Journal of Lithic Studies
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Resenha de livro: Tecnologia Lítica na Arqueologia Brasileira. Coletânea de (re)publicações
Get PDFTecnologia lítica na arqueologia brasileira. Coletânea de (re)publicações
Organizado por Luydy Fernandes e Déborah Duarte-Talim
Museu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 2017, pp. 237. ISBN 978-85-62164-11-
Le techno-complexe hoabinhien en Asie du Sud-est continentale : L’histoire d’un galet qui cache la forêt
Get PDFThe prehistory of Southeast Asia is characterized by some chaînes opératoires which are still not very well known or poorly described. This lack of knowledge comes on the geographical remoteness of these tropical regions with respect to Western prehistoric problems developed during the past two centuries. The prehistory of the Far East is complex, original, surprising because on the sidelines of major technical lineages elsewhere known to the relevant period, the one of anatomically modern human advent. This regional prehistory of about 2 million km2, which is called Peninsular or Continental Southeast Asia, refers to the development of a science in motion whose construction is still relevant. In colliding with the classic thesis of evolution and technical progress, the Hoabinhian shakes the rules and landmarks in prehistory. It is located at the antipodes of the classical model (Eurasian, African) of development of the stone tools according to the improvement and gradual lightening of the tool-kit, from the pebble culture until the Neolithic. Our reflection is precisely on this singularity, about a unique technical phenomenon that remains difficult to place on the evolutionary axis of industries as it exists elsewhere in the world or in East Asia (China, Korea, Japan). The regularity and homogeneity of cobble-based tool shapes in a vast area and for a record length of nearly 30,000 years are the main features of this unorthodox technocomplex that questions the cognitive capacity of Homo sapiens in a wet tropical ecosystem. But we also question the nature of the existing links between prehistoric men and their lithic productions, and the role played by knapped stone techniques during the human development in this region away from Europe. To this monotonous longevity of pebble-based tools is added the absence of pointed lithic tools (tips, apical ends, tool with converging salient edges, etc.) as they are found everywhere else in hunter-gatherer groups, whether from the Upper Palaeolithic or historical times.This is why the stability of these pebble-based tools would hide a whole range of complexity unknown to the technical field such as the elusive activities relating to the transformation of hard animal materials but also of vegetable materials not preserved in archaeological context. The thought process from the mineral towards the question of the vegetal sends back the need to complete the "toolbox" of Hoabinhian prehistoric artisans with sharp objects. Known to date only through the ethnographic data, the "vegetal civilization" leads naturally to reflect on the importance of this perishable material in the tool-kit of the last hunter-gatherers from the Upper Pleistocene rain forest in continental Southeast Asia. In other words, the possibility of another technical existence in equilibrium with the external environment.After having highlighted the originality of Hoabinhian cultural phenomenon compared with impact of research in paleoanthropology and prehistory in the Southeast Asia regions, this paper will present from a strictly qualitative point of view the main chaînes opératoires that are present within the Hoabinhian techno-complex, a regional variant that characterizes the main culture of Southeast Asia Final Paleolithic hunters-gatherers between about 30 000 and 5 000 years BP. More generally, details will be provided on the informative incompleteness of the lithic phenomenon as archaeological data and, also, on its overcoming as a phenomenon. It will therefore be a question of rethinking the reverse of the lithic-lignic dialectic, that is to say the vegetable objects forever extinguished, in the light of stone tools, the only preserved markers of time, technique, space and absence.La préhistoire du Sud-est asiatique se caractérise par un matériel lithique dont les chaînes opératoires restent encore peu connues ou mal décrites. Cette méconnaissance s’explique par l’éloignement géographique de ces régions tropicales vis à vis des problématiques préhistoriques occidentales développées depuis maintenant deux siècles. La préhistoire de l’Extrême-Orient est complexe, originale, surprenante parfois paradoxale car en marge des grandes lignées techniques connues ailleurs pour la période concernée, celle qui a vu l’avènement de l’Homme anatomiquement moderne. Cette préhistoire régionale d’environ 2 millions de km2 que l’on nomme l’Asie du Sud-est péninsulaire ou continentale renvoie à l’élaboration d’une science en mouvement dont la construction est toujours d’actualité. En se heurtant à la thèse classique de l’évolution comme à celle du progrès technique, le Hoabinhien bouscule les règles et les repères en préhistoire. Il se situe aux antipodes du modèle classique (Eurasiatique, Africain) de développement des outils de pierre selon l’enrichissement et l’allègement progressif de l’outillage depuis la pebble culture jusqu’au Néolithique. C’est précisément sur cette singularité que porte notre réflexion à propos d’un phénomène technique unique qui reste difficile à positionner sur l’axe évolutif des industries tel qu’il existe ailleurs dans le monde ou en Asie de l’Est (Chine, Corée, Japon). La régularité et l’homogénéité des formes d’outils façonnées sur galet dans un vaste espace et sur une durée record de près de 30 000 ans sont les caractéristiques principales de ce technocomplexe peu orthodoxe qui interroge la capacité cognitive d’Homo sapiens en écosystème tropical humide. Mais aussi, la question de la nature des liens existants entre l’homme et ses productions lithiques ou la place occupée par la technique de la pierre taillée lors du développement humain dans cette région hors d’Europe.A cette monotone pérennité d’outils sur galet se greffe l’absence d’outils