From Aterian Notch to Aterian Tang: How

to Make a Technological Invention

Serena Falzetti, Elena A.A. Garcea,

Cristina Lemorini, Stefano Drudi &
Vittorio Mironti

African Archaeological Review

ISSN 0263-0338

Afr Archaeol Rev

DOI 10.1007/s10437-017-9258-y

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 Author's personal copy
Afr Archaeol Rev
DOI 10.1007/s10437-017-9258-y
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
From Aterian Notch to Aterian Tang: How to Make
a Technological Invention
Serena Falzetti & Elena A.A. Garcea &
Cristina Lemorini & Stefano Drudi & Vittorio Mironti
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017
Abstract The Aterian lithic techno-complex that char-
acterizes the late Middle Stone Age in North Africa is
well known especially for its tanged or stemmed points.
Recent techno-morphological and use-wear analyses
have added new data to support the identification of
the tang as the hafted portion of an artifact. They have
also highlighted the presence of this attribute on tools
other than projectile points, in contrast with the wide-
spread idea that the tanged point is the Aterian fossile
directeur. The design of this specific device, the tang, for
hafting purposes is regarded as a great technical innova-
tion that underlines a modern behavior. Our work pro-
vides new use-wear and experimental data, aiming at
discussing the cognitive preconditions of this technical
innovation that could have originated from a specific
functional unit: the notch. Notches are quite abundant
in the Aterian techno-complex. Our systematic study of
this tool category from Aterian sites of the Jebel Gharbi
allowed defining the notch per se as a techno-morpho-
functional unit that was Bapplied^ to different types of
blanks, including Breused blanks,^ which show a heavy
S. Falzetti : C. Lemorini : S. Drudi : V. Mironti
LTFAPA Laboratory, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
E. A. Garcea (*)
Department of Letters and Philosophy, University of Cassino and
Southern Latium, Cassino, Italy
e-mail: e.garcea@unicas.it
C. Lemorini
Department of Classics, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome,
Italy
patina on their surface. This functional unit has been used
for various types of activities and can be found either
alone on a blank or with multiple other units on the same
blank, creating different tool morphologies. According to
this interpretation, the tang could have been considered
by Aterian populations as a new resulting variant of
various possible combinations of notches, for defining
and/or transforming the shape of a tool.
Résumé Le techno-complexe lithique Atérien qui
caractérise le Middle Stone Age final en Afrique du
Nord est bien connu en particulier pour ses pointes
pédonculées. Des analyses récentes soit techno-
morphologiques soit tracéologiques ont ajouté de nou-
velles données pour appuyer l’identification du
pédoncule comme la partie emmanchée d’un artefact.
Elles ont également mis en évidence la présence de cet
attribut sur des outils différents des pointes de projectile, en
contraste avec l’idée répandue de la pointe pédonculée
comme fossile directeur Atérien. La création d’un
dispositif spécifique, le pédoncule, pour l’emmanchement
est considérée comme une grande innovation technique
qui souligne le comportement moderne. Notre travail, au
moyen de la tracéologie et d’expérimentations, fournit de
nouvelles données visant à discuter les conditions cogni-
tives de cette innovation technique qui pourrait provenir
d’une unité fonctionnelle spécifique: l’encoche. La
catégorie des encoches est assez abondante dans le
techno-complexe Atérien. Notre étude systématique de
cette catégorie d’outils à partir des sites atériens du
Djebel Gharbi a permis de définir l’encoche comme une
unité techno-morpho-fonctionnelle qui a été Bappliquée^ à
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différents types de supports, y compris des Bsupports
réutilisés^, qui montrent une patine épaisse sur leur sur-
face. Cette unité fonctionnelle a été utilisée pour divers
types d’activités et se trouve soit seule sur un support ou
avec plusieurs autres unités sur le même support, créant
différentes morphologies d’outils. Selon cette
interprétation, le pédoncule aurait pu être considéré par
les populations atériennes comme une nouvelle variante
résultant de diverses combinaisons possibles des encoches
pour définir et / ou transformer la forme d’un outil.
Keywords Aterian . Tanged tools . Notched tools .
Techno-morphological analysis . Use-wear analysis .
Jebel Gharbi . Libya
Introduction
The Aterian techno-complex is often still recognized for
the presence of tanged points and other types of tanged
tools (e.g., Iovita 2011; Scerri 2013), which have been
considered as an evidence of modern behavior (e.g.,
Kleindienst 1998). Our paper aims at investigating the
possible reasons for the appearance of this technological
invention.
A technological improvisation is not extempora-
neous, but the outcome of a cultural background
and an engagement with matter (Hallam and Ingold
Fig. 1 Outline of the Taramsa (1)
and Levallois (2) knapping
techniques (modified from
Spinapolice and Garcea 2013,
Fig. 2, reprinted with permission)
(images in full color online)
Afr Archaeol Rev
2007). The concept of Bconventional creativity^
defines the idea that creative innovations result
from previously acquired and shared know-how,
which comprises the conventional knowledge of a
human group. In the introduction of their book
Creativity and Cultural Improvisation, Hallam and
Ingold (2007) elucidate the concept of novelty,
which includes both an assemblage of parts and a
more fluid process of coming-into-being. They ex-
plain that there is a precise relationship between
repetition and deviation, and between replication
and variation.
Technologically, the tang can provide a series of
advantages in order to improve the fastening of a
lithic insert in its handle, and to standardize tool kits
by using and reusing the same haft, equipped with
inserts with similar tangs in terms of morphology and
sizes. We therefore analyzed the techno-morpho-
functional units related to the design of tangs. In fact,
if the tang is an invention, to be regarded as a finger-
print of anatomically modern humans, what are the
technological aspects forming the basis of this
invention?
We applied this theoretical perspective by testing the
relationship between notches and tangs in the Aterian
industries from the Jebel Gharbi, in northwestern Libya.
We therefore observed the relationship between the
replication of a technological model and its variation.
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Fig. 2 1 Experimental notch No.

