Backed tools in the Late Middle Paleolithic: design, manufacture and use of an uncommon artefact in Discoid assemblages.

The production of prepared backed artifacts during the Paleolithic is recognized as an important step in the predetermination of manual activities and the development of human tool ergonomics. These instruments are generally identified as proxies of so-called “modern” behavior, partly because they tend to be associated with systematic hafting, but mostly because they are widespread within Middle Stone Age (MSA) or Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) assemblages attributed to anatomically modern humans. However, in Europe these tools were first manufactured by Neanderthal groups and associated with different techno-complexes, mainly MTA (Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition), Discoid and Levallois, on specific and diverse supports. Investigating the reasons of this behavioral leap forward can help to disentangle the modalities of development and diffusion of various aspects defining the emergence and development of behavioral complexity. In this work we present a detailed analysis of one of the oldest and richest collection of prepared backed items preserved in Europe. We studied several dozens of backed artifacts recovered in the A9 unit at Fumane Cave, dated to at least 47.6 cal ky and embedded in a technologically discoid occupation. Our methodology integrates results obtained from technological, techno-functional and use-wear analyses, further supported by experimental data. Different and peculiar types of anthropogenic modifications have been identified, both aimed at creating a back or modifying and accommodating an already existing back. By cross-checking these results with usewear data, we were able to show that these interventions were mainly aimed at adjusting the tools (knives and / or scrapers) for manual handling, although traces consistent with hafting have been recognized on a few specimens. The technological and techno-economic context allows us to infer that this arrangement mainly concerns “curated” tools, whose design and production implies expertise and technical skills at different degrees. Although still not systematic or standardized, the conception of complex tool making can be considered as a main feature in the technological variability of the last Neanderthals.