The history of the human race and the evolution of the modern brain is intricately tied to the use of technology. It is generally assumed that the more complex a technology is, the higher cognition is demonstrated by the species of man who developed it.
Tar production, one of the examples of ancient adhesive technology, provides information about the technological and cognitive abilities of Neanderthal and modern humans. However, the discovery of tar and the methods used by Neanderthals to make it are still uncertain.
Complexity of Tar Production
When discussing the complexity of the Neanderthals, their ancient adhesive technology has received significant attention since it is considered a major innovation among both Neanderthals and modern humans. Experts believe that tar production is at least 200 thousand years old. The oldest known tar-hafted stone tools were discovered at a Middle Pleistocene site in Italy, but the direct evidence for adhesive use in Africa is more numerous.
The production of birch tar is unique among Paleolithic technologies. It requires the transformation of a papery white bar into a black viscous and sticky liquid, producing new material out of something entirely disparate for the first time. Since tar is synthesized from the dry distillation of organic material, it is a complicated process requiring planning, knowledge of materials, and abstraction.
Studies suggest Neanderthals could have discovered several tar production techniques, such as the condensation method, raised structure, pit roll, ash mound, and cobble groove. Out of these methods, the condensation technique is likely one of the first ways tar was discovered since it only needs a few materials, little planning and preparation, and produces strong tar. It involves the collection of airborne tar from the smoke of burned birch bark directly on stone surfaces.
Computational Modelling of Adhesive Technology
At the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) department of the Delft University of Technology, researchers of Team Langejans conducted a study where they examined the methods used by Neanderthals in creating tar. This study aims to understand the behaviors and technical cognition required by our prehistoric ancestors to develop their adhesive technology.
Led by Dr. Sebastian Fajardo, the researchers used Petri net models, a formal modeling language, in looking at various production methods with the aid of metrics from existing literature to measure complexity. The study suggests that in carrying out the complex process of tar production, Neanderthals probably relied on cognitive traits often associated with modern thinking and behavior.
In a separate paper published by the same research team, lead author Dr. Paul Kozowyk took one of the metrics used by Fajardo and applied it in more detail to the tar production techniques. This time, they aimed to explore how scaling up a technological process influences its complexity.
The findings of Kozowyk's research reveal that scaling up has a significant impact on the complexity of and that people had a way to deal with this complex upscaling. This might involve inventing a different method or working together as a group, requiring more communication. Although it was not proven that Neanderthals used a particular technique in tar production, the research shows that regardless of the methods used, ancient tar-making likely required a level of information processing that extended beyond simple behaviors.
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