7 used for scraping bone, made of
quartzite; used notch circled with
white broken line. 1a Edge before
use (scale bar = 1 mm). 1b Edge
after use: detail of feather/step
termination typical of the action
of bone scraping with quartzite;
macro use-wear is delimited with
white line; the arrow indicates the
surface remained unaltered (scale
bar = 0.5 mm) (photos by S.
Falzetti)

The Aterian techno-complexes from the Jebel
Gharbi include several notched and tanged tools.
More than one notch may be located on the same
tool, in various parts of the blank, and in some
cases, two notches may face each other (see below).
In this latter case, at first glance, these tools may
look like tanged tools and be classified accordingly.
In a previous article discussing the operational se-
quence of the débitage production in the Jebel
Gharbi (Massussi and Lemorini 2004–2005), we
made preliminary remarks on these Bpseudo-tangs,^
on which we had observed traces of use consistent
with the scraping of medium and hard material.
In this study, we proceeded at first with the analysis
of the operational sequences of the débitage and the
façonnage of notches and tangs, particularly tanged
points; then, we replicated and used notched tools and
tanged points in order to check their functional proper-
ties, and to create a reference collection of traces of use
for comparison with the traces detectable on the archae-
ological tools.
It should be noted that the lithic industries from the
Jebel Gharbi suffered postdepositional events, testified
by a diffused brightness of the lithic surface or a colored
patina, which prevented the analysis of the micro-traces
of use. Nevertheless, since mechanical alterations were
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Fig. 3 1 Experimental notch No.

3 used for softening hide, made of
chert; used notch circled with
white broken line. 1a Edge before
use (scale bar = 1 mm). 1b Edge
after use: detail of overlapping
distribution typical of the action
of hide softening with chert;
macro use-wear is delimited with
white line; the arrows indicate the
surface remained unaltered (scale
bar = 0.5 mm) (photos by S.
Falzetti)

scarce, it was possible to carry out a low-power ap-
proach for the analysis of edge removals and edge
rounding (see as a reference Lemorini 2000, pp. 8–9;
van Gijn 2010, p. 27).
Notched and Tanged Tool Technology in the Jebel
Gharbi
Two distinct operational sequences were identified in
Aterian techno-complexes from the Jebel Gharbi:
Levallois and Taramsa (Fig. 1) (Massussi and
Lemorini 2000–2005; Spinapolice and Garcea 2013).
They are employed according to distinct reduction se-
quences: unidirectional, bidirectional, multidirectional,
and centripetal, and are carried out with direct percus-
sion and hard hammerstone (Massussi and Lemorini
2000–2005). Our present observations confirm that the
production of blanks is made on available local mate-
rials which, although of restricted sizes, fulfilled their
users’ needs. As already remarked in other Middle
Stone Age contexts (e.g., Van Peer 1991), the
Levallois method was mostly applied in a rather oppor-
tunistic way. Conversely, a more systematic approach
was applied during the shaping phases aimed at the
production of tanged points.
We identified at least two different modes of shaping:
one related to the production of notches and the other to
the production of tanged tools. In most cases, notches
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Fig. 4 1 Experimental notch No.

