New materials: tooth, bone, and horn

Remember the australopithecine in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey that beat up on invaders with a bone and then tossed the bone triumphantly into the air, where it turned into a space ship? Although bone was surely recognized as useful from early on, it was not until modern-type human beings arrived on the scene that its full potential as a material was utilized.

Before bone, however, ivory (that is, the material of animal teeth) was sometimes used, especially for ornaments. Ivory is both denser and less fibrous than bone, making it easier to work. But it is not as available as bone. Mammoth ivory, although not as plentiful as mammoth bone in northern regions, was fairly common.

Somewhat farther south, reindeer horn was a popular material. Although we perceive horn as a single substance, horns of deer, antelope, cattle, giraffe, and rhinoceros are not much alike. Deer and giraffe horn are different forms of modified bone. True horn is derived from the skin and is something like many fine hairs that have grown together. Antelope and cattle horn consist of a core of bone covered with true horn. Rhinoceros horn is all true horn. Since reindeer are deer, their antlers are really a form of bone that has grown directly out of their foreheads. Reindeer are the only form of deer in which both sexes have antlers. Also, like other deer, reindeer shed their antlers in the spring and grow new ones. Thus, where there are a lot of reindeer, antler material is abundant.

Paleoarchaeologists find that people using the Perigordian industry some 34,000 years ago infrequently produced bone or ivory tools, but the frequency increased with the long-term development of the industry. Around the same time, another industry, known as the Aurignacian, had a much greater emphasis on bone and also utilized reindeer antler as an important raw material. Bone points (objects that appear to be arrowheads or spear points) were especially prominent and underwent steady development throughout the Aurignacian. Farther north, and slightly later, a tool industry called the Gravettian developed. It relied as heavily on mammoth bone as the Aurignacian did on reindeer bone and antler.

The Solutrean tool industry that started in France and Spain about 21,000 bp was marked not so much by increased use of bone or antler, but by decreased use of stone. Needles made from bone were common, suggesting that a lot of sewing was going on.

The real jump from stone to bone (and other materials) came with the next industry, the Magdalenian, which started around 17,000 bp in France and northern Europe. This toolkit was characterized by bone harpoons, some with one and some with two rows of barbs. Other bone tools that were common included not only needles, but also awls, polishers, and spear throwers. A mysterious tool made from reindeer antler, called the batôn de commandement, may have been a spear straightener.

Following the Magdalenian were several industries that correspond roughly to what is sometimes called the Middle Stone Age or the Mesolithic. Essentially, this was a transition period of about 5000 years to the Neolithic. These industries utilized microlithic stone tools and continued to use the variety of bone and antler tools that had also been made in the Magdalenian.

When cattle were domesticated as part of the Agricultural Revolution, cattle horn came into enough of a supply to be useful as well. With the coming of metal, bone and horn ceased to have a real place in technology. Today, although we still use wood and stone for various purposes, spare bone and horn is either discarded, ground up for use as fertilizer, or otherwise processed into another material. Teeth (ivory) are still valued, but concerns about endangered species have curtailed their use -- and ivory has always been in comparatively short supply. Considerable Stone Age technology persisted in the far north until quite recently, including the use of whale bone and walrus or narwhal ivory. Objects carved from these substances, as well as the similar objects called scrimshaw carved by 19th century whalers, are valued today. Modern versions continue to be made (often faked as antiques) for decoration.