lithiques pointus (pointe, extrémité apicale, outil à bords saillants convergents, etc.) tels qu’ils se rencontrent partout ailleurs chez les groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs qu’ils soient du Paléolithique supérieur ou (sub-)actuels.C’est pourquoi la stabilité de ces outillages sur galet cacherait tout un pan de complexité inconnu du domaine technique comme l’insaisissable travail des matières dures d’origine animale mais surtout végétale non conservées à ce jour dans les niveaux archéologiques. Le cheminement du minéral vers la question du végétal renvoie à la nécessité de compléter la « boîte à outils » des artisans préhistoriques hoabinhiens par des objets pointus. Connue à ce jour qu’à travers les données de l’ethnographie, la « civilisation du végétal » conduit tout naturellement à réfléchir sur l’importance de ce matériau périssable dans le bagage outillé des derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs de la forêt tropicale d’Asie du Sud-est continentale. Autrement dit, la possibilité d’une autre existence technique en équilibre avec le milieu extérieur.Après avoir mis en avant l’originalité du phénomène culturel hoabinhien au regard de l’impact de la recherche en préhistoire et en paléoanthropologie dans les régions du Sud-est asiatique, cet article présentera d’un point de vue strictement qualitatif, les chaînes opératoires du techno-complexe hoabinhien. Faciès industriel sur galet qui caractérise la principale culture technique des chasseurs-cueilleurs du Paléolithique final d’Asie du Sud-est entre environ 30 000 et 5 000 ans BP. Plus largement des précisions seront apportées d’une part sur l’inachèvement informatif du phénomène lithique en tant que donnée archéologique et d’autre part, sur son dépassement en tant que phénomène. Il s’agira donc de repenser l’envers de la dialectique lithique-lignic c’est-à-dire les objets du végétal à jamais disparus, à la lumière des objets de pierre taillée seuls conservés comme marqueurs de temps, de technique, d\u27espace et d’absence
Vie et mort d’un support d’outil : Chaînes opératoires de réaménagement des pièces façonnées unifacialement du technocomplexe Itaparica (Brésil Central)
Get PDFThe Itaparica technocomplex encompasses most of the lithic productions in Central Brazil from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and early Holocene. It is characterized by industries based on a techno-functional complementarity between tools made from unifacially shaped blanks and retouched flakes. The unifacially shaped artefacts, designated by different names in the literature (for example, limaces, plano-convex tools, unifaces), are historically the most emblematic remains of this technocomplex. Techno-functional analyses of these artefacts demonstrate that they did not correspond to a single tool, but rather to a blank for different simultaneous or successive tools. Many indicators also suggest that these blanks had a long useful live and passed through different technical phases. We present here a study of the chaînes opératoires related to the reconfiguration of the unifacially shaped artefacts of the Itaparica technocomplex during their use-life. To do so, we use the collection recovered during the excavation of the GO-JA-01 rockshelter, in Serranópolis (Goiás state), central Brazil. This important corpus of 377 pieces allows for a good perception of their technical variability. It comes from layers dated between 12,500 and 10,000 calibrated years BP.Different stages of modification of the unifacially shaped artefacts can be observed. Resharpening is limited to restoring the functionality of an active part. It affects the sides as well as both extremities of the blank. It is common, also, to find these artefacts as fragments, due to transversal fractures. It is not always easy to determine if the fragments are the result of an accident during the use of the artefact or of a deliberate act of reconfiguration. Nonetheless, in various instances, cases of removal scars posterior to the fracture demonstrate that fragmentation was taken into account in the reconfiguration schemes of the unifacially shaped artefacts.Strictly speaking, reconfigurations concern more important modifications than resharpening, affecting the artefact’s volume and not only its periphery. They correspond to new steps of shaping, either partial or complete. Reconfigurations can be seen at the GO-JA-01 site thanks to detailed analyses to the diacritical schemes of production and by visible differences in artefact surfaces (e.g., double patinas). These modifications can follow one another until the blank is exhausted. In such cases, the artefact no longer possesses operational transformative parts.By studying the indicators of modification throughout the use-life of the unifacially shaped artefacts from GO-JA-01, one can define two different reconfiguration schemes. In the predominant one, modifications touch mainly the distal and proximal ends, thus reducing the artefacts length. In a secondary scheme, on the contrary, width decreases due to reconfigurations in the sides. Those two schemes can also be found in the collection of artefacts from Lapa do Boquete site (Minas Gerais state).Reconfigurations can have a significant impact on blank volume and form, but they cannot explain all the variability of these artefacts. It appears that there exists a consistency in the structure of the blanks over time and this calls for the existence of a diversity of intentions from the start of the production of the unifacially shaped artefacts of the Itaparica technocomplex.Le technocomplexe Itaparica comprend la plupart des productions lithiques de la transition Pléistocène-Holocène et de l’Holocène ancien dans le centre du Brésil. Il se caractérise par des industries basées sur une complémentarité entre des pièces façonnées unifacialement et des éclats retouchés. Les pièces façonnées unifacialement sont historiquement les vestiges les plus emblématiques de ce technocomplexe. Elles correspondent à un support pouvant contenir plusieurs outils. De nombreux indices démontrent que ces pièces avaient une longue durée de vie utile et passaient par différents états techniques successifs. A partir de la riche collection de l’abri GO-JA-01 (État de Goiás, Brésil), nous présentons ici une étude des chaînes opératoires de réamenagement des pièces façonnées unifacialement du technocomplexe Itaparica. Par les différents indices de raffûtage et de réaménagement, il est possible de définir deux schémas opératoires d’exploitation de ces outils au cours du temps, jusqu’à leur dénaturation. En revanche, bien que les réaménagements successifs aient un impact sur la forme et le volume des supports, ils ne peuvent pas expliquer toute la variabilité de ces artefacts. La structure des supports semble se maintenir au cours de la vie technique de ceux-ci. Il y a donc une diversité des intentions dès le début de la production des pièces façonnées unifacialement du technocomplexe Itaparica