11 used for debarking wood,
made of chert; used notch circled
with white broken line. 1a Edge
before use (scale bar = 1 mm). 1b
Edge after use: detail of stepped
distribution typical of the action
of wood debarking with chert;
macro use-wear is delimited with
white line; the edge is completely
altered (scale bar = 1 mm)
(photos by S. Falzetti)

are shaped on cortical flakes obtained from core prepa-
ration or from the first phases of reduction and are
shaped with an invasive and stepped or, more rarely,
scalar retouch. They are the only active areas of the
blanks, and the remaining shaped or unshaped outline
lacks traces of use. Above all, their thick and rounded
morphology is just suitable for gripping.
On the contrary, we verified that tanged points are
shaped on carinated flakes free of cortex, obtained from
an advanced phase of the Levallois or Taramsa opera-
tional sequences. Their proximal area is shaped as a tang
with an invasive or covering bifacial retouch produced
with a soft hammer, which reduces the thickness of the
area and forms a small and irregular tang. The distal area
is slightly retouched to form a point; this retouch can be
very accurate, resulting in a very regular tip, or can be
quickly done, resulting in a roughly shaped tip. Distal-
mesial fractures— multiple scarring with different ter-
minations, burin-like fractures, transverse snap fractures
associated with spin-off fractures (for the terminology of
impact fractures, see Coppe and Rots 2017 and
references therein)—were found on eight Aterian points
suggesting their use as weapon tips. Burin-like and
transverse snap fractures removed a great part of the
distal and mesial portions of the tools. Some other
Aterian tools were resharpened on their tip or recycled
as endscrapers.
As underlined by Rots and Plisson (2014), the most
accurate interpretation of impact events on lithic projec-
tile points would be the combination of diagnostic
macro- and micro-traces, since mechanical alterations
or technological accidents may mimic impact fractures.
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Fig. 5 1 Experimental notch No.

16 used for debarking wood,
made of chert; used notch circled
with white broken line. 1a Edge
before use (scale bar = 1 mm). 1b
Edge after use: detail of stepped
distribution typical of the action
of wood debarking with chert;
macro use-wear is delimited with
white line; the edge is completely
altered (scale bar = 1 mm)
(photos by S. Falzetti)

