Lower Paleolithic Stone-Animal ontologies: stone scrapers as mediators between early humans and their preferred prey

Animal meat, fat, and other animal-derived materials have been essential for human adaptation since the Early Palaeolithic, forming a crucial foundation for many hunter-gatherer societies until recently. In these societies, animals were perceived as vital beings with whom a balanced relationship, based on respect, was paramount. Stone tools for multi-stage butchery enabled efficient acquisition and processing of animal remains, aligning with Indigenous ontologies. Ethnographic and ethno-archaeological data globally indicate that stone tools used in hunting, butchery, and hide-working evolved alongside changes in animal availability, driven by practical and ontological factors. Our case study from the Late Lower Palaeolithic Levant illustrates how technological transformations driven by shifting faunal availability may have mirrored cosmological perspectives. We address the viability of employing an ontological approach to interpret Acheulian hominins and suggest that stone tools were practically and perceptually associated with the animals they were designed to procure and process, starting in the Palaeolithic.