Study: Neandertals Made Bone Points

Nature has a story detailing research indicating the use of bone tools by Neandertals. Ewen Callaway writes:

Excavations of Neanderthal sites more than 40,000 years old have uncovered a kind of tool that leather workers still use to make hides more lustrous and water resistant. The bone tools, known as lissoirs, had previously been associated only with modern humans. The latest finds indicate that Neanderthals and modern humans might have invented the tools independently.

This is one of those things that has always been suspected but never shown. It is nice to finally have the evidence. It isn't immediately clear, however that they developed them independently. The incoming moderns may have learned the craft from the Neandertals they interbred with.  Here is the photo from Nature.