Potencial informativo dos sítios abrigados do Estado de São Paulo: Abrigo do Alvo e Abrigo de Itapeva
Get PDFThe state of São Paulo is a favorable area for karst formation. This occurs due to its geomorphology that presents lithological characteristics that favor the formation of caves and shelters in sandstone and limestone. Whether by speleologists or archaeologists, many archaeological sites in sheltered contexts have been discovered in the interior of São Paulo, however, their studies have not yet been developed in this state. This article presents preliminary results of research at two sites in shelter contexts - that is, the Alvo Shelter [Abrigo do Alvo], locating in Analândia (SP), with the most recent chronology established at 970 cal. years BP and the oldest at 7,500 cal. years BP; and the Itapeva Shelter [Abrigo de Itapeva], located in the municipality of the same name, with a more recent occupation around 585 cal. years BP and the oldest being around 5,858 cal. years BP. Both sites have similar archaeological remains which are usually found in sheltered contexts: rock art, faunal material, and lithics artifacts. In this case, we have an exception in the Itapeva Shelter, which in addition also contains some fragments of human bones and ceramic material that was originally associated with the Itararé tradition, being comprised of small, thin vessels with little variation in shape, usually without decoration, and presenting colors between dark brown, gray and black. Although the diversity of remains is remarkable, this paper will deal only with the lithic industries which are in the process of analysis at both sites. In order to establish comparisons between the sites, the research team initially sought to recognize generic characteristics such as raw material, support, dimensions, and others. In addition to this, technological attributes were observed in order to extract information about the kind of flintknapping, use-wear traces and retouching. We do not disregard the other evidence, such as rock art as a clue that possibly indicates cultural difference, nor the presence of pottery in the Itapeva Shelter site which is an indication that the inhabitants of this area already had other technology that went beyond the use of stone tools. Although the analysis is not over, some differences already stand out, for example, different raw materials used in the manufacture of stone artifacts have been observed at both sites, as well as the techniques of flaking, which in the Alvo Shelter were much more simplistic and absent of any retouching, and in the Itapeva Shelter where materials associated with several stages of reduction have been noticed along with with the presence of some retouched artifacts. Despite the noted differences, one cannot disregard the fact that the sample of the first site is much smaller when compared to the second one. This is due to the fact that a single fieldwork season was carried out at the first site while three excavations were made at the second. Although this is one reason, one must also consider that the material density in the Itapeva Shelter is much higher when comparing the number of pieces per excavation unit. Lastly, the analysis of the lithic assemblages will continue but already they exhibit little similarity, thus supporting the hypothesis that we are not dealing with similar groups.O Estado de São Paulo é uma área propícia para a formação de carste. Tal fator é decorrente de suas características litológicas que favorecem a formação de cavernas e abrigos em arenito e calcário. Seja por espeleólogos ou arqueólogos, muitos sítios arqueológicos em contextos abrigados são detectados no interior paulista, no entanto, seus estudos ainda são pouco aprofundados. Neste artigo apresentaremos resultados preliminares dos sítios Abrigo do Alvo localizando em Analândia com a cronologia mais recente estabelecida em 970 anos cal AP e a mais antiga em 7.500 anos cal AP; e o sítio Abrigo do de Itapeva, no município homônimo com ocupações que vão de 585 anos cal AP até 5.858 anos cal AP. Ambos os abrigos apresentam vestígios arqueológicos similares: inscrições rupestres, material faunístico e artefatos líticos. A exceção ocorre no Abrigo de Itapeva que possui material cerâmico associado à Tradição Itararé e fragmentos de ossos humanos. Embora seja notável a diversidade de vestígios, trataremos somente das indústrias líticas que estão em processo de análise. A fim de se estabelecer comparações entre os conjuntos inicialmente procurou-se reconhecer características genéricas como matéria-prima, suporte, dimensões, etc., somados a isso os atributos tecnológicos foram observados a fim de se extrair informações sobre os lascamentos, sinais de uso e retoques. No final, os resultados nos permitiram concluir que embora esses grupos humanos habitassem o interior paulista durante o Holoceno médio, suas indústrias líticas mostram pouca similaridade apontando para normas culturais distintas
Between the flake and the blade: Associated systems of production at Riparo Tagliente (Veneto, northern Italy)
Get PDFThe Riparo Tagliente site (Verona, Italy) shows three macro phases in which high technological variability can be observed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the specific role of the Middle Paleolithic blade production within this variability. Preliminary results show a complex scenario in which the role of the blade is strictly linked with flake production through mixed reduction systems.
