https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2023/3me/news/modelling-of-adhesive-technology-sheds-new-light-on-prehistoric-cognition

Studying prehistoric production processes of birch bark
tar using computational modelling reveals what kinds of
cognition were required for the materials produced by
Neanderthal and early modern humans. Researchers of Team
Langejans in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
department recently published two papers on one of the
world’s oldest transformative technologies, publishing
their findings in Nature Scientific Reports.

Measuring complexity
Birch bark tar is the first time we see evidence of
creating a new material, said Dr. Paul Kozowyk, lead
author on one of the papers. Examining the methods used to
create the tar is an important step in understanding the
behaviours and technical cognition required by the
Neanderthals. Using Petri net models, a formal modelling
language, Dr. Sebastian Fajardo led a study looking at
various production methods, using metrics from existing
literature to measure complexity. “Neanderthals used, at
least on some occasions, a complex production process to
make tar. To do that they needed ways to deal with a lot
of information, like understanding and a way to transmit
information very well,” he said. The findings from the
study suggest that Neanderthals probably relied on several
cognitive traits that archaeologists often associate with
modern thinking and behaviour.
....

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-41963-z
Scaling Palaeolithic tar production processes
exponentially increases behavioural complexity
Published: 07 September 2023

Abstract
Technological processes, reconstructed from the
archaeological record, are used to study the evolution
of behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals and early
modern humans. In comparisons, technologies that are
more complex infer more complex behaviour and cognition.
The manufacture of birch bark tar adhesives is regarded
as particularly telling and often features in debates
about Neanderthal cognition. One method of tar
production, the ‘condensation technique’, demonstrates
a pathway for Neanderthals to have discovered birch
bark tar. However, to improve on the relatively low
yield, and to turn tar into a perennial innovation,
this method likely needed to be scaled up. Yet, it is
currently unknown how scaling Palaeolithic
technological processes influences their complexity.
We used Petri net models and the Extended Cyclomatic
Metric to measure system complexity of birch tar
production with a single and three concurrent
condensation assemblies. Our results show that
changing the number of concurrent tar production
assemblies substantially increases the measured
complexity. This has potential implications on the
behavioural and cognitive capacities required by
Neanderthals, such as an increase in cooperation or
inhibition control.

Thanks a lot, this beautifully confirms our view: neandertal huge brain (DHA in aquatic foods), pachyosteosclerosis (half as in H.erectus: still frequently diving, probably seasonally), platymeria, platypelloidy, platycephaly etc.
Tar (also) to make boasts watertight?
https://www.gondwanatalks.com/l/the-waterside-hypothesis-wading-led-to-upright-walking-in-early-humans/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07v2ysg David Attenborough "The Waterside Ape"

> https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2023/3me/news/modelling-of-adhesive-technology-sheds-new-light-on-prehistoric-cognition
> Studying prehistoric production processes of birch bark
> tar using computational modelling reveals what kinds of
> cognition were required for the materials produced by
> Neanderthal and early modern humans. Researchers of Team
> Langejans in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
> department recently published two papers on one of the
> world’s oldest transformative technologies, publishing
> their findings in Nature Scientific Reports.
> Measuring complexity
> Birch bark tar is the first time we see evidence of
> creating a new material, said Dr. Paul Kozowyk, lead
> author on one of the papers. Examining the methods used to
> create the tar is an important step in understanding the
> behaviours and technical cognition required by the
> Neanderthals. Using Petri net models, a formal modelling
> language, Dr. Sebastian Fajardo led a study looking at
> various production methods, using metrics from existing
> literature to measure complexity. “Neanderthals used, at
> least on some occasions, a complex production process to
> make tar. To do that they needed ways to deal with a lot
> of information, like understanding and a way to transmit
> information very well,” he said. The findings from the
> study suggest that Neanderthals probably relied on several
> cognitive traits that archaeologists often associate with
> modern thinking and behaviour. ...

> https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-41963-z
> Scaling Palaeolithic tar production processes
> exponentially increases behavioural complexity
> Published: 07 September 2023
> Abstract
> Technological processes, reconstructed from the
> archaeological record, are used to study the evolution
> of behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals and early
> modern humans. In comparisons, technologies that are
> more complex infer more complex behaviour and cognition.
> The manufacture of birch bark tar adhesives is regarded
> as particularly telling and often features in debates
> about Neanderthal cognition. One method of tar
> production, the ‘condensation technique’, demonstrates
> a pathway for Neanderthals to have discovered birch
> bark tar. However, to improve on the relatively low
> yield, and to turn tar into a perennial innovation,
> this method likely needed to be scaled up. Yet, it is
> currently unknown how scaling Palaeolithic
> technological processes influences their complexity.
> We used Petri net models and the Extended Cyclomatic
> Metric to measure system complexity of birch tar
> production with a single and three concurrent
> condensation assemblies. Our results show that
> changing the number of concurrent tar production
> assemblies substantially increases the measured
> complexity. This has potential implications on the
> behavioural and cognitive capacities required by
> Neanderthals, such as an increase in cooperation or
> inhibition control.

littor...@gmail.com wrote:
> Thanks a lot, this beautifully confirms our view: neandertal huge brain (DHA in aquatic foods), pachyosteosclerosis (half as in H.erectus: still frequently diving, probably seasonally), platymeria, platypelloidy, platycephaly etc.
> Tar (also) to make boasts watertight?

