The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal ornamentation, new tool forms, and regional technological traditions are widely recognized as the earliest indicators of complex culture and cognition in humans. Here we describe a bone tool tradition from Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, dated between 120,000–90,000 years ago. The bone tools were produced for different activities, including likely leather and fur working, and were found in association with carnivore remains that were possibly skinned for fur. A cetacean tooth tip bears what is likely a combination of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic modification and shows the use of a marine mammal tooth by early humans. The evidence from Contrebandiers Cave demonstrates that the pan-African emergence of complex culture included the use of multiple and diverse materials for specialized tool manufacture.

智人的出现更新世非洲与技术的深刻重构有关。符号表达和个人装饰、新的工具形式和区域技术传统被广泛认为是人类复杂文化和认知的最早指标。在这里，我们描述了摩洛哥大西洋沿岸 Contrebandiers Cave 的骨工具传统，其历史可追溯至 120,000-90,000 年前。骨头工具是为不同的活动而生产的，包括可能的皮革和毛皮加工，并且被发现与可能为毛皮剥皮的食肉动物遗骸有关。鲸类的牙齿尖端带有可能是人为和非人为修饰的组合，并显示了早期人类使用海洋哺乳动物牙齿的情况。