Neandertals used rhinoceros teeth as tools

Neandertals may have had an unexpected tool in their kits: rhinoceros teeth.

Marks in fossil rhino teeth found in caves in France and Spain suggest they were once used as multipurpose, heavy-duty tools. A new study reveals that these ancient hominids used the massive molars for shaping stone tools and processing all sorts of materials, such as vegetable fibers or hides.

Rhinos no longer roam wild in Europe. But about 100,000 years ago, Neandertals coexisted with several species, including the narrow-nosed rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus). The new research, published in the May Journal of Human Evolution, suggest that rhinoceros teeth were versatile tools that these hominids used for a variety of purposes, exploiting their hardness, robustness and durability.

Archaeologists have long known that Neandertals used animal remains such as bones and antlers as hammers or retouchers to keep their stone tools sharp, but few studies have looked at teeth. Intrigued by several teeth that had unexpected markings on them, Alicia Sanz-Royo and colleagues surveyed a dozen archaeological sites in France and Spain. In Spain’s El Castillo and France’s Pech-de-l’Azé II, they found teeth with grooves, notches, sliding marks and scrapes, which suggested repeated hitting. Microscopic analysis of the teeth showed that these markings were not caused by chewing or other natural damage, before or after death.

Using modern rhino teeth from zoological reserves, the researchers reenacted tasks Neandertals might have regularly performed, such as using the teeth as hammers to sculpt stone tools and as anvils for cutting vegetable fibers and leather. The experiments damaged the modern teeth in very similar patterns to the damage observed in the fossils.

Despite the significant weight and bulk of the rhino molars, up to 380 grams in some cases, the experimenters found them surprisingly effective. Larger teeth with flatter surfaces were the most comfortable to use, the researchers report, providing a stable and durable platform for precision tasks. Based on the type of tooth that bore the marks, the researchers think that Neandertals were selective, choosing teeth with the right size or shape for the job at hand.

“I had never found teeth with these types of marks. At first, I was quite skeptical,” says Sanz-Royo, of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. “This study is important because it opens the possibility that, in addition to bones and antlers, teeth — which are a superhard material — were also very useful.”

The discovery adds a new dimension to our understanding of Neandertal cognitive complexity. With 202 rhino teeth found at the El Castillo cave alone, 25 of them with use marks, their finding hints at an intentional behavior that goes beyond the merely opportunistic.

As anthropologists continue to investigate Neandertal lifestyles, the full extent of Neandertal cognitive abilities is a matter of heated debate. Some researchers are finding increasingly compelling evidence that suggests Neandertals possessed symbolic thought — a trait once considered exclusive of modern humans.

“This study shows that [Neandertals] not only ate the animals, but they utilized their remains for their technology,” says archaeologist José Ramos-Muñoz of the University of Cadiz in Spain, who was not involved in the new study. “It’s a trait of modernity.”