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How were Mousterian scrapers likely used to work wood and animal skins?
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Paleolithic Period
The Venus of Willendorf, a Upper Paleolithic limestone figurine originally colored with red ochre, 30,000ā25,000 bce, found at Willendorf, Lower Austria; in the Natural History Museum, Vienna.
In the context of the Paleolithic Period, Mousterian scrapers were specialized flake tools characterized by a sharp edge along the long direction of the flake and a thicker, blunt section opposite the working edge.1
While these implements could function as knives, anthropologists speculate that they were primarily used for working wood and animal skins. Specifically, these scrapers were utilized for tanning hides, a process that likely supported the production of clothing. The use of such tools for processing skins and wood reflects the sophisticated domestic activities of the Neanderthals and other groups associated with the Mousterian industry, distinguishing these implements from tools used primarily for hunting or butchering.123