Journal of Lithic Studies
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Investigating non-flint lithic resources management during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Aquitaine Basin using an integrated approach: A Late Solutrean case application (Landry, Dordogne, France)
Full text linkAs opposed to areas with a crystalline substratum, the Aquitaine Basin in southwestern France is a territory where flint and chert resources are abundant. The exploitation of those cryptocrystalline, silica materials prevailed in this region throughout prehistory, especially during the Upper Palaeolithic, but other rock types frequently account for a noticeable proportion of the archaeological record. In such context, the choice to rely partly on non-flint lithic materials cannot be seen as an alternative strategy to compensate for an absence of flint. However, poor documentation is currently available for discussing the economic role of these resources.
We take here the example of Landry, an open-air site in the Isle Valley showing a single occupation level providing mobile art and characteristic Late Solutrean (24-23 ka cal. BP) flint productions. This site yielded non-flint lithic remains in considerable number, some of which related to flake production or macro-lithic implements. The documentation of this component was considered essential, both to understand the site in a more comprehensive way and to provide first insights into the economic role of such resources in the Late Solutrean.
In order to explore several phases of the exploitation of non-flint lithic resources (thus leading to a comprehensive documentation of this component), we relied on a set of complementary methodologies classical for lithic analysis but adapted to the peculiarities of non-flint rocks according to recent developments of the field. Determination of raw material lithology and procurement areas was achieved through a petrographic analysis (macro and mesoscopic scales) coupled with a field survey. A technological analysis led to the identification of blank production methods and objectives. An observation of macroscopic use-wear traces coupled with an analysis of techno-functional units allowed a first approach of tool diversity, especially concerning non-manufactured tools. Edged tools were further investigated through a use-wear study (Low and High Power Analyses). Analysis of the planimetric distribution of non-flint lithic artefacts revealed the spatial organisation of related processes and activities.
At Landry, non-flint raw materials relate to a wide petrographic spectrum (quartz-quartzite, dolerite, ignimbrite, etc.) originating from local alluvial deposits. Edged tools result from short flaking production sequences (unmodified flakes) or partial shaping (worked pebbles), while non-manufactured blanks (pebbles, fragments) constitutes a multi-purpose toolkit (percussion, friction, work surfaces, etc.). Blank production or selection occurred on the spot, as the need arose. By comparing these results with available data on the flint component, this study reveals the complementarity between a highly mobile flint toolkit (anticipating future needs) and a local expedient but diversified toolkit (for immediate requirements). This dichotomy goes beyond the flint versus non-flint duality.
Despite some limitations, the approach presented in this paper gives a global and integrated vision of the processes related to non-flint lithic resources exploitation at the site, allowing comparison and combination with other available data (e.g., flint production) and preparing additional analyses
Lithic industries and stylistic entities during the Early Neolithic (LBK) in the Rhine-Meuse-Seine basins
Full text linkThe study of the decorated ceramics of the Rubané or Linearbandkeramik (LBK) has long structured the construction of the chronological sequence of the Early Neolithic of northwestern Europe. Recent contributions make it possible to individualize regional stylistic groups. Examination of the different regional corpuses shows that, following the break-up of a common stylistic stage known as the Flomborn entity, the decorative elements of each region evolved differently giving rise to individualised entities that sometimes seem very homogeneous in terms of the style of decorations used (e.g., the Rhine-Meuse ensemble of the Middle Rubané).
