Study Notes on Middle Paleolithic Bone Tools at Abri Suard Site

Bone remains as a tool:
  - Early use on the African continent documented as early as the Early Pleistocene (Pante et al., 2020; de la Torre et al., 2025).
  - In Europe, bones as raw materials noted in Middle Paleolithic, especially bone retouchers, first documented in the Middle Pleistocene assemblages.
  - Historical context:
    - First recorded by Leguay (1877) and Daleau (1883).
    - Tools interpreted by Henri-Martin (1906) as bone pieces with use wear found at the Mousterian site of La Quina, Charente, France.
Examples of Middle Paleolithic assemblages include:
- Moigne (1996); Roberts & Parfitt (1999); Rosell et al. (2011); Smith (2013); Julien (2015); Rodríguez-Hidalgo (2015); van Kolfschoten (2015)

Importance of bone tools in technological behaviors of Palaeolithic groups:
  - Reflects relationship between subsistence practices and technological strategies.
  - Demonstrates deliberate selection and modification of faunal remains for toolkits (not just for nutrition).
  - Evidence from Abri Suard site in France includes:
    - 62 retouchers and 3 soft hammers from 6496 faunal remains analyzed.
    - Tools primarily from reindeer and horse remains (1% of assemblage).
  - Features of tools:
    - Cut marks, notches suggest complex operational sequences where consumption and tool production intertwined.
    - Soft hammers present on uncommon taxon such as rhinoceros bones, suggesting practical exploitation of resources.
    - One retoucher from a horse molar as one of the earliest examples documented.
Significance of Abri Suard in studying Middle Paleolithic bone technology, documenting exploited taxa and selected skeletal elements.

Documented changes in spatial and temporal scope of bone retouchers in different contexts (Doyon et al., 2018, 2019; Kozlikin et al., 2020; Baumann et al., 2020, 2025; Turner et al., 2020).

Bone Retouchers: Defined as bone fragments used in knapping activities, typically presenting modified areas with dense, short, and deep marks (Semenov, 1964; Chase, 1990).
Soft Hammers: Organic tools (wood or bone) used for more precise control over flake detachment compared to hard hammers (Vincent, 1993).

Ongoing studies at Abri Suard aimed at understanding site function and subsistence strategies of Neanderthal groups.
Previous excavation phases and stratigraphic analysis outlined by David (1950s) and Debénath (1970s).

Location: La Chaise-de-Vouthon, Charente, France, within the Tardoire valley.
Excavation history included:
- First excavated by Bishop Suard around 1870; subsequent work by P. David added significance via Neanderthal human remains.
- Modern assessments including the involvement from Lopez-Onaindia et al. (2024, 2025).

Descriptions of stratigraphic levels from Davids and Debénath's excavations highlight varied archaeological findings:
- Levels ranging from 1 to 9 and replacement of levels by Debénath reflects ongoing updates in archaeological interpretations.
- Mean age dating: Uranium/thorium method indicates an age range from approximately 200-160 ka for certain layers.

High degree of typological and technological homogeneity observed with Levallois method predominating in flake production at Abri Suard.
Cores, retouched flakes, bifaces observed, variance indicated by different levels.
Faunal remains: Dominance of Equus and Rangifer across levels.
- Inconsistencies in stratigraphic correlations due to excavational overlaps.

Total of 65 bone tools (62 retouchers and 3 soft hammers) identified over multiple levels corresponding to two excavation periods.
Distinct identification processes were employed regarding anatomical and taxonomic classification of tools.

Detailed recording of usable areas of retouchers against taphonomic modifications (cut marks, percussion marks) noted in specimen analyses.
Active area classifications and taphonomic results suggest retouchers were involved in processing stone tools, potentially indicating broader subsistence-related activities by Neanderthals.

Comparison across European sites suggests Abri Suard’s place in evolutionary and adaptive context for bone tools in Middle Paleolithic.
- Observed variability aligns with consumption and subsistence strategies, documenting a more complex behavioral approach than previously assumed.

The study emphasizes anatomical variability and selective criteria possibly impacting technology use within Neanderthal groups at Abri Suard.

Resulting synthesis of archaeological findings urges further exploration into Neanderthal technological adaptations.
Contributions to understanding of late Middle Pleistocene bone tools with implications for Neanderthal subsistence and behavioral complexity.
Acknowledgements for collaborative contributions from museum and academic institutions.