http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6002 Entrées d’index fr 0 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6095 The selection of raw material used for the production and utilisation of tools constitutes an important relationship of early man to his environment. His knowledge of the nature of the raw materials, of their physical reactions plays a big part at the preparation or the usage of implements. The Lower Palaeolithic man of Bilzingsleben demonstrates this relationship in various ways. There is, e.g. a deliberate selection of raw material which was conducted for artefact-specific reasons. Dependent on their corresponding future function, different raw materials had been selected according to their specific qualities : 1. Tough, solid large pebbles (quartzite, limestone, travertine, kristalline) appropriate for the execution of rough work. 2. Hard, brittle silex stones (flint, more rarely quartz, chert), appropriate for the production of small special tools, such as cutting, scratching, scraping, boring implements. 3. Antlers used as percussion instruments. 4. Bones (more rarely ivory) used for the production of big special tools. 5. With the tools produced from these materials wood and other organic matters were worked. Because of the special aspect of the bones in the Bilzingsleben inventory I am going to treat bones here. The thick compacta of the elephant extremity bones served as raw material for the production of special tools: the working features and use wear indicate that and how the Bilzingsleben man used bones as raw material. He did not only smash the bones in order to obtain handy compacta pieces, but also cut them up deliberately: the joints were cut off, the bones split with a wedge and a hammerstone. Then the bone piece was trimmed in the way stone tools were prepared, i.e. with the help of a hammerstone. Even retouched edges were produced. The result was a differentiated usage of the bones as scrapers, back-knives, wedges, chopper-like tools, dagger-like tools, bodkins, working support. It is evident that the raw material was especially selected. The thick compacta of the extremity bones of adult animals was prefered : tibia, femur and humerus. The other extremity bones are rare. Pelvis and scapula are more frequent among the remaining skeleton. They were used as working support. It seems that they are bones from death sites and they were macerated because it was more convenient and practical for usage when they were in a state without fat and without periosteum, sinew and other connective tissue. Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:51:12 +0100 Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:51:21 +0100 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6095 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6001 There are only a very few sites or archaeological horizons which are appropriate for the reconstruction of former environments and the recognition of man's relationship to these conditions. First, it is very important to dispose of some deposits rich in fossiles and, if possible, to have many geological and geomorphological phenomenons as well as an archaeological culture preserved in its primary situation. A necessary precondition for this research are some archaeological horizons of travertine and some limnic-telmatic deposits containing various plant and animal fossil groups, in particular macro plant remains, molluscs, ostracods, micro and macro vertebrates, and special indications for the existence of former biotopes. In a larger range, they enable the reconstruction of environments beyond the biotope in wandering ranges and hunting districts. The preserved cultural evidence allows the inference of behavioural and reactive patterns towards this environment. This is demonstated by the travertine site of Bilzingsleben, Lower Palaeolithic, Middle Pleistocene/Holstein complex. Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:07:39 +0100 Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:07:47 +0100 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6001