Two different approaches were used for analysing the lithic assemblages from the site. The first analysis focused on the identification of the reduction systems by determining the techniques, methods and concepts underlying the entire chaîne opératoire. The second approach concentrated on analysing blade production in order to identify its variability.
Evidence of blade technology from the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 8-6) has been found in northern Europe (France, Belgium). Later, during MIS 5 blades can be found over a larger area, this time also including north-western Germany and the central-southern part of France. A third period (MIS 4-3) marks the appearance of laminar production in southern Europe, including in the Italian peninsula. Based on the present state of research these three phases appear to be on-and-off events without clear evolutionary continuity.
By repositioning the sequence of Riparo Tagliente within the Italian context we can observe that at the end of the Mousterian period the technological patterns differ greatly, with laminar production being one of its most evident expressions. The origin of this fragmentation is questionable
O concheiro do Meu Jardim (Nazaré) no contexto das estratégias de produção e circulação de suportes lâmino lamelares no Neolítico Médio da Estremadura Portuguesa
Get PDFThe archaeological site of Meu Jardim (municipality of Nazaré) is a shell-midden with several phases of occupation dated to the Middle Neolithic period. It is located near flint deposits, on the Atlantic seaboard of the Portuguese Estremadura. Its excavation, that took place in the context of salvage archaeology, was due to the building of a bridge. The fieldwork consisted of the excavation of three tests, comprising a total area of 102 m2.
Given the gap in knowledge that dominates the lithic studies of the Middle Neolithic period, it was decided to analyse its blade and bladelet productions (from Tests 1 and 3, where the lithic assemblages are more abundant) and integrate them in their regional context. In order to allow for the establishment of systematic inter-site comparisons, an explicit methodological option was the use of the same analytical protocols as employed elsewhere in the study of coeval sites in the region. These protocols consist mainly of the adoption of the proposals initially put forward by Tixier et al. (1980), which were adapted by Carvalho (1998a; 2008) to the Early and Middle Neolithic periods in Portugal.
Overall, the knapped stone assemblage from Meu Jardim totals 639 artefacts of locally available raw materials (flint, quartz and quartzite), which form an assemblage composed of cores and core maintenance products, flakes and debris, blades and bladelets and retouched tools. Flint is the most used raw material, which is due to its availability in the area surrounding the shell-midden. It should be noted that flint is an abiotic resource that can be found almost everywhere in Estremadura but it may be absent from more restricted areas within the region. This fact impacted the acquisition strategies during the period. In the case of Meu Jardim, this implied an expedient exploitation of the nearest flint sources to face the needs of short stays at the site, and the abandonment of nodules and cores in their early stages of reduction. The so-called “prismatic method” (see definition in Carvalho 1998a) was employed for the production of elongated blanks. On average, these ranged in 1.8-7.0 cm in length, 0.5-1.4 cm in width and 0.2-0.9 cm thick, thus forming a bladelet-sized assemblage. The knapping techniques may have been comprised of pressure and indirect percussion; however, according to published experimental evidence, the former technique seems to have been dominant. Indeed, the overwhelming presence of overhanging accidents, regular edges and ridges and faceted butts along with the small sizes evidenced by these blanks strongly points to this conclusion and suggests the presence of hand-knapping procedures (i.e., without the use of levers or similar devices). Tools types are composed mostly of side-retouched blades and bladelets; notches, denticulates, perforators and truncations are less well represented. Microliths were not found.