This contribution aims to compare the results obtained from the ceramic corpus with those of the lithic industry. It shows that out of a common base, regional differences emerged that are also quite significant, whether from the point of view of the procurement of raw materials, reduction process or tool typology. For example, the geographical networks of raw material circulation reveal preferential axes between certain regions (such as the northern and southern parts of the Ardennes Massif) or, on the contrary, border effects that must be compared and contrasted with the entities previously defined on the basis of decorated ceramics. The theoretical significance of these initial observations and the contribution that the techno-economic analysis of lithic industries can drive to the understanding of the relations between communities in the Early Neolithic of the Rhine-Meuse-Seine basins will be examined through network analysis
Modes of chipped stone tool production: the early farming societies in the North-Western Pontic region
Full text linkThe chipped stone assemblages of early farmers in the south of the Eastern Europe take several forms. 1) They can have a developed laminar component, with production wastes underrepresented, with a high percentage of retouched items (mostly blades with lateral retouch and endscrapers on blades), an exploitation of a high-quality long-distance imported raw material. These assemblages usually are numerically small. 2) Others demonstrate a “simplified” technical set (wide use of hard-hammer), many wastes of production, relatively low percentage of formal tools, most retouched tools on flakes (mostly retouched flakes and endscrapers on flakes), an exploitation of medium quality local chert. These assemblages are relatively larger in numbers. The latter complexes are often explained via the interaction with a local hunter-gatherer population.
An alternative explanation can be sought via the notion of social organisation of flintworking. The early farmers were able to develop a complex system of flintworking based on intra- and inter- communal specialization and constant exchange of blanks and tools. The complexes of the first type result from an inclusion of a settlement into its exchange network. The complexes of the second type represent domestic production of households, satisfying its needs on its own, being excluded from its exchange network. So, early farmers’ flintknapping existed in two modes: “domestic” and “exchange”. “Exchange” mode is a common way of chipped stone tools production in early farming societies. “Domestic” mode is common in “borderline situation” under conditions of on-going Neolithisation of new terrain. Every early farming lithic assemblage can be treated as composed of products of these two modes to varying degree
La Evolución en la tecnología de cosecha: Un estudio de la diversidad a partir de restos líticos y botánicos en el Neolítico Ibérico (8th-7th milenio cal. BP)
No full textPioneer farming groups arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in the first half of the eighth-millennium cal. BP. Since then, the spread of new populations continued, and the highly diverse material culture of the Neolithic has been interpreted as a reflection of multiple origins and as the regionalisation that followed. In the past few decades, the study of different lithic tools has served to explore cultural Neolithic patterns. In particular, changes in harvesting technology have provided helpful information about the diffusion of Neolithic groups, proposing possible transfers in technology or even cultural adaptation to agricultural changes as explanatory factors for subsequent shifts. Here, we investigate how the initial diversity in harvesting technology changes or remains over time and in different regions according to crop harvesting preferences. Also, we test whether the diversity of harvesting tool dynamics is related to technological factors. Thus, we characterise the crops, blade production, and harvesting tools associated with different areas from 7600 to 6400 cal. BP on a large and refined chrono-cultural scale. As a result, we confirm that using one sickle type is independent of the crop harvested, and at least until the Middle Neolithic, we observe that it does not limit the incorporation of the new agricultural system into the region. By including glossy and no glossy blade measurements in the analysis, we discard the effects of technological limitations as an obstacle for replicating the parallel type in those contexts where it is not documented. Moreover, we found significant differences between the coefficients of variation in blade samples inserted differently, likely influenced by the hafting system. Whenever possible, we discuss how this adapts to blade production. Incorporating a filter in selecting the sample in favour of dated assemblages made it possible to situate these patterns on a comparative scale of two hundred years through the entire time framework. En la península Ibérica, grupos de agricultores pioneros llegaron hacia la primera mitad del 8th milenio cal BP. Desde entonces, continuó la expansión de nuevas poblaciones, y la diversidad de la cultura material que nos proporcionan los contextos neolíticos se ha interpretado como un reflejo tanto de los múltiples orígenes de estos grupos como de la regionalización que siguió a su llegada. En las últimas décadas, el estudio de diferentes herramientas líticas ha servido para explorar patrones culturales del periodo. En particular, la detección de cambios en la tecnología de recolección ha proporcionado información útil sobre la difusión de los grupos neolíticos, proponiéndose como factores explicativos de los cambios posteriores posibles transferencias en la tecnología o incluso la adaptación cultural a cambios agrícolas. Este trabajo busca comparar continuidades y discontinuidades entre los factores económicos, sociales y técnicos caracterizando el cultivo cereal, la producción de láminas y los elementos de hoz según distintas áreas entre el 7600 y el 6400 cal. BP en una escala cronocultural amplia. Como resultado, se confirma que el uso de un tipo de hoz es independiente del cultivo cosechado y, al menos hasta el Neolítico Medio, observamos que no limita la incorporación del nuevo sistema agrícola en la región. Al incluir en el análisis las medidas de láminas con pátina y de producciones laminares, descartamos limitaciones tecnológicas en aquellas áreas donde no se introdujo el tipo de inserción paralela. Además, encontramos diferencias significativas entre las variaciones de las láminas insertas de diferentes maneras, probablemente relacionadas con restricciones de enmangue y, cuando los datos lo permitieron, discutimos la forma en que la producción laminar se adaptó a ellas. La incorporación de filtros en el proceso de selección de la muestra a favor de conjuntos datados permitió situar estos patrones en una escala comparativa de doscientos años
Outside the box: Lithic raw material analysis as an indication of crossing cultural borderlines by the earliest Linear Pottery Culture?
