Journal of Lithic Studies
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The quarry and workshop of Barranco Cardones (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands): Basalt quern production using stone tools
Get PDFQuerns for grinding cereals were essential in the everyday life of the Pre-European population of the Island of Gran Canaria as their agriculture was based mainly on barley and wheat, cereals processed for the most part in the form of roasted flour. Rotary querns and other grinding stones, nonetheless, have rarely been the object of research in the Canary Islands and the study of their operational sequence of production has only recently been initiated. Volcanic tuff (compact lapilli) was the most commonly quarried rock. Other raw materials such as basalt, and to a lesser extension tephrite, were also worked. Since metal tools were not known in the Canary Islands in Pre-European contexts, all of the stages of extraction and fashioning had to be carried out with stone tools.This paper analyses the operational sequence, that is, the different phases of the extraction and fashioning techniques of basalt rotary querns based on the recent finds of two quarries located near the coast (Cardones and Cebolla) and a quern manufacturing workshop (Cave 36, Arucas Municipality) in a ravine about 600 m inland. Traditionally it was thought that the Pre-European population of Gran Canaria fashioned their querns from naturally detached volcanic surface blocks collected in ravines or along the coast. This supposition was based on the idea that the early Canarians were not capable of extracting blocks from bedrock with stone tools. This notion, however, has been proven wrong by the circular extraction negatives on the quarry faces and by finds of stone fashioning tools in the workshop
Procurement and mobility during the Late Pleistocene: Characterising the stone-tool assemblage of the Picamoixons site (Tarragona, NE Iberian Peninsula) [Aprovisionamiento y movilidad durante el Pleistoceno final: Caracterización del conjunto lítico...]
No full textThe Picamoixons site is a rockshelter located in the province of Tarragona (NE Iberian Peninsula). It was object of two rescue campaigns during 1988 and 1993, which led to the recovery of a complete archaeological assemblage, including stone tools as well as faunal and portable art remains that date the occupation to the 14th to 11th millennium BP (calibrated). This study involves a petrographic characterisation of the stone-tool assemblage in order to establish: 1) the procurement areas, 2) the raw materials management strategies and 3) the mobility radius and territorial sizes of the hunter-gatherers groups that occupied the site. The method applied comprises in a multiscale analysis that includes systematic prospection, the petrographic characterisation of geological and archaeological samples, an analysis of the chert types represented in the knapping sequence, and the definition of the mobility axes and areas frequented according to lithic procurement.A petrographic analysis of the chert in the prospected area led to the definition of nine macroscopic varieties related to five types (Vilaplana, Morera, Maset, Vilella and Tossa cherts), related to Lower and Upper Muschelkalk (Triassic), Lutetian, Bartonian (Palaeocene) and Sannonian (Oligocene) deposits.The study of the knapping sequences indicates the main exploitation of Bartonian cherts (Tossa type), and the use of Lutetian cherts (Maset and Morera types) for configuring retouched tools. The exploitation of the remaining raw material types identified is considered sporadic and opportunistic.Defining the procurement areas enabled the mobility radius to be assessed as between 3 and 30 km, highlighting the importance of the fluvial basins as natural movement pathways. The results indicate that the main procurement territory was 16 km2 in area, associable with a forager radius. The most remote procurement distances suggest a maximum exploitation area of 260 km2, defining an intra-regional range. This range presents parallelisms with various contemporaneous hunter-gatherers groups in Western Europe, suggesting a progressive mobility reduction dynamic during the Late Pleistocene-Initial Holocene.El yacimiento de Picamoixons se localiza en la provincia de Tarragona (NE de la Península Ibérica). El abrigo fue objeto de dos intervenciones de urgencia durante 1988 y 1993, que permitieron recuperar abundante material arqueológico, incluyendo industria lítica, fauna y objetos de arte mueble, que permitieron datar su ocupación ente el XIV-XI mil cal BP.Este estudio supone la caracterización petrográfica del conjunto lítico recuperado, con los objetivos de establecer: 1) las áreas de aprovisionamiento; 2) las estrategias de gestión de las materias primas y 3) la definición de los radios de movilidad y los tamaños territoriales de los grupos de cazadores-recolectores que ocuparon el yacimiento. La metodología aplicada consiste en un análisis multi-escalar que incluye: prospecciones sistemáticas, la caracterización petrográfica de las muestras tanto geológicas como arqueológicas, el análisis de la representación de los tipos silíceos en la cadena operativa y la definición de los ejes de movilidad y las áreas de frecuentación según el aprovisionamiento lítico.Los análisis petrográficos permitieron identificar nueve variedades macroscópicas asociadas a cinco tipos silíceos (Vilaplana, Morera, Maset, Vilella y Tossa) identificados en el área prospectada y asociados a depósitos datados en el Muschelkalk inferior y superior (Triásico), Luteciense, Bartoniense (Paleoceno) y Sanoniense (Oligoceno).El estudio de las secuencias de talla indican la explotación dominante de los sílex bartonienses (tipo Tossa) y proponen estrategias de gestión diferencial de los sílex lutecienses (tipo Maset y Morera) para configurar instrumentos retocados. La explotación del resto de materias primas identificadas se considera esporádica y oportunista. La definición de las áreas de aprovisionamiento propone radios de movilidad entre 3 y 30 km, subrayando la importancia de las cuencas fluviales como vías naturales para la circulación. Los resultados indican que el territorio de explotación dominante ocupa un área en torno a los 16 km2, asociables con el radio de forrajeo. Las mayores distancias de aprovisionamiento sugieren un territorio de aprovisionamiento máximo de unos 260 km2, definiendo un rango intra-regional. Este rango presenta paralelismos con diferentes grupos de cazadores-recolectores contemporáneos en Europa occidental, sugiriendo una dinámica de progresiva reducción de la movilidad durante el Pleistoceno final-Holoceno inicial
