Selection and use of manganese dioxide by neanderthals

TY - JOUR

T1 - Selection and use of manganese dioxide by neanderthals

AU - Heyes, Peter J.

AU - Anastasakis, Konstantinos

AU - De Jong, Wiebren

AU - Van Hoesel, Annelies

AU - Roebroeks, Wil

AU - Soressi, Marie

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - Several Mousterian sites in France have yielded large numbers of small black blocs. The usual interpretation is that these 'manganese oxides' were collected for their colouring properties and used in body decoration, potentially for symbolic expression. Neanderthals habitually used fire and if they needed black material for decoration, soot and charcoal were readily available, whereas obtaining manganese oxides would have incurred considerably higher costs. Compositional analyses lead us to infer that late Neanderthals at Pech-de-l'Azé I were deliberately selecting manganese dioxide. Combustion experiments and thermo-gravimetric measurements demonstrate that manganese dioxide reduces wood's auto-ignition temperature and substantially increases the rate of char combustion, leading us to conclude that the most beneficial use for manganese dioxide was in fire-making. With archaeological evidence for fire places and the conversion of the manganese dioxide to powder, we argue that Neanderthals at Pech-de-l'Azé I used manganese dioxide in fire-making and produced fire on demand.

AB - Several Mousterian sites in France have yielded large numbers of small black blocs. The usual interpretation is that these 'manganese oxides' were collected for their colouring properties and used in body decoration, potentially for symbolic expression. Neanderthals habitually used fire and if they needed black material for decoration, soot and charcoal were readily available, whereas obtaining manganese oxides would have incurred considerably higher costs. Compositional analyses lead us to infer that late Neanderthals at Pech-de-l'Azé I were deliberately selecting manganese dioxide. Combustion experiments and thermo-gravimetric measurements demonstrate that manganese dioxide reduces wood's auto-ignition temperature and substantially increases the rate of char combustion, leading us to conclude that the most beneficial use for manganese dioxide was in fire-making. With archaeological evidence for fire places and the conversion of the manganese dioxide to powder, we argue that Neanderthals at Pech-de-l'Azé I used manganese dioxide in fire-making and produced fire on demand.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969531300&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/srep22159

DO - 10.1038/srep22159

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26922901

AN - SCOPUS:84969531300

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 6

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

M1 - 22159

ER -