ABSTRACT
Microscopic examinations of wear patterns on the simple core and flake assemblages, along with experimental tryouts for possible functions, tell they were used for a variety of splitting and cutting functions, offering clues into dietary and living habits. Social scientists must proceed by adopting the mind-set of biologists, physicists, and chemists who often work in uncharted and even unseen domains. The fossil, molecular, and archeological records are the only sources of first-hand evidence on the biological and social evolution of humans. The archaeological record also documents that by 1.7 MYA technological innovations are introduced by toolmakers—a stone assemblage called the Acheulian Industrial Complex. Neanderthal mortality patterns also include the burials of infants, juveniles, and adolescents whose remains are carefully positioned and found in association with burnt horse bones, reindeer teeth, goat horns, and other animal remains. Spencer and Gillen also roused public curiosity about painted caves after they published Native Tribes of Central Australia in 1899.
