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Advanced Tools of Neanderthals

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 72 Accesses

Synonyms

Device; Implement; Instrument; Utensil

Definition

An instrument of manual operation; an implement, usually held in one’s hand, for performing or facilitating.

Introduction

Tool use in hominins is considered a leap in our evolutionary history. It indicated both an understanding of symbolic learning and how to use the environment to one’s advantage. For Neanderthals, tools were usually simple, made of either bone or stone, and frequently specialized for one or another use, typically using the same set of techniques to create them. There is well-documented evidence that tool use did exist at Neanderthal sites; however, there is still debate over whether or not Neanderthals invented their own tools, or if they learned them from the encroaching Anatomically Modern Human populations migrating from Africa (Soressi et al. 2013; Tyron and Faith 2013).

The time period when Neanderthals were living in Europe and making these tools is known as the Middle-Paleolithic (Simek 1998; Villa et...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, USA

    Olivia Jewell

Authors
  1. Olivia Jewell
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Correspondence to Olivia Jewell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Dominican College, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Haley Dillon

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Jewell, O. (2018). Advanced Tools of Neanderthals. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_336-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_336-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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