Archaeologists blown away by 'sophisticated' Neanderthal tools dating back 50,000 years

Some of these tools would have been used for hunting as well as for leatherworking.

Berrin Çep, the lead author of the new study, said: “In some cases, we have been able to trace in detail how other basic shapes, such as flakes and blades, were first made from stone cores and how these were further processed into tools.

“Reconstructions like this are rarely possible at Neanderthal cave sites in the Swabian Jura, because usually not all the material from the manufacturing process at the site.

“Also, in early excavations, often not all finds were recorded.”

Mr Schürch added: “Based on the reconstructions, we were able to prove that the Neanderthals at the Heidenschmiede used a branched manufacturing system in which various techniques known to the makers were applied to one core piece of stone.”

source: express.co.uk