Middle Palaeolithic Bone Retouchers: A Key Tool for Understanding the Management of Subsistence among Neanderthal Groups

Abstract

The research on the Middle Palaeolithic bone retouchers combines the documentation of the numerous archaeological assemblages of such tools with different techniques for analysing them. While many published works are case-site studies other projects have focused on the function and the economic role of the bone retouchers within the Neanderthal social groups. These studies have shown the key-role that such artefacts play within the Neanderthal populations' strategies for managing their resources and their subsistence.