Contrasting with the relatively robust evidence available for the Early Neolithic period in Estremadura, little is known regarding the later stages of the period. The most evident feature is likely the increase in sizes of elongated blanks that is recognized in many assemblages dated to the Middle and Late Neolithic. The morphometric and technological study of blanks from Middle Neolithic cemeteries in the region have reveal two main size groups: one of smaller sizes (2.5-10.0 cm in length, 0.8-2.0 cm in width) and a more robust one (12.0-18.0 cm in length, 1.8-2.8 cm in width). One attribute also marks the difference between the two: the absence of heat treatment in the latter group. Up to now, the evidence from habitation contexts is less clear due to the lack of studies. However, all seem to indicate that at other habitation sites the elongated pieces are similar to those identified at Meu Jardim. A factor that introduces more variability in morphotechnic features is the presence at some sites of bipolar knapping for the production of very small and irregular bladelets, the so-called “bipolar method” (see definition in Carvalho 1998a). In these cases, larger blanks likely imported as finished products from sites located near flint sources are found along with the locally produced smaller, irregular ones. This strategy was not observed at Meu Jardim; indeed, this site is testimony of the opposite situation.
Overall, these inferences reveal a pattern of highly diversified economic and technological behaviours regarding flint exploitation and exchange in Middle Neolithic Estremadura.Na planície aluvial da várzea da Nazaré (província da Estremadura Portuguesa, na região centro litoral do país), numa área que estabelece o contacto entre o antigo estuário lagunar interior e o oceano, foi identificado um sítio arqueológico conhecido por Meu Jardim, datado do Neolítico Médio (finais do V e IV milénios A.N.E.), com diversos momento de ocupação registados em estratigrafia, e localizado nas proximidades das jazidas de sílex que terão provavelmente sido exploradas pelos seus ocupantes. Trata-se de um concheiro com vários níveis de ocupação de contexto doméstico.
Em face das lacunas de conhecimento que caracterizam os estudos líticos deste período, optou-se por analisar apenas, neste primeiro estudo, as suas produções lâmino-lamelares e integrá-las no contexto regional.
Estamos perante material de pequenas dimensões, sobretudo em sílex (o quartzo está menos representado), produzido a partir de núcleos prismáticos pré-formatados (o principal método de produção de suportes lâmino-lamelares), que teve lugar nas próprias jazidas de sílex exploradas na área envolvente. As lâminas e lamelas apresentam atributos compatíveis com uma debitagem por pressão, com talões facetados, e terão, no caso do Meu Jardim, sido utilizadas de modo expedito para suprir as necessidades decorrentes de estadias episódicas no local.
De um modo geral, as inferências produzidas a partir do material do sítio do Meu Jardim e da sua comparação com outros contextos revelam, para o período em causa, um comportamento económico e tecnológico muito diversificado no que respeita à exploração e circulação do sílex. As estratégias subjacentes a estas práticas parecem determinadas pela proximidade (maior ou menor) de jazidas de sílex e pelo fim a que se destinavam os suportes alongados (uso imediato, dilatado no tempo, ou uso como oferenda funerária)
Avant-propos au volume La notion de « chaîne opératoire » dans le monde : 50 ans d\u27études technologiques en Préhistoire
Get PDFEn 1964 s\u27est tenu aux Eyzies un symposium franco-américain auquel participèrent notamment Fr. Bordes, D. E. Crabtree et J. Tixier, décrit ensuite comme « une pierre de fondation de l’approche technologique » par C. Perlès en 1991. Un quart de siècle plus tard, faisant écho à cette rencontre, sont publiés les actes du colloque d\u27Antibes « 25 ans d’études technologiques en Préhistoire. Bilan et perspectives », confirmant la maturité de cette nouvelle démarche. Développée par l\u27école française (cf. les travaux de P. Bodu, M.-L. Inizan, J. Pelegrin, C. Perlès, N. Pigeot, J. Tixier et B. Valentin entre autres), il s\u27agit d\u27une approche qui met en œuvre diverses notions, dont celle de chaîne opératoire (initialement introduite par M. Mauss et A. Leroi-Gourhan), de remontage mental, d\u27économie des matières premières et d\u27économie du débitage. Cette démarche analytique et systémique vise à isoler les variations ayant peu ou pas de valeur techno-culturelle telles que les accidents de taille, les pièces déviantes, le rôle du support, l\u27état technique de la pièce ou l\u27influence de la matière première. Un demi-siècle plus tard, où en est cette approche ? Le présent volume, en illustrant la pérennité de cette école de pensée, se veut un début de réponse. Au sein de ce numéro sont ainsi rassemblés divers cas d’étude où cette méthodologie est appliquée à différentes productions (sur galet, sur éclat, bifaciales, laminaires et lamellaires) provenant d’Europe, du Proche-Orient, d’Asie, d’Océanie et d\u27Amérique. En présentant les recherches d’auteurs issus d’équipes et de pays variés, l\u27ensemble met en évidence comment cette démarche a su s’intégrer aux problématiques de diverses équipes en France et à l’international
Les artefacts importés dans un contexte de carrières : La techno-économie des industries lithiques du Témiscouata (Québec) durant le Sylvicole et la période de Contact
