Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE)—defined as the process by which beneficial
modifications are culturally transmitted and progressively accumulated over time—has long …

In this article, I first provide an overview of the Neandertals by recounting their initial
discovery and subsequent interpretation by scientists and by discussing our current …

We report the discovery of a 50,000-y-old birch tar-hafted flint tool found off the present-day
coastline of The Netherlands. The production of adhesives and multicomponent tools is …

Birch tar is the oldest synthetic substance made by early humans. The earliest such artefacts
are associated with Neanderthals. According to traditional interpretations, their study allows …

Technological processes, reconstructed from the archaeological record, are used to study
the evolution of behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals and early modern humans. In …

The intentional production of birch bark tar by European Neanderthals as early as 190,000
years ago plays an important role in discussions about the technological and behavioural …

In prehistoric human populations, technologies played a fundamental role in the acquisition
of different resources and are represented in the main daily living activities, such as with …

Studying the earliest archaeological adhesives has implications for our understanding of
human cognition. In southern Africa, the oldest adhesives were made by Homo sapiens in …

An adhesive is any substance that bonds different materials together. This broad definition
includes materials used in everything from hafted stone tools to monumental architecture. In …

We implement a method from computer sciences to address a challenge in Paleolithic
archaeology: how to infer cognition differences from material culture. Archaeological …