similar to individuals from multi-layered localities. In addition, the intra-tooth isotopic variation of specimens of the same age at death seems to indicate that the studied cohort corresponds to a mix of individuals that recorded both similar and different isotopic histories. Finally, the conditions recorded in the isotopic signal shortly before death (i.e., for teeth not fully mineralized) varied between sampled individuals, suggesting possible differences in the seasonality of death. Considering those results, we discuss the possibility that the horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 correspond to an accumulation of different death events.

The behavioral and cultural stratigraphic contexts of the lithic assemblages from Schöningen.

Within the various archaeological horizons in Schöningen, the presence of hominins is repeatedly demonstrated by the recovery of stone artifacts, broken bones, and bones with cut marks. The Spear Horizon, 13 II-4, with its ca. 1500 stone artifacts and ca. 12,000 faunal remains, represents by far the richest archaeological layers in Schöningen. Systematic waterscreening over a period of 15 years has fostered the recovery of numerous small flakes that otherwise would have remained undetected. Based on the stone artifacts published by H. Thieme and the lithic artifacts recovered from the ongoing excavations of the University of Tübingen and the Archaeological Heritage Office of Lower Saxony since 2008, we present here the main aspects of these lithic assemblages. The main features of the lithic assemblages recovered from the different find horizons and concentrations provide a consistent signature, suggesting a robust and repetitive technological strategy. The assemblages, which are made of local, high quality flint, lack handaxes and are clearly not related to the Acheulean. Intensely retouched scrapers, as well as denticulates, notched pieces, and points on thick flakes, angular debris, and non-anthropogenic thermal spalls are the most numerous retouched forms. The assemblages also contain a smaller number of thinner forms. Reduction sequences are short and Levallois technology is absent. Although some of the retouched forms are reminiscent of the Middle Paleolithic, the relatively non-standardized short reduction sequences technically oriented toward the production of thick and broad flakes are consistent with a classification in the late Lower Paleolithic.

The Spear Horizon: First spatial analysis of the Schoningen site 13 II-4

The Spear Horizon (Schöningen 13 II-4) from Schöningen, Lower Saxony, Germany, is one of the most important archeological sites dating to the Middle Pleistocene. Until today, the numerous finds have only been published individually, often outside of their context. Here we present for the first time the distribution map of the Spear Horizon together with a spatial analysis of the different categories of remains (flint, bones, and woods). The finds are situated in a 10 m wide belt, which runs parallel to a former lakeshore. The distribution of faunal remains correlates closely with the distribution of flint artifacts and wooden objects. We have been able to distinguish five different sectors that can be aligned with different events or activities. The greatest density of finds was evident within an area of 11 × 15 m, where most of the horse skulls were recovered. Some of the square meters contain more than 150 finds. During the excavation the profiles were continually documented and these data help us to reconstruct the shoreline of the paleo-lake with considerable accuracy. Over a distance of 60 m, the thickness and density of the organic mud and peat layers could be reconstructed in high resolution. The distribution of finds shows no preferred orientation or selection through size. The analyses only indicate small-scale dislocations and limited taphonomic alterations. The fraction of lithic artifacts with size ranges less than 2 cm are preserved, while some smaller bone fragments are missing. Most of the wooden artifacts are in-situ, but were deformed by the ice load during the Saalian ice age. While some small charcoal remains as well as a burnt artifact have been observed, there is no evidence of burnt bones. Our results allow a first insight into the formation history of the site.

Shoulder osteoarthritis in a European saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens) from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Schöningen (Germany)

Evaluation of a right ventral scapula fragment from a mature Homotherium latidens from Schöningen, Germany (337-300 ka before present - MIS 9) revealed lesions consisting of an osteophyte at the caudal border of the glenoid cavity, and a large, multilobular, cystic feature in the medio-caudal glenoid cavity. Based on the type of lesions, their localization, their severity, and exclusion of several nutritional and other etiologies such as immune mediated disease, joint infection (septic arthritis), and joint tumors, we conclude that the lesion was caused by trauma or age-related shoulder osteoarthritis (or possibly both). We cannot speculate whether the condition was symptomatic, but if it was, the animal must have functioned well enough to hunt or scavenge, since it survived a significant period of lesion development.