Get PDFThis article presents data on chipped stone techno-economic patterns of nomadic hunters-gatherers at a quarry source area in the Témiscouata region (Québec, Canada) during the Middle late Woodland (1500-1000 BP) and the Late Woodland (1000-450 BP) and also the early historic period (450-250 BP). Located in the hinterland of the Bas-Saint-Laurent, in the upper St-John river drainage, the Témiscouata region is rich of many common natural resources, but also by the presence of an important chert outcrop. The Touladi chert is present in two main quarries and is also found in pebbles forms scattered in the vicinity of the surrounding lakes and rivers. We applied a technological analysis, from the technological approach in the French tradition, on five lithic collections in the objectives to reconstruct the chaîne opératoires and their economic management patterns (techno-economy). This methodology was first applied on the local chert material and afterward on the exotic chipped stone artifacts in order to study the patterns that prevailed while hunters-gatherers were outside the quarries zone and also to understand the influence of the outcrops in the economics patterns. The most prominent artifacts found is of course the numerous flakes which can be derive from three different chaînes opératoires: the bifacial process, the multidirectional (ad hoc) core reduction and the use of pièces esquillées. The production of bifacial tools is the most important process in Témiscouata lithic industries and is the one who produce most of the flakes found on prehistoric settlements. Core reduction sequence is unstandardized and is responsible for just a small part of the flakes product. The pièces esquillées process is only found on two sites and the flakes are generated unintentionally during the used of these artifacts. The tools assemblage is first characterized by the bifacial tools which are mostly manufactured on raw tabular blocks of chert. As for the flake tools, they are mostly represented by informal (ad hoc) tool (retouched and used flakes), endscrapers and pièces esquillées. Techno-economics patterns on Touladi chert have demonstrated that most of the flake tools were made on flake blanks derived from the bifacial process, mostly from the early and middle stages of this chaîne opératoire. Bifacial process was also fractioned in time and space and we found that bifacial blanks and preforms were carried throughout the territory to be used as “cores”. The two other productions are quite secondary in respect of the small amount of tools manufactured and they are far less mobile than the first one.Exotic materials show similar and different patterns than those observed on local chert. The bifacial process is still the dominant one and the most prominent way to make flake tools when the quarries are remote. Even then, they still use mostly flakes derived from early and intermediate stages of reduction. Core reduction is interesting because it shows different techno-economic patterns. Reduction sequences are more formal or at least more efficient than those observed on Touladi chert. For example, a small discoid core demonstrate a more complex reduction method which allows a greater ratio of flakes production compared to the multidirectional core processes used in the Témiscouta region. This is partly a consequence of the exotic raw materials used for cores, which is in the form of small pebbles. But it is also probably an adaptation of the core technology in the purpose of making it more efficient and more productive when knappers were away from lithic sources. However, the use of core technologies was probably a second choice, mostly adopted when the raw material did not allow the manufacture of bifacial tools. Bifaces used as cores seem to have prevailed when it was possible to do so. As for the pièces esquillées, they do not seem to have played an important part in tool fabrication in context of raw material scarcity. Another interesting aspect of tools manufacturing with exotic materials is the behavior of carrying flake blanks. Every site shows numerous flake blanks, imported and discarded unused, a behavior which reveals that the prehistoric groups were carrying more flakes than their real needs. Conversely of the curated bifacial tools, which were discarded in quarry zone only if their economic threshold was reach (fractures, size too small, inadequate morphology, knapping accidents, etc.), flake tools and flake blanks were mostly discarded at workshop sites in a gearing up strategy. The results demonstrate also that all the flake tools were not managed in the same ways. Endscrappers, unlike the other flake tools, show some evidences of curation, but not as important as bifacial tools. Since they are discarded less quickly than the ad hoc tool and pièces esquillées, this behavior explain probably why the imported endscrappers are found in greater amount at the Témiscouata sites. The technological analysis shows empiric evidences that hunter-gatherers of the Témiscouata adopted flexible and simple, yet very efficient, techno-economical strategies. These management schemes, which use bifacial chaîne opératoire as the central element of the tool manufacturing, seem well adapted to their way of life based on a generalist, seasonal and flexible subsistence economy. Exotic artifacts, even if they represent a small part of the archaeological record, can reveal important aspects of the organization of past stone tool technologies.Cet article présente les données