Exploring Gravettian Mammoth Rib Tool Production in the Ach Valley (SW Germany) Through Experimental Archaeology

Abstract Artefacts made from mammoth ribs are common in Gravettian contexts in the Swabian Jura of southern Germany. The death of the Indian elephant cow Molly at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart presented a rare opportunity to conduct experimental archaeological studies aimed at reconstructing the manufacturing processes of such tools. These experiments were carried out during the workshop “Processing of Proboscidean Ribs as Raw Material for Tools,” held at the Museum für Urgeschichte und Eiszeitkunst (URMU). The primary objective was to process elephant ribs in order to gain insights into the chaîne opératoire involved in the production of smoothers and points, and to compare the experimental results with archaeological evidence derived from faunal remains and mammoth rib artefacts recovered from Hohle Fels and Geißenklösterle caves. The analysis of the workshop identified three principal stages in the production sequence: (1) the manufacture of a rib blank, (2) the longitudinal splitting of the blank, and (3) the shaping of smoothers or points. While certain technological traits and manufacturing traces produced during the experimental workshop could be identified in the archaeological assemblage, others were not evident. This reciprocal process of experimentation and archaeological analysis proved to be a crucial step in the investigation of the discarded rib material from Hohle Fels and Geißenklösterle.