Preface: 10th International Symposium on Knappable Materials
Get PDFThe University of Barcelona hosted from 7 to 11 September 2015, the International Symposium on Knappable Materials at the Building of the Faculty of Geography and History in the Raval campus in the city centre. The pleasant atmosphere of research and exchange of knowledge and experience was due in large part to the hard work and outstanding management and organizational skills of the institutions and individuals involved
A Late Middle Palaeolithic assemblage containing Levallois and bifacial objects from Saône-et-Loire, France: GH 3 at Grotte de la Verpillière II à Germolles
Get PDFThe site of Grotte de la Verpillière II, a rock shelter and corresponding cave tunnel, is situated in a cliff face of an Oxfordian massive, around 10 km West of Chalon-sur-Saône in Eastern France. The excavation at this site has recovered Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in three stratified sedimentological units. The richest of these assemblages derives from Geological Horizon (GH) 3 and is discussed here. It is preliminarily attributed to a Late Middle Palaeolithic context of OIS 3 to 4 using radiometric-dating techniques.The assemblage combines Levallois reduction, bifacial objects and diverse ‘opportunistic’ reduction strategies. The Levallois reduction shows a high level of raw-material economy in the use of raw pieces and blanks whose morphology is close to the shape of desired configured cores. Other reduction strategies show a wider range of approaches to blank production. Bifacial objects include but are not limited to Keilmesser with tranchet blows. The condition of objects from GH 3 range from unused raw pieces, tested raw pieces, configured and exhausted cores, correction and central flakes, as well as some heated objects, frost shards, and debris. The majority of raw materials derive from sources nearby, but were clearly transported to the site. Only some pieces show evidence for transport of up to 100 km from source to site. The presence of specific reduction strategies on bifacial objects and the existence of tranchet-blow modification provide support for the attribution of the assemblage to the Keilmessergruppen assemblages from Central Europe
Maids at the grindstone: A comparative study of New Kingdom Egypt grain grinders
Get PDF[Summary]Grinding (or milling) grain was an important activity that took place in nearly every ancient Egyptian home. Grinding was necessary to process emmer or barley grain into flour, and thus was a key step in manufacturing bread, the most important food in ancient Egypt. Grinding in ancient Egypt is well-attested archaeologically, and is the most commonly depicted activity of the grain processing sequence in Egyptian art and texts. Indeed, it was the step that likely took the most time and labour. Despite their significance to daily life in ancient Egypt, grinding implements and activities have often been ignored in archaeological reports and historical studies. However, recent investigations of contemporary ancient cultures as well as modern ethnographic work has brought grind stones and grinding to the fore. This has resulted in new archaeological and ethnographic information, and has refined theories regarding grain grinding and those who performed it. Using this cross-cultural body of evidence and theoretical discussion as a starting point, this presentation will investigate grinding in the domestic, non-elite sphere of New Kingdom Egypt. Using the grinding quern as a focus, this study will explore how association with a grind stone, as well as the act of grinding, created or impacted the miller’s identity and contributed to their role in the household. Archaeological data, 2D and 3D artistic representations of grinding, and literary and non-literary texts discussing grinding will be examined in conversation with evidence from other cultures. This paper will argue that grinding grain was particularly associated with females, and was a low-prestige activity. However, it was an important maintenance activity in the household, and contributed significantly to the labour force and economy of New Kingdom Egypt
Cupules and the creation of the Tewa Pueblo world
Get PDF[Resesarch Article]Stone cupules remain an enigma to archaeologists due to both their ubiquity in the archaeological record and apparent ‘non-utilitarian’ function. While researchers have primarily focused on the functional aspects of cupules, including their symbolic meaning, the global ethnographic record suggests that the act of creating a cupule can be as important as the resulting cupule itself. Cupules are artefacts of practice and reflect the actions, representation, and negotiations of people who were pounding on boulders and bedrock. I argue that cupule studies should move beyond ahistorical interpretation and acknowledge that the action and intentionality of creating cupules – and the resulting material remains of these practices – are subject to historical change. To illustrate this change I examine the history of the Tewa Pueblos of northern New Mexico who historically pounded cupules on landscape features to communicate with the spiritual world through prayers and offerings. I document both the morphology and landscape context of cupules associated with ancestral Tewa sites to demonstrate that while elements of cupule morphology remain constant, the context (and possibly the meaning) of cupule practice changes through time. This suggests that long-lived practices of prayer (creating cupules) were reinterpreted in the crucible of dramatic social and residential transformation