relatives à la techno-économie de chasseurs-cueilleurs nomades du Témiscouata (Québec, Canada) durant les périodes du Sylvicole moyen tardif (1500-1000 AA), le Sylvicole supérieur (1000-450 AA) et la période de Contact (450-250 AA). Cette région, située dans l’extrémité nord du bassin versant du la rivière Saint-Jean (Maine, Nouveau-Brunswick, Québec), offre une importante source de matière première, le chert Touladi, qui a été fortement exploitée durant la préhistoire et même durant la période historique par les Premières Nations amérindiennes. Les chaînes opératoires lithiques de cinq sites archéologiques du Témiscouata ont été analysées via l’approche technologique afin d’en reconstituer les schèmes techno-économiques. D’abord réalisée sur la matière locale, l’analyse a ensuite porté son regard sur les matériaux exogènes afin de voir si la gestion des chaînes opératoire différait lorsque les groupes nomades étaient éloignés des carrières de chert Touladi. Les artefacts en matériaux allochtones, même s’ils comptent pour une part minime des assemblages lithiques, permettent d’entrevoir les stratégies adoptées préalablement à l’occupation du Témiscouata, dans un contexte de rareté en matières premières lithiques de bonne qualité
Production des lames d\u27herminette dans l\u27île de Tupua\u27i (Archipel des Australes, Polynésie française): Spécialisation artisanale et évolution des chefferies en Polynésie centrale
Get PDF1. IntroductionStone adze blades are so ubiquitous in the Pacific that they have always been central to the work of archaeologists. Polynesian adze heads were often viewed as convenient “cultural fossils” displaying stylistic features that could be used as chronological markers (e.g. Davidson 1984; Duff 1977; Suggs 1961) or to infer inter-island relationships (Duff 1960; Emory 1968; Sinoto 1970). The typological approach developed throughout the 20th century thus proved useful for understanding the archaeological diversity in the Pacific. Yet, it rarely took into account the environmental or technical contexts involved in the production of these artefacts. A broader technological turn began in the 1970’s (Cleghorn 1982; 1986; Leach 1980; 1984), which has led to better understanding of the technical and economic dimensions involved in Polynesian stone tool production.In this paper, I propose an integrated method to the study of stone tool technology and socio-economic evolution in Polynesian chiefdoms. My approach draws on the ‘research program’ which was set up by a group of French anthropologists (Cresswell 1976; Lemonnier 1983; 1986) to emphasize the systemic and multi-scalar dimensions of technical activities and to identify the fundamental role of techniques and production activities in the performance and evolution of societies. The work presented here was conducted during my PhD research, and therefore represents a first step in a wider research program that will be address with the dynamics of stone tool production at the inter-site scale, in different Polynesian islands.
2. Background and MethodologyAs a first step, each rock material was assigned a specific geological feature using a set of different geochemical analyses (Hermann et al. 2012; 2016). I used these results, combined with macroscopic identification of each artefacts, to track the spatial distribution of production processes (“chaînes opératoires”) within two sites dating from the early 13th to the late 15th century AD and considered as part of the same “technical transect” (Coupaye 2015) on the northern coast of Tupua’i island (Austral archipelago, French Polynesia). Both sites were discovered within the main pre-Contact district of the island, named Toerauetoru (Aitken 1930: 31-32): the Tanataetea site consists of a quarry and several workshops where basanite prisms have been quarried and transformed in great quantity, and the Atiahara site is a domestic occupation involving small thatched houses known from the ethnographical period as ‘arepota’ata (Hermann et al. 2016). I propose a thorough description of technological patterns in the making of adze heads in these two sites, not only through the description of finished products, but also through the identification of other artefacts including discarded preforms, roughouts, and other flake wastes, each representing combined sets of gestures constitutive of each sequence in the overall process of production. For every sequence, I investigated four main parameters interacting with one another: the nature of the raw material selected and its physical properties (fine or coarse-grained, natural flaws, etc.), the individual involved (including the inherited and acquired know-how, the technical traditions, economic choices, etc.), the tools and techniques performed (physical actions, mechanical procedures, etc.), and the spatial-temporal dimension of the process (concentrated in one site or segmented in space). These intrinsic properties are subject to change in different processes, however in this case they could be described through direct macroscopic observations, and interpreted thanks to experimental tests previously performed with the help of archaeologist and experimenter Florent Le Mené. The extrinsic properties of production processes are eventually be inferred. This last step of the analysis regarding the scarcity or uneven distribution of resources, the social environment, and the social status of craftsmen, provides the greatest insight into the evolution of the traditional Polynesian chiefdoms.
