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. 2015 Mar 11;10(3):e0119802.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119802. eCollection 2015.

Evidence for Neandertal jewelry: modified white-tailed eagle claws at Krapina

Davorka Radovčić  1 , Ankica Oros Sršen  2 , Jakov Radovčić  1 , David W Frayer  3
Affiliations

Evidence for Neandertal jewelry: modified white-tailed eagle claws at Krapina

Davorka Radovčić et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

We describe eight, mostly complete white-tailed eagle (Haliaëtus [Haliaeetus] albicilla) talons from the Krapina Neandertal site in present-day Croatia, dating to approximately 130 kyrs ago. Four talons bear multiple, edge-smoothed cut marks; eight show polishing facets and/or abrasion. Three of the largest talons have small notches at roughly the same place along the plantar surface, interrupting the proximal margin of the talon blade. These features suggest they were part of a jewelry assemblage, --- the manipulations a consequence of mounting the talons in a necklace or bracelet. An associated phalanx articulates with one of the talons and has numerous cut marks, some of which are smoothed. These white-tailed eagle bones, discovered more than 100 years ago, all derive from a single level at Krapina and represent more talons than found in the entire European Mousterian period. Presence of eight talons indicates that the Krapina Neandertals acquired and curated eagle talons for some kind of symbolic purpose. Some have argued that Neandertals lacked symbolic ability or copied this behavior from modern humans. These remains clearly show that the Krapina Neandertals made jewelry well before the appearance of modern humans in Europe, extending ornament production and symbolic activity early into the European Mousterian.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Co-author David Frayer, is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE Editorial policies and criteria.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Krapina 385.1, a right talon 2.
Three cut marks are preserved on the lateral surface: (a) a short superior cut mark; (b) a long cut mark interrupted by the foramen; (c) a short inferior mark. Edges of most cut marks are not sharp. An abraded area (d) occurs near the proximal edge of the joint.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Krapina 385.4, a left talon 3.
Shown are a highly polished area (a) and two cut marks (arrow) above it. A SEM (b) of the polished area is twisted ~90° from the lower magnification image showing the full face of the polished surface and the hinge fracture below it. On the talon a light pencil mark “9” is preserved at the mid-talon position.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Krapina 385.5, a right talon 1.
Lambrecht [29] did not include this talon (S2 Fig.), presumably because it was damaged.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Krapina 386.1, a right talon 2.
Two cut marks with smoothed edges and a magnification of the area shows that the more proximal one has the broader dimension.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Krapina 385.18, a left digit 3 phalanx with multiple cut marks.
SEMs include (a) distal cut marks on the dorsal, (b) cut marks on the diaphysis at the distal, lateral edge and (c) a distal, lateral cut mark on the diaphysis.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Articulation of Krapina 385.4 and 386.18.
Dorsal (a) and lateral (b) view; arrow in (b) points to highly polished area on 385.4.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Three examples of human manipulation.
(a) Smoothed cut marks on the articular facet of 385.1; (b) burnished area near the tip of 386.1; (c) nick on the otherwise sharp plantar margin of 386.1. The nick is partly filled with varnish, applied when the specimen was inventoried in the early 1900s.
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