Alpine Neanderthal Toolkit Examined

FERRARA, ITALY—The reevaluation of 16 flint and radiolarite tools found among bear remains in a cave in the Alps suggests that traveling Neanderthals carried the stone tools with them, according to a Phys.org report. Microscopic examination of the tools by Davide Delpiano of the University of Ferrara and his colleagues detected evidence of retouching, indicating that tools had been sharpened repeatedly, yet no stone flakes or chips were uncovered in Caverna Generosa. Analysis of the chemical makeup of the stone used to make the tools revealed that it had come from a few miles away, much further down the mountain. The scholars think that Neanderthals may have traveled to the cave during the summer while hunting bears, or scavenging bears that died during hibernation, and processed the carcasses with a traveling toolkit. To read about tools found in the Swiss Alps that hunter-gatherers made more than 8,000 years ago, go to "Alpine Crystal Hunters."