30,000-year-old 'personal toolkit' found in the Czech Republic provides 'very rare' glimpse into the life of a Stone Age hunter-gatherer

Around 30,000 years ago, a hunter-gatherer left behind what may be a "personal toolkit" in what is now the Czech Republic, a new study finds.

Researchers uncovered the extraordinary cluster of artifacts in 2021 during an excavation at the Paleolithic site of Milovice IV. The "kit" contains 29 stone blades and bladelets that were found clumped together. The nature of the find indicates that the tools were bundled when deposited, likely in a container or case made from a perishable material, according to the study, which was published Aug. 13 in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.

This rare collection is likely the personal gear of a prehistoric person who may have used the tool kit during hunting expeditions and migratory journeys, the authors suggested. But the individual, whose sex is unknown, eventually lost or intentionally discarded the gear at a residential camp, the research team said.

The find provides a remarkable glimpse into the life of a hunter-gatherer from the Paleolithic, which spans roughly 3.3 million years ago to just over 10,000 years ago.

The artifacts likely highlight an episode in the life of one person — which is "very rare" for the Paleolithic, study first author Dominik Chlachula, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, told Live Science in an email.

Moreover, the discovery may shed light on the behavior of prehistoric people during migrations or hunting trips, which did not tend to leave behind many traces in the landscape and are therefore practically invisible to archaeologists, he said.

Stone Age site

The Milovice IV site where the artifacts were found displays evidence of human activity across thousands of years of the Upper Paleolithic. But the particular archaeological layer in which the cluster was recovered represents a "relatively narrow timespan" of human occupation between roughly 30,250 and 29,550 years ago, according to the study.

Evidence from the layer indicates that Paleolithic humans may have used the site to camp, produce tools and butcher animals , among other activities. But it remains unclear whether such activities occurred during a single occupation or several successive episodes.

If the artifacts from the proposed hunter's tool kit had been found separated, they would not have stood out from the other discarded or worn-out artifacts commonly found at the Milovice IV site. "It is the context which makes them interesting," Chlachula said.

An analysis of the tools and their traces of wear revealed that they were used in a variety of ways. While a few show tentative evidence of use as projectiles, others were likely employed for cutting, scraping and drilling. The study suggests that the tools may have been used for activities such as processing meat, animal hides and wood, according to the study.

"We can argue that the cluster is associated with tasks conducted on hunting expeditions, initial butchering of game and possibly the maintenance of weapons or exploitation of woody plant resources," the authors wrote in the paper.

The latest finds are associated with the Gravettian prehistoric culture, which existed in Europe starting around 33,000 years ago, persisting in different variants for several thousand years. They were known for hunting mammoths, living with dogs, and likely using spear-throwers and bows.

"Their economy was based on hunting and gathering, but they developed complex cultural, technological and social behaviour with long-distance connections," Chlachula said.

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