However, as mentioned above, the lithic industries from
the Jebel Gharbi lack micro-traces due to postdeposi-
tional causes. Nevertheless, similar fractures were not
produced during the knapping and shaping of replicas of
Aterian points and, moreover, they were observed only
on these tools. For these reasons, we could retain them
as truly diagnostic.
Experiments with Notched Tools and Related Use-Wear
Replicas of notched tools were mostly shaped on corti-
cal flakes by means of a stepped and invasive retouch,
first using the direct percussion and then the pressure
technique.
Thirteen replicas of notches were shaped on blanks
made of chert and quartzite similar to the raw materials
of the Jebel Gharbi (Falzetti 2014). Each notch was
documented before use (Figs. 2 (1a), 3 (1a), 4 (1a),
and 5 (1a)) and after use with a stereomicroscope
Nikon SZ (×0.5 objective, ×10 oculars, range of mag-
nifications from ×0.75 to ×7.5) and a reflecting light
system at the Laboratory of Technological and
Functional Analysis of Prehistoric Tools (LTFAPA),
University of Rome BSapienza,^ Italy. The micro-
photographic documentation was made with a
Toupcam Camera. Pictures of the used notches were
elaborated with Helicon Focus software. Pre- and
post-use documentation is essential to define and distin-
guish the scars produced by retouch from those
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Fig. 6 1 Experiment of
butchering. 2 Experiment of hide
softening. 3 Various stages of
experimental production of an
Aterian point. 4 Experimental
knapping of an Aterian point. 5
Replicas of hafted Aterian points
(photos by S. Falzetti)
developed by use, i.e., edge removals (see, e.g.,
Tringham et al. 1974 for a discussion of the analysis of
edge removals). The materials consistent with possible
uses by Aterian populations were experimented on:
fresh meat, fresh bone, or bone dried with ash, fresh or
dried wood, fresh or dried reeds, and dry hide (Fig. 6 (1–
2)). Each notch was used for one hour and washed with
running water, and then with demineralized water in an
ultrasonic tank for five minutes. The surfaces, cleaned of
the residues of the worked material, were observed with
the stereomicroscope in order to detect macro-traces of
use.
The morphology of the notches allows the user to
perform two specific movements efficiently: a longitudi-
nal one defined as cutting/engraving, and a transversal
one defined as scraping. We noted that, for cutting reeds
or meat and tendons during disarticulation, a wide notch,
defined as Bopen notch,^ was much more efficient than a
narrow one, defined as Bclosed notch.^ On the other
hand, the closed notch is particularly suitable for making
wooden and bone points. Only soft or medium-hard
materials can be cut with notches; on the contrary, a
variety of materials, soft, medium, and hard, are workable
with a transversal motion for scraping or softening. These
retouches have an abrupt morphology which produces a
very strong and long-lasting functional unit. Moreover,
notches can be made on blanks of variable thicknesses,
depending on their functional purposes: thicker for harder
materials and thinner for softer materials.
The use-wear developed from our experimental ses-
sions allowed us to define a series of correlated charac-
teristics, including, first, the distinction of use-wear
from postdepositional damage (PSDM) and retouches,
and second, the general difference between soft,
Table 1 Experiments with replicas of quartzite notches

Sample Functional Worked Edge Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Activity
No. areas material rounding size distribution initiation termination direction

5 1 Meat + bone Light- Medium Closed regular Indeterminable Feather Diagonal Cutting + scraping
medium unidirectional
8 1 Reeds wet/ Light- Small Closed irregular Cone Feather Diagonal Engraving
dried medium bidirectional
10 1 Dry hide Medium Small Wide irregular Indeterminable Feather Perpendicular Softening
9 1 Fresh wood Medium Small Closed irregular Cone Feather Diagonal Debarking
bidirectional
1 1 Wood Light- Small Stepped Indeterminable Feather Perpendicular Debarking
medium
7 1 Bone Light Small Closed irregular Cone Feather/step Diagonal Scraping
bidirectional

Table 2 Experiments with replicas of chert notches

Sample Functional Worked Edge Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Activity
No. areas material rounding size distribution initiation termination direction

17 1 Meat + bone Medium Small Wide irregular Indeterminable Step Diagonal Cutting + scraping
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bidirectional
17 2 Meat + bone Light Medium Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Cutting
15 1 Reeds wet/ Light Small Closed irregular Cone Feather Perpendicular Engraving
dried
3 1 Hide Medium- Medium Overlapping Cone bending Feather Diagonal Softening
heavy bidirectional
19 1 Fresh wood Light Small Wide irregular Cone bending Feather/step Perpendicular Debarking
11 1 Wood Light Small-medium Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Debarking
11 2 Wood Light Medium Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Debarking
16 1 Wood Light Small Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Debarking
13 1 Bone Light Small Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Scraping
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Fig. 7 1 Experimental Aterian

point No. 6, made of chert; the
portion of tang circled with white
broken line is magnified in the
replica in Fig. 1a. 1a Copy of the
edge of the tang made of
epossidic resin, before hafting
(scale bar = 1 mm). 1b Macro
use-wear developed after hafting,
delimited with white line; detail of
rounding and crushing of the
edge; the arrows indicate the sur-
face remained unaltered (scale
bar = 0.5 mm). 2 Experimental
Aterian point No. 72, made of
chert; used notch circled with
white broken line. 2a Macro use-
wear of hafting, delimited with
white line, interpreted as the result
of hafting; detail of rounding and
crushing of the edge (scale
bar = 0.5 mm) (photos by S.
Falzetti)

