The toolbox

11 blades, 8 scrapers, 3 burins, 2 points and other micro-tools all made of flint: this is what the toolkit of a person who lived 30,000 years ago in what is now the Czech Republic contained. In 2021 researchers discovered these artefacts grouped together at the Paleolithic site of Milovice IV: in all likelihood they were originally stored in a container or a pouch made of perishable material, which has not been preserved. The site, located south of Moravia, was used in the Paleolithic as a camp by hunter-gatherers, who carried out various activities there such as tool production and animal butchery.

This group of tools, otherwise indistinguishable from others, attracted the researchers’ attention because of the context in which they were found: all grouped together, they represented the personal equipment of an individual, giving us a rare glimpse into everyday life in such a remote period. The analysis of the tools revealed that they were regularly maintained and eventually modified and recycled when they broke. Even small flakes or points continued to be used, probably due to a shortage of raw materials during hunting expeditions. The traces of wear revealed how they were used: some were projectiles, while others were used for cutting, scraping and piercing in activities such as meat butchery, hide processing and woodworking.

According to the researchers, the site and the objects found can be associated with hunting expeditions and with an initial butchering of the prey. One of these hunters, we do not know whether male or female, lost or deliberately abandoned their tools, which have thus come down to us.

Agnese Picco
NP November 2025