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If the tools were used again, perhaps they did it just because was easy. Reusing some tool doesn't require you to honour, preserve or remember ancestors.
by woliveirajr 5y ago
If the tools were used again, perhaps they did it just because was easy.
Reusing some tool doesn't require you to honour, preserve or remember ancestors.
- oh_sigh 5y agoI agree - supporting details are even brought up in the paper itself, except it is presented as a "baffling discovery": > [I]n their second lifecycle the tools were reshaped in a very specific and minimal manner, preserving the original form of the tool, including its patina, and only slightly modifying the active edge. If I need to make my own knives any time I want to use one, I think it would be easier to pick up an old dull knife and sharpen it a little bit, instead of making a brand new knife from scratch.
- shakezula 5y agoI, too, wonder how they reached the conclusion that these flint samples were specifically collected and not just recycled. I’m not fully convinced their findings support the collection claim, but I also don’t consider it far-fetched that flint and other tools were passed down through generations and collected or honored by descendants. What I do find interesting is that in your quoted passage note the second use was seemingly lighter duty. Maybe they had an understanding of wear cycles for flint and adjusted use accordingly?
- Ekaros 5y agoWith steel you try to keep edge angle same, but I think that might be much harder with flint and as such the angle is likely to change. And best angle might be with the freshly made tool so you keep using those when you need it and relegate the old ones for other use.
- Ekaros 5y agoOr maybe they were pre-historic hoarders... Why waste "perfectly" good and usable tool, surely they needed it one day and they don't take that much space... I really don't see need to subscribe everything to religion or culture...