medium, or hard worked materials and, in some case,
the recognition of the entire activity (Tables 1 and 2).
Between PSDM and use-wear, the latter is usually
less scattered and always more standardized in regard to
its size, morphology, and direction.
With respect to use-wear, we noted that the
morphology of the notches creates a sort of barrier
that prevents the development of wide edge re-
movals. The scars of use are always smaller than
the edge removals that originated from similar
activities carried out with unshaped, active edges.
They develop only on the very edge of the notches
and create a minute line under the line of the
retouches. Moreover, the working of medium-hard
materials produces a very peculiar morphology of
scars, never seen when unshaped active edges are
used. We define these scars as Bstepped^ edge
removals (Figs. 4 (1b) and 5 (1b)), having a per-
pendicular orientation with respect to the outline
of the active edge and creating a line of over-
lapped scars, in a sort of Bterrace.^
Moreover, we noted that macro-traces developed on
notches made of quartzite, whereas those made of chert
showed slightly different characteristics (see Tables 1 and
2). Macro-traces distinguishing hide, reeds, fresh wood,
and scraping meat from bone were detected on chert
notches. Additionally, hide, wood, and bone working de-
veloped diagnostic macro-traces on quartzite notches.
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Fig. 8 1 Experimental Aterian

point No. 5, made of chert; the
portion of tang circled with white
broken line is magnified in the
replica in Fig. 1a. 1a Copy of the
edge of the tang made of
epossidic resin, before hafting
(scale bar = 1 mm). 1b Macro
use-wear developed after hafting,
delimited with white line; detail of
rounding and crushing of the
edge; the arrows indicate the sur-
face remained unaltered (scale
bar = 0.5 mm) (photos by S.
Falzetti)

Experiments with Tanged Points and Related Use-Wear
Use-wear resulting from the stress of the tang of Aterian
points due to their insertion in a haft and their use as
weapon tips was studied, starting from replicas of
tanged points made of chert with a texture similar to
the Jebel Gharbi chert used for the archaeological tools.
These replicas were made on a raw material from the
Gargano Promontory (Apulia), which has a coarse but
homogeneous texture.
All the blanks were removed from the same core in
order to prevent the production of tools with an inho-
mogeneous raw material. A pseudo-Levallois centripe-
tal operational sequence was chosen using direct
percussion and a hard hammerstone. After a quick prep-
aration of the surface of percussion, various carinated
flakes were easily detached from a big cortical flake
used as core (Fig. 6 (3)).
The tanged points were shaped by means of an
invasive or covering direct retouch using an antler ham-
merstone (Fig. 6 (4)); in a few cases, the retouch by
pressure was used as well for better refining the shape of
the tang. Eight replicas of tanged points with a well-
defined tip, and six replicas of tanged points with a
roughly defined tip were produced.
Before inserting them in the haft, the morphol-
ogy of each notch was documented with a stereo-
microscope Nikon SZ equipped with a Toupcam
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Fig. 9 1 Aterian tool No. 61,

made of chert, from Ras el Wadi
(site SJ-98-28); used notch circled
with white broken line. 1a Macro
use-wear, delimited with white
line, is interpreted as the result of
engraving reeds; detail of cone
initiation and feather termination
(scale bar = 0.5 mm). 2 Aterian
tool No. 68, made of chert, from
Ras el Wadi (site SJ-98-28); used
notch circled with white broken
line. 2a Macro use-wear,
delimited with white line, is
interpreted as the result of
engraving reeds; detail of cone
initiation and feather termination
(scale bar = 1 mm) (photos by S.
Falzetti)

Camera and a reflecting light system. The tanged
points were inserted in shafts made of wood or
reeds (Arundo donax sp.), which are two materials
that were present in the environment that could
have been exploited by the Aterian populations
and, as we will see in the following paragraph,
could have been worked with notched tools (Fig. 6
(5)). We used a socket hafting method that was the
only way to firmly fix the lithic point into the
haft. The weapons (point plus shaft) made of reeds
and wood measured respectively 2 and 1.2 m in
length.
Thin vegetal ropes and glue made of beeswax and
charcoal powder were used to fix the tangs into the hafts.
We had already noticed that archaeological tangs are
quite short in proportion to entire tools (similar obser-
vations are expressed by Tomasso and Rots 2017, p. 11).
It therefore required a certain effort to prepare their slot
in the haft and to firmly insert the irregular and short
replicas of these tangs.
The hafted points were used as thrusting spears or
projectiles of atlatls thrust on a carcass of an adult goat,
comparable with a herbivore of medium size that could
have been hunted by the Aterian populations (e.g.,
Stoetzel et al. 2014).
As these replica points were inserted in the haft and
used as tips of spears/projectiles, their tangs developed a
generalized crushing and rounding of their edges
(Figs. 7 (1b) and 8 (1b)). This combination of traces is
totally different from the macro-traces formed during
the use of notches. This result confirms that hafting
traces could also be found in the Jebel Gharbi sample,
but are entirely different and cannot be confused as
traces of use, as Iovita (2011, p. 6) proposed instead.
As a matter of fact this result could be expected, as a
totally different cinematic is involved in scraping and
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Fig. 10 1 Aterian tool No. 32,