Transverse grooved artefacts from southwestern Asia and northern Eurasia: Common traits and the reconstruction of function
Get PDFTransverse grooved artefacts (TGA) appeared as a new cultural element in Mesolithic-Proto-Neolithic sites in southwestern Asia. We know of similar artefacts from northern Africa. Hundreds of TGA have also been found in northern Eurasia. Some common traits were found in specimens from far apart territories, such as the non-abrasive heat-resistant nature of the raw materials, specificity of fragmentation without any signs of physical impact, the standard size of the grooves, association with a specific type of landscape, the similar economic level of the societies with which the items are associated, and use-wear marks in the grooves. Based on these regularities we can speak of a single main function for these artefacts which support the earlier reconstruction of R.L. and R.S. Solecki, suggesting that grooved stones were used for straightening cane and reed shafts under heating. Other evidence and traces that have been identified on the surface of TGA outside the groove could be associated with a variety of additional functions
The life-history of basalt ground stone tools from early urban domestic contexts: A chronicle from the EBA III of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
Get PDFRecent archaeological excavations at the early urban settlement of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel present the opportunity to reconstruct the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts of an early urban domestic neighbourhood. Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills and the southern coastal plain of central Israel. Survey and excavations over the last two decades demonstrated that it was a major urban centre for the region during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) III. At the eastern end of the site, a neighbourhood of commoner residences (some perhaps associated with mercantile activities) have been exposed. This paper describes and analyses the basalt ground stone tools found in association with this domestic neighbourhood. It seeks to establish the nature of production, distribution, consumption, and discard associated with ground stone tools within a domestic context. The study involved several forms of analysis including typology, macroscopic observations, and excavation data. It is suggested that basalt sources from the northeastern regions of the southern Levant were exploited for the small-scale production of basalt artefacts by non-specialised craftsmen. These commodities were then transported in more or less finished form to Tell es-Safi/Gath where they were further redistributed or sold to the settlement residents. The residents of the Tell es-Safi/Gath neighbourhood utilised the basalt artefacts for traditionally domestic tasks, and ultimately intentionally discarded or recycled them in a few depositional contexts. In summary, this paper presents a unique investigation into the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts discovered in the EB III occupation levels of Tell es-Safi/Gath. It further demonstrates the potential of ground stone tools for understanding the behaviour and daily life of non-elite people
Three years of the Journal of Lithic Studies
Get PDFThe methods of analysing lithic artefacts from archaeological contexts have had an outstanding development in the last decades. Along with methodological achievements, new conceptual frameworks help to interpret the prehistoric record, all getting us closer to understanding the realities of the human past. Thus, the appearance of several journals focused on disseminating the investigation of stone tools was needed and became a reality for some decades. Three years ago, the Journal of Lithic Studies came to join those publications focused on lithics research. It was established from the beginning as an open access journal, with a clear interest in making information available worldwide
Archaeopetrological approximation to the lithic procurement of the neolithic axes and adzes from Can Sadurní’s cave (Begues, NE Iberian Peninsula)
Get PDFCan Sadurní’s cave, located in Begues (NE Iberian Peninsula), in the Baix Llobregat region, is an archaeological site with a wide stratigraphic sequence covering from the Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers societies at the beginning of the Holocene to Roman times. During the excavations of the last years a large number of different raw materials used for the manufacture of axes have been recovered.The present study is focused on the Neolithic sequence. 31 axes and adzes have been characterised petrographically with the aid of a binocular microscope and transmission microscope. A great variety of rocks constitute the raw materials of these stone tools, ranging from contact and regional metamorphic rocks to plutonic and porphyric igneous rocks. The formers are the most abundant (up to 78%) and include hornfels, spotted phyllites, marbles, quartzites, slates and phyllites. The igneous rocks consist of granodiorite, porphyry and aplites. Such a great assemblage of rocks matches in a geological context representative of a plutonic intrusion and its metamorphic contact aureole. Following that scenario we suggest that the most likely source area for all these materials occur at the Collserola hills, at 27 km far to the east from the cave, at the other side of the Llobregat River, where an Hercynian granodiorite and related igneous rocks intruding Ordovician metasedimentary materials are presented.