Full text linkSouthern Bavaria marks a marginal area of the earliest Linear Pottery Culture in Central Europe. It is adjacent to the Southern Alpine Foreland, which represents an area for potential interaction with other cultural entities. Neolithic research in this region has largely focused on pottery analysis as a basis for answering chrono-cultural questions, leaving lithic analysis as a proxy for spatial processes at a lower resolution. For comparisons with the preceding Mesolithic however, the study of lithic finds is essential as they are the common denominator between the two periods. To confront this gap in the empirical data, a lithic assemblage from an earliest LBK site in the Isar valley of southern Bavaria was studied with a special focus on raw material analysis and typo-technological aspects of the Knappable Siliceous Sedimentary Rocks (henceforth, KSSR). The objective was to generate high-resolution raw material data obtained by sorting and determination of sedimentary microfacies. Results show that the main raw material components originate from two different regions of Bavaria, the Ortenburg district and the Donau-Altmühl region. Additionally, they reveal bridges across the Alps and into Switzerland, which supports the idea that clear-cut archaeological borders were in fact more permeable and that long-distance importation occurred from non-LBK regions. This opens up a discussion about the agents and processes of long-distance raw material transport, relations between cultural entities as well as the mobility of the earliest LBK itself across its archaeological distribution. Set in a diachronic perspective, it is shown that Southern Bavaria can be viewed as a transitional zone during the earliest phase of the LBK, with mobility occurring for different motives
Dynamic multiscalar approach for structuring and scaling human activities involving lithics
Full text linkThis paper aims to contribute to the discussion on borders and boundaries from the perspective of lithics. European archaeological and historical research has seen numerous endeavours to create an overarching definition of borders of spatial, social, political, linguistic and religious kinds. This is particularly important in the context of the modern, strongly divided European nation states, and this situation has a strong impact on the archaeological concept of culture. Lithic materials are usually not associated with the concepts of culture and group, which was and often still is the coordinate system for prehistoric communities since the Neolithic. How can we look at prehistoric societies as social units and integrate lithic studies into the overarching archaeological narrative? As a first step, we should put these artificial borders aside and take into account as many variables that can interfere with human behaviour as possible. This paper tries to create a framework (referring to some case studies) at micro-, meso-, and macro-scales for structuring spatial, temporal, social, contextual and habitual variables based solely on lithic materials to demonstrate the importance of stone assemblages and litho-scapes in archaeological narratives. By looking at activities involving lithics, we become aware that borders are very diverse and variable, thus cannot be treated as part of a static system. On the contrary, different boundaries (instead of borders) need to be treated as continuously changing units that function in different ways at different scales. Thus, we should try to use a dynamic multiscalar approach in lithic research
Exploring the production of lithic instruments at Mahal Teglinos (Eastern Sudan): An experimental approach for the characterisation of residues, macro and micro traces derived from the knapping on anvil technique of quartz, quartzite and chert pebbles and cobbles
Full text linkDespite the existence of intense research focused on the characterisation of macro traces derived from the use of the knapping on anvil technique, little attention has been dedicated to the detection of micro technical traces and residues on blanks and cores produced by means of this knapping technique. Macro technical traces derived from the knapping on anvil technique were detected on stone artefacts from the Gash Group’s lithic assemblage (middle III - early II millennium BCE) at Mahal Teglinos (K1), located in the modern region of Kassala in Eastern Sudan. An experimental programme, was developed to localise macro and micro manufacturing traces and residues from this knapping technique, using pebbles and small cobbles of quartz, quartzite and chert to create a reference collection for the interpretation of archaeological material. The methodology, adopted for this study, involved the combined use of several