made of chert, from Ras el Wadi
(site SJ-98-28); used notch circled
with white broken line. 1a Macro
use-wear, delimited with white
line, is interpreted as the result of
debarking wood; detail of stepped
distribution (scale bar = 1 mm). 2
Aterian tool No. 48, made of
chert, from Ras el Wadi (site SJ-
98-28); used notch circled with
white broken line. 2a Macro use-
wear, delimited with white line, is
interpreted as the result of
debarking wood; detail of stepped
distribution (scale bar = 1 mm)
(photos by S. Falzetti)

cutting with a notch with respect to pushing a tang in a
haft, its possible tilting in it, and the compression forces
incurred by the tang during the use of the projectile (for
more details concerning hafting traces, see Rots 2010).
Use-Wear Analysis of the Archaeological Material
The use-wear analysis of the archaeological material
was exclusively performed on the best-preserved
tools in order to avoid as much as possible any
interference of postdepositional damages.
Twenty-four notched tools (23 made of chert
and 1 made of quartzite, sample No. 9) showed
macro-traces of use (Falzetti 2014) (Figs. 9, 10,
11, and 12). Some of them displayed two notches
facing each other (Fig. 11 (2)).
For sake of clarity, we organized the observed
macro-traces in four main groups referring to the
interpreted worked materials: soft materials
(Table 3), medium-soft materials (Table 4), medi-
um materials (Table 5), and medium-hard materials
(Table 6). We reached a detailed interpretation of
the worked materials only in a few cases (sample
Nos. 61 and 68 used for engraving reeds (Fig. 9);
sample Nos. 41 and 48 (Fig. 10 (2–2a)) used for
scraping wood; sample No. 80 (Fig. 12 (2–2a))
used for softening hide; sample Nos. 27 (Fig. 12
(1–1a)), 29, and 42 used for scraping bone).
Nevertheless, the general results indicate that dif-
ferent notches were used for a variety of activities
as it appeared in the experimental analysis.
Notches could be used either as single functional
units or as multiple units on the same tool. It also
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Fig. 11 1 Aterian tool No. 5,

made of chert, from Mahatta Frid
(site SJ-00-57); used notch circled
with white broken line. 1a Macro
use-wear, delimited with white
line, is interpreted as the result of
scraping medium/hard material;
detail of overlapping distribution
(scale bar = 1 mm). 2 Aterian tool
No. 92, made of chert, from Wadi
Ghan (site SG-99-41); used notch
circled with white broken line. 2a
Macro use-wear, delimited with
white line, is interpreted as the
result of scraping medium/hard
materials; detail of overlapping
distribution (scale bar = 1 mm)
(photos by S. Falzetti)

appeared that notches were often made on recycled
blanks.
These results also showed that this functional unit
was prepared on various types of blanks, including
discarded pieces, transforming them in very efficient
and functionally oriented tools. The combination
of more than one notch on the same blank could
indicate a sequence of distinct uses or a sequence
of actions aimed at performing a single activity
split into several steps. Therefore, facing notches
that appear like a tang in their general design
should also be placed within this context.
Conversely, the tangs that are as long as the
points showed a combination of very different
traces than the notches: a general crushing and
edge-rounding (Figs. 7 (1b) and 8 (1b)) similar
to the pattern developed on the experimental
tangs. These results confirmed the functional
specialization of the shaped proximal area of
Aterian points from the Jebel Gharbi, as insertion
portions of these specific tools.
Discussion
Our technological and functional data demonstrated that
notches and tangs follow two distinct production tech-
niques and use in the Aterian assemblages from the
Jebel Gharbi. Notches are made with abrupt, unifacial
retouching, whereas tangs are commonly bifacially
retouched in order to reduce the thickness of the prox-
imal end of the blanks. Furthermore, notches are techno-
morpho-functional units that are easy and quick to man-
ufacture, suitable for specific activities, usually oriented
to clean meat off carcasses and to produce wooden and
bone objects or to soften strips of hide. They seem the
 Author's personal copy
Afr Archaeol Rev