3. Results In East Polynesian islands stone adzes were produced by both specialists and non-specialists; the assemblages from Tupua’i show very clear differences in terms of technical skills, production intensity, and formal standards of the finished products, as an example of this technical split. While the craftsmen working in the Tanataetea workshops were producing big, standardised adzes with fine knapping techniques and were displaying anticipation as well as good risk management skills; the stone knappers of the domestic site at Atiahara only managed to produce only small flake adzes and appear to have maintained and recycled adzes produced elsewhere (including in the Tanataetea workshops). They therefore did not display any skills involving adapted percussion techniques or reaction facing flaking accidents, such as hinging or plunging fractures.At a diachronic level, the technological investigation suggests a significant evolution in the organisation of stone adze production in Tupua’i during the 14th century AD, with an increase of specialised production, as visible in the Tanataetea workshops, towards other sites from the same local chiefdom. The limited distribution of good-quality material in non-specialised sites like the domestic occupations of Atiahara also implies an increase in political control over key resources.
4. Discussion and conclusionThe general development of craft specialisation in the limited context of Tupua’i echoes previous observations from other parts of Polynesia (Cleghorn 1982; 1986; Leach 1993; Winterhoff 2007), and further reinforce the hypothesis of a strong correlation between technical specialisation and social complexity (Brun et al. 2006). This interpretation also fits the view of an increasing hierarchy among Polynesian chiefdoms where social and religious elites took control over different groups of specialists during the first half of the second millennium AD (Kirch 1984). I propose that the emerging view in the evolution of Polynesian craft production can also be explained in Sahlins’ terms of the “inflexion of the domestic mode of production” (Sahlins 1976). This model predicts that the intensification of production in traditional chiefdoms is driven by new economic choices prioritising centralisation and collaboration between households. Therefore, I propose that a heuristic approach of viewing material culture through the technological approach of chaînes opératoires is a promising method for investigating these patterns on the longue durée and across different Polynesian regions.La lame d\u27herminette en pierre, élément ubiquiste des cultures matérielles polynésiennes, a toujours été utilisée pour établir une périodisation des séquences culturelles pré-européennes. Bien que cette approche ait permis d\u27aborder la diversité des traditions culturelles et de définir une typo-chronologie des occupations pré-européennes dans la région, très peu de travaux ont pris en compte les aspects techno-économiques liés à la production de cet outillage. Cet article concerne la production des herminettes en Polynésie centre-orientale dans la première moitié du deuxième millénaire de notre ère, et se base sur les avancées théoriques et méthodologiques développées au sein de l\u27école française de l\u27anthropologie des techniques (aussi connue comme "technologie culturelle"). En nous basant sur l\u27analyse de plusieurs chaînes opératoires de production des lames d\u27herminette dans l\u27île de Tupua\u27i (Archipel des Australes, Polynésie Française), nous mettons en évidence des stratégies et des choix relativement complexes liés à la variabilité technique et l\u27organisation spatiale des chaines opératoires mises en œuvre, l\u27accès aux matières premières de qualité (en l\u27occurrence les basaltes à grains fins) et la présence d\u27artisans spécialisés.Enfin, nous traitons du rôle joué par le phénomène de spécialisation artisanale dans l\u27évolution des anciennes chefferies polynésiennes et proposons de considérer l\u27investigation approfondie des systèmes techniques comme un moyen efficace pour mettre en évidence des indices de la complexité sociale
Drombeg Stone Circle, Ireland, analyzed with respect to sunrises and lithic shadow-casting for the eight traditional agricultural festival dates and further validated by photography
Get PDFA new survey of Drombeg Stone Circle and accurate analysis of shadow effects beginning at particular sunrises of the calendar year has led to a breakthrough in the understanding of lithic symbolism and the intentions behind the construction of this and other Irish monuments including Knowth and Newgrange that also have astronomical alignments.
At Drombeg specific standing stones play critical roles at sunrise for all eight of the festival dates as known traditionally and historically for agricultural communities and as now inferred for prehistoric times following the present observation-based analysis.
Crucial for Drombeg in the summer half of the year is the positioning of a tall straight-sided portal stone such that its shadow at midsummer sunrise encounters an engraving on the recumbent stone diametrically opposite. During subsequent minutes the shadow moves away allowing the light of the sun to fall on the carved symbol. It is the same for sunrises at Beltane (May Day), Lughnasadh (Lammas), and the equinoxes when shadows from other perimeter stones achieve the same coupling with the same image, each time soon replaced by sunlight. For the winter half of the year which includes dates for Samhain, the winter solstice and Imbolc, the target stone for shadow reception at sunrise is a huge lozenge-shaped megalith, artificially trimmed. Moreover, for 22 March and 21 September there is notable dramatic action by shadow and light between a precisely positioned narrow pillar stone and the lozenge stone.
As a result, at sunrise at Drombeg eight calendrical shadow events have been witnessed and photographed. This attests to the precision of Neolithic planning that determined the stone positions, and demonstrates the antiquity of the calendar dates for these traditional agricultural festivals. Discussion is held as to what the concept of shadow casting between shaped or engraved stones at the time of sunrise may have meant in terms of lithic symbolism for the planners and builders. This leads to a possible explanation in terms of the ancient worldview known as the hieros gamos or the Marriage of the Gods between Sky and Earth