The photo is sourced from rscf.ru
Researchers from the Laboratory of Prehistory (St. Petersburg), A.V.Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, RAS (Moscow), the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg) and the Rostov Regional Museum of Study of Local Lore (Rostov-on-Don) continued the research of Russian archaeologists, who had previously managed to establish that ancient people used flint and obsidian tools for woodworking, as well as for hunting and for furriery. The ancient encampments selected as study objects are widely known. Say, the Mezmaiskaya Cave is a reference monument of the Eastern Micoquien, the most common Neanderthal culture in Central and Eastern Europe.
The analysis of the stone tools found at the encampment sites revealed traces of an adhesive substance that once covered the spots where the tools were attached to their handles. The colour of the substance varied from dark brown to black. To study the remains of the adhesive, the archaeologists used a combination of spectroscopic methods that allowed to estimate the atomic spectra and groups.
The spectral analysis enabled the scientists to prove that the Neanderthals of the Caucasus used bitumen to make complex tools; this is indicated by the ratio of carbon and silicon content in the samples. At the same time, the chemical composition of the adhesive base found at two ancient encampments turned out to be different. While bitumen from the Mezmaiskaya cave contained bromine, the bitumen from the Saraj-Chuko grotto contained increased concentrations of aluminum, nitrogen, and sodium. According to scientists, this indicates that the Neanderthals who lived in different regions of the North Caucasus used bitumen from different sources to make their tools.
“It should be highlighted that for the Mousterian materials of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, the use of bitumen to cement the stone tool handles has been proven for the first time. The use of adhesives and complex tools by ancient people played an important role in the social and technological development of the entire genus Homo”, the Russian Science Foundation quotes Lyubov Golovanova, Candidate of Historic Sciences, chief researcher of Laboratory of Prehistory, an autonomous non-profit organisation in the field of humanitarian and natural science research.