Fig. 12 1 Aterian tool No. 27,

made of chert, from Ras el Wadi
(site SJ-98-28); used notch circled
with white broken line. 1a Macro
use-wear, delimited with white
line, is interpreted as the result of
scraping bone; detail of stepped
distribution (scale bar = 1 mm). 2
Aterian tool No. 80, made of
chert, from Ras el Wadi (site SJ-
98-28); used notch circled with
white broken line. 2a Macro use-
wear, delimited with white line, is
interpreted as the result of
softening hide; detail of
overlapping distribution (scale
bar = 0.5 mm) (photos by S.
Falzetti)

ideal tools for human groups needing a light and flexible
toolkit to move around in search of irregular resources in
a climatically variable environment, and to face unpre-
dictable needs.
By contrast, Aterian points are projectile-oriented
tools and, in this respect, their tangs have to be seen as
a technical innovation, which was developed from the
notches and was produced to facilitate hafting. In the
Jebel Gharbi, the blanks of notches and tanged points
are integrated in the same operational sequence but have
a different mode of façonnage and different use.
We suggest that what we observed in the Jebel
Gharbi is the result of the cultural assimilation of a
technological novelty, the tang, generated from a
well-established technological background, the notch.
Tangs are the result, and an integration, of the con-
cept of two facing notches on one end of the tool. In
this case, the Bnotches^ are made with bifacial
retouching, which is another long-known technique
from before Aterian times. This Btechnological
invention^ resulted from the combination of two pre-
viously known devices: notched and bifacial tools.
According to this interpretation, the tang could have
been considered by Aterian populations as a new
resulting variant of various possible combinations of
notches for producing and/or transforming the shape
of a tool.
However, it should also be added that the resulting
new tanged tools could not be optimal and standardized
products, as they were very irregularly shaped, propor-
tionally too short with respect to the entire tools, and did
not resemble the projectile points made in later periods
in several parts of the world, including the Jebel Gharbi
(see, e.g., Barich 2014), with a different, specific tech-
nique. Aterian tanged points could be possibly related to
a phase of preinnovation of projectile points.
Table 3 Notched tools: inferred soft materials

Sample Functional Edge Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Inferred Inferred Inferred motion
No. areas rounding size distribution initiation termination direction material activity
Afr Archaeol Rev

2 1 Light-medium Small Closes irregular Cone bending Feather/step Diagonal bidirectional Soft Indeterminable Longitudinal
bidirectional
4 1 Light-medium Small-medium Closed regular Cone Feather Perpendicular Soft Indeterminable Transversal
4 2 Light-medium Small Closed regular Cone Feather Diagonal Soft Indeterminable Longitudinal
unidirectional bidirectional
57 1 Medium Small Closes irregular Cone bending Feather Diagonal bidirectional Soft Indeterminable Longitudinal
bidirectional
61 1 Light-medium Small Closes irregular Cone Feather Perpendicular Soft (reeds) Engraving Perpendicular
oblique
68 1 Medium Small Closes irregular Cone Feather Perpendicular Soft (reeds) Engraving Perpendicular
oblique
70 1 Medium- Small Closes irregular Indeterminable Feather Perpendicular Soft Indeterminable Transversal
heavy
70 2 Medium- Small-medium Closes irregular Indeterminable Feather Perpendicular Soft Indeterminable Transversal
heavy
74 1 Light-medium Small Closes irregular Cone bending Feather Perpendicular Soft Indeterminable Transversal

Table 4 Notched tools: inferred soft-medium materials

Sample Functional Edge Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Inferred Inferred Inferred motion
No. areas rounding size distribution initiation termination direction material activity