No, spears and weapons

https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/neanderthal-birch-tar-glue-adhesive-spear.htm
That beautifully confirms our view.

> https://www.gondwanatalks.com/l/the-waterside-hypothesis-wading-led-to-upright-walking-in-early-humans/
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07v2ysg David Attenborough "The Waterside Ape"
>
>> https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2023/3me/news/modelling-of-adhesive-technology-sheds-new-light-on-prehistoric-cognition
>> Studying prehistoric production processes of birch bark
>> tar using computational modelling reveals what kinds of
>> cognition were required for the materials produced by
>> Neanderthal and early modern humans. Researchers of Team
>> Langejans in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
>> department recently published two papers on one of the
>> world’s oldest transformative technologies, publishing
>> their findings in Nature Scientific Reports.
>> Measuring complexity
>> Birch bark tar is the first time we see evidence of
>> creating a new material, said Dr. Paul Kozowyk, lead
>> author on one of the papers. Examining the methods used to
>> create the tar is an important step in understanding the
>> behaviours and technical cognition required by the
>> Neanderthals. Using Petri net models, a formal modelling
>> language, Dr. Sebastian Fajardo led a study looking at
>> various production methods, using metrics from existing
>> literature to measure complexity. “Neanderthals used, at
>> least on some occasions, a complex production process to
>> make tar. To do that they needed ways to deal with a lot
>> of information, like understanding and a way to transmit
>> information very well,” he said. The findings from the
>> study suggest that Neanderthals probably relied on several
>> cognitive traits that archaeologists often associate with
>> modern thinking and behaviour. ...
>
>> https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-41963-z
>> Scaling Palaeolithic tar production processes
>> exponentially increases behavioural complexity
>> Published: 07 September 2023
>> Abstract
>> Technological processes, reconstructed from the
>> archaeological record, are used to study the evolution
>> of behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals and early
>> modern humans. In comparisons, technologies that are
>> more complex infer more complex behaviour and cognition.
>> The manufacture of birch bark tar adhesives is regarded
>> as particularly telling and often features in debates
>> about Neanderthal cognition. One method of tar
>> production, the ‘condensation technique’, demonstrates
>> a pathway for Neanderthals to have discovered birch
>> bark tar. However, to improve on the relatively low
>> yield, and to turn tar into a perennial innovation,
>> this method likely needed to be scaled up. Yet, it is
>> currently unknown how scaling Palaeolithic
>> technological processes influences their complexity.
>> We used Petri net models and the Extended Cyclomatic
>> Metric to measure system complexity of birch tar
>> production with a single and three concurrent
>> condensation assemblies. Our results show that
>> changing the number of concurrent tar production
>> assemblies substantially increases the measured
>> complexity. This has potential implications on the
>> behavioural and cognitive capacities required by
>> Neanderthals, such as an increase in cooperation or
>> inhibition control.

Primum Sapienti wrote:

> https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/neanderthal-birch-tar-glue-adhesive-spear.htm

The talk about methods/efficiency, though interesting, is less than
compelling. It reminded me of... I think it was a Time Team episode.

They were re-creating Roman iron making -- the work of slaves --
and easily bested the ancient Romans: Their slag contained far
less iron than the Roman waste. And, as I've pointed to many
times over the years, in Mussolini used ancient Roman slag as an
iron source: Probably only partly because the Romans were so
inefficient, and partly for the symbolism of forging his modern
Italy with Roman iron.

The real issue though is that modern measures of efficiency
simply do not apply to the past. Rome had a big empire. It was
probably more efficient for them to cherry pick the richest ores
than to fret over what percentage of iron was in their slag. And
the Neanderthals, well, we have no idea what even the starting
point might be!

How much pitch did they actually use? When was it made?

Did they sit down and glue 15 or 25 spears & axes at once, or
were they turning them out ad hoc, if and when a need arose?

Something in between?

Was this a job for the men? Women? children? Elderly?

One critical piece here is the fire. Was the fuel collected and
the fire burned simply for glue alone, or were they making
glue as they preserved meats:

https://frontierbushcraft.com/2020/04/29/bushcraft-beef-jerky-in-the-woods/

There's SO many variables...

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