microscopes for traceological and residue analyses. Stereo and 3D digital microscopes have been utilised to characterise macro technical traces and locate possible residues. The elemental chemical composition of the residues has been characterised trough scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) and element maps. The association of macro and micro traces (evidence of polishing and striations) identified on the experimental materials enabled the comparison and detection of similar technical traces on some archaeological material, as there are cases in which similar macro traces may result from direct percussion knapping. Our experiment demonstrated that macro traces are present on nearly all stone artefact replicas, while residues develop more easily on stone artefacts with specific characteristics of the butt and counter-butt of flakes and striking and resting platform of cores. Micro-technical traces confirm that blanks and cores were produced using the knapping on anvil technique when macro traces characteristics of this knapping technique are present on stone artefacts within a lithic assemblage, while residues indicate the lithology of the used hammerstone and anvil
Scraper reduction at the Early Neolithic site of Hurst Fen, Suffolk, England
Full text linkPrior analyses of Neolithic flaked stone assemblages in Britain have tended to focus on the relative abundance of different implement types as a basis for inferring the structure of settlement and subsistence patterns during this period, with dorsally retouched ‘scrapers’ dominating the retouched components of most assemblages. Here we investigate the relationship between scraper morphology and reduction intensity at the classic Early Neolithic site of Hurst Fen in Suffolk, England. We hypothesize that the morphological variability underpinning the distinction between formal scraper types at Hurst Fen is largely a product of increasing reduction intensity. To test this hypothesis, we apply a range of quantitative measures of reduction intensity to a sample of 175 complete scrapers from the site, including: Kuhn’s (1990) Geometric Index of Unifacial Reduction (GIUR), Hiscock and Attenbrow\u27s (2002; 2005) retouch curvature and retouched zone indices, perimeter of retouch, and retouched edge angle. Correlation statistics and descriptive plots of the relationship between Kuhn’s GIUR and the remaining retouch characteristics reveal universally positive and statistically significant relationships, albeit with the correlation between the GIUR and retouched edge angle markedly weaker than for the other retouch characteristics. Collectively, the results of our analyses support the hypothesis that the extent to which scrapers were reduced throughout their respective use-lives was a critical factor in the creation of morphological and, by extension, typological variability in the Hurst Fen scraper assemblage. At the same time, our data suggest that Early Neolithic knappers at Hurst Fen habitually knapped and resharpened scrapers in such a manner that a relatively low edge angle of around 60˚ was continually reproduced, raising the possibility of preconceived ‘designs’ that were primarily expressed in the morphological features of retouched edges. We propose a model of scraper reduction that accounts for most of the differences in scraper morphology at Hurst Fen and evaluate the analytical utility of Clark’s hugely influential typological scheme in view of this. We also consider the implications of our findings for interpretations of morphological patterning in British Neolithic scraper assemblages more broadly
Crossing the line: Multi-layer analysis and the identification of different borderlines
Full text linkThis paper introduces a volume that brings together specialists in lithic studies to explore how this proxy can reveal different spatial patterns across a large European territory. It examines how diverse behaviours in various environmental and geographical areas can enhance our understanding of social processes during European neolithisation. Initially, we investigate the concept of borders and borderlines, proposing models based on the space considered as a border, the presence of sought-after resources within this space, the agents present, and the nature of interactions between these agents. Subsequently, we discuss the potential of lithic analysis for identifying social groups and different types of borders. Neolithic cultural entities have primarily been defined through typo-stylistic analysis of pottery, while lithics are underutilised in this context. Lithics, however, offer a valuable proxy for understanding the spatial distribution of these entities. Petrographic studies now allow us to precisely define lithic