A newly discovered antler flint-knapping hammer and the question of their rarity in the Palaeolithic archaeological record: Reality or bias?

The use of soft (bone, antler, tooth and wood) hammers and retouchers is a key innovation in early stone tool technology, first appearing in the archaeological record with Lower Palaeolithic handaxe industries (e.g. Boxgrove, UK ∼500 ka). Although organic knapping tools were undoubtedly a component of early human toolkits and are essential, for example, for the manufacture of finely-flaked handaxes, Mousterian scrapers and Upper Palaeolithic blades tools, such archaeological finds are exceptionally rare. In this study, we present qualitative and quantitative analyses (focus variation optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, micro-CT scanning and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), of a newly discovered antler flint knapping from Laugerie-Haute West (France). This specimen was originally identified as a waste-product from splinter manufacture, and the use-damage appears to have been overlooked by earlier workers. The new analysis shows that prior to being used as a flint-knapping percussor, the red deer antler had been modified to reduce the length of its beam and to remove the tines. Although minimally used, characteristic use-damage includes attrition (pits and scores), compression of the antler matrix and flint chips embedded within some of the percussion features on the base of the burr. An AMS radiocarbon date of 12,385 ± 55 BP (12,647 ± 335 BC calibrated) confirms a Magdelenian context for the hammer. The fact that the Laugerie-Haute knapping hammer went unrecognised in a well-studied and accessible collection where it was stored for almost 200 years, suggests that antler hammers may be more common than generally assumed. Only further re-examination of prehistoric antlers in museum collections will confirm whether the apparent rarity of antler hammers during the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic is real phenomenon or the result of analytical biases.