3 1 Light- Small Closed regular Cone bending Feather/step Perpendicular Soft- Indeterminable Transversal
Author's personal copy

medium medium
9 1 Light- Small Wide irregular Indeterminable Feather/step Indeterminable Soft- Indeterminable Indeterminable
medium medium
16 2 Light- Small Closed irregular Cone bending Feather/step Perpendicular Soft- Indeterminable Transversal
medium medium
24 1 Light- Small Closed irregular Cone Feather/step Diagonal bid. Soft- Indeterminable Longitudinal
medium medium bidirectional
41 1 Light- Small Closed irregular Cone Feather/step Perpendicular Soft- Indeterminable Transversal
medium medium
85 1 Light- Small Closed regular Cone Feather/step Diagonal uni. Soft- Indeterminable Longitudinal
medium medium
35 1 Light Small- Indeterminable Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Soft- Indeterminable Transversal
medium medium
Table 5 Notched tools: inferred medium materials

Sample Functional Edge Edge Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Inferred Inferred Inferred motion
No. areas rounding removal size distribution initiation termination direction material activity

1 1 Light Small- Closed regular Bending Step Diagonal Medium Indeterminable Longitudinal
medium unidirectional unidirectional
19 1 Medium Small Closed irregular Cone bending Feather/step Diagonal Medium Indeterminable Longitudinal
unidirectional unidirectional
56 2 Medium Small Overlapping Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Medium Indeterminable Transversal
32 1 Medium Small- Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Medium Scraping Transversal
medium (wood)
48 1 Light- Small- Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Medium Scraping Transversal
medium medium (wood)
48 2 Light- Small- Closed irregular Cone bending Feather Perpendicular Medium Indeterminable Transversal
medium medium

Table 6 Notched tools: inferred medium-hard materials

Sample Functional Edge Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Edge removal Inferred Inferred Inferred motion
No. areas rounding size distribution initiation termination direction material activity
Author's personal copy

5 1 Light- Small Overlapping Cone Feather Perpendicular Medium-hard Scraping Transversal

medium
27 1 Medium Small Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Medium hard Scraping Transversal
29 2 Medium Small Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Medium-hard Scraping Transversal
(bone)
42 1 Light- Small Stepped Indeterminable Step Perpendicular Medium-hard Scraping Transversal
medium (bone)
80 1 Medium Small- Overlapping Cone bending Feather/step Diagonal Medium-hard Softening Longitudinal
medium bidirectional (hide) bidirectional
92 1 Medium Medium Overlapping Cone Feather Perpendicular Medium-hard Scraping Transversal
92 2 Light- Small Overlapping Indeterminable Feather/step Perpendicular Medium-hard Scraping Transversal
medium
Afr Archaeol Rev
 Author's personal copy
Afr Archaeol Rev
The composition of the Aterian toolkits from the
Jebel Gharbi, including distinctively shaped notched
and tanged tools, raised the need to face a methodolog-
ical issue of testing their production sequence experi-
mentally, which produced an unexpected and previously
disregarded outcome. Our results demonstrated that
Aterian tanged points, rather than being a piece of
evidence, or Bthe^ evidence for’ modern behavior,
should be placed along a continuous cognitive line that
was based on previously acquired technical skills and
functional knowledge—the elaboration of notches and
the bifacial technique. Therefore, the role of Aterian
tanged tools as fingerprints or archaeological markers
of modern behavior should be reevaluated, as much as
all fossiles directeurs should be rejected.
Acknowledgments Fieldwork on the Middle Stone Age in the
Jebel Gharbi took place between 2000 and 2010, under the License
for Archaeological Excavation from the Department of Antiquities
in Libya (Law of Antiquities No. 3) to the Italian-Libyan Archae-
ological Project in the Jebel Gharbi, codirected by B.E. Barich and
E.A.A. Garcea. It was funded by the Italian Ministries for Foreign
Affairs and for Education, University and Research, and the
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. We sincerely thank Emilie
Campmas, Emmanuelle Stoetzel, Aicha Oujaa, and Eleanor Scerri
for kindly inviting us to take part in the stimulating session on
BThe Role of North Africa in the Emergence and Development of
Modern Behaviours: Integrated Approach^ that was organized at
the 2016 SAfA meeting in Toulouse, France, and to contribute to
this volume. Falzetti, Garcea, and Lemorini contributed in equal
measure to the manuscript of this paper, Mironti made the techno-
logical analysis and the reproduction of the experimental replicas,
and Drudi made the reproduction of the thrusting weapons and
organized and conducted the thrusting experiments.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no
conflict of interest.
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