sources, and all actions carried out on these raw materials are readable. Lithics thus enable the tracking of raw material origins and the movement of these materials within a given area. Establishing these circulation networks is crucial for understanding the spaces occupied by prehistoric people and the nature of their interactions. This approach allows us to map and compare spatial groupings based on consumer and producer perspectives. We argue for the necessity of multi-proxy studies and modelling to gain new insights into spatial grouping patterns and their evolution, particularly by considering borderlines at the scale of social groups.Cet article introduit un volume qui rassemble des spécialistes des études lithiques néolithiques pour explorer comment ce proxy peut révéler différentes organisations spatiales à travers un vaste territoire européen. Il examine si les comportements sont les mêmes selon les différentes zones géographiques et environnementales étudiées et en quoi ils peuvent enrichir notre compréhension des processus sociaux au cours de la néolithisation de l\u27Europe. Dans un premier temps, nous définissons le concept de frontières, en proposant des modèles basés sur l\u27espace considéré comme une frontière, la présence de ressources recherchées dans cet espace, les agents présents, et la nature des interactions entre ces agents. Ensuite, nous discutons du potentiel de l\u27analyse de l’industrie lithique pour identifier les groupements et différents types de frontières. Les entités culturelles néolithiques ont principalement été définies par l\u27analyse typo-stylistique de la poterie, tandis que les études lithiques ont été sous-utilisées dans ce contexte. Le lithique, pourtant, représente un proxy précieux pour comprendre la distribution spatiale des entités préhistoriques. Les études pétrographiques nous permettent maintenant de définir précisément l’origine des sources de matières premières exploitées, et toutes les actions réalisées sur ces matières siliceuses ne peuvent être supprimées et sont donc lisibles. Les industries lithiques permettent ainsi de suivre l\u27origine des matières premières et le mouvement de ces matériaux au sein d\u27une zone donnée. Établir ces réseaux de circulation est crucial pour comprendre les espaces occupés et traversés par les populations préhistoriques et la nature de leurs interactions. Cette approche nous permet de cartographier et de comparer les groupements spatiaux obtenus selon différentes perspectives, et notamment celles des consommateurs ou des producteurs. Nous plaidons pour la nécessité d\u27études multi-proxy et de modélisation afin de renouveler nos interprétations des groupements spatiaux et de leur évolution au cours du temps. Plus particulièrement, c’est par le prisme d’une cartographie des différents groupes sociaux qu’une première clef de lecture est proposée
Skills, scaling, and the role of youngsters in adaptation during the Northern European Final Palaeolithic
Full text linkAt any one time in the Palaeolithic, children constituted the largest group of individuals in a given community. While not many objects ascribed to children are known from these remote periods, it is beyond doubt that children participated in many aspects of daily life, including knapping. These youngsters played a vital role in generating technological variation and in societal adaptation. We here focus on the role of children in Northern European Final Palaeolithic societies that experienced markedly different climatic regimes in order to better understand how youngsters and their playful, exploratory learning may have contributed to adaptation. Using a mixed-methods approach we study inexperienced knappers with emphasis on three distinct groups of flintwork: blades, cores, and projectile points. We apply 2D geometric morphometrics coupled with technological attributes, quantitative and qualitative analyses to interrogate the variability within these groups with the aim of tracing the possible work of children through notions of skill level and artefact scaling. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate (i) how we can identify the signatures of children knapping flint, and (ii) how children’s participation in flintwork varied between inventories from periods characterised by distinctly different climates. Finally, to better understand the role of children in innovation and adaptation, we discuss how children’s knapping relates to the generation of technological variability, innovation, and differences in adaptation. The combined analytical focus on blades, points and cores allow us to more securely identify evidence for children, allowing us to compare their contributions to cultural variability across the two time periods