Journal of Lithic Studies
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The ground stone components of drills in the ancient Near East: Sockets, flywheels, cobble weights, and drill bits
Get PDFThree types of drills are known from antiquity: the bow drill, the pump drill and the crank drill. Each type often included ground stone components - sockets, weights and flywheels. However, these components are inconspicuous; on their own they are almost never associated with drills. The result is that the drill is nearly invisible in many assemblages, particularly those of the proto-historic and historic periods, from the Chalcolithic through to late antiquity. In this article I focus on the identification of the possible ground stone components of each of these drill types. The means by which these components were attached or applied to the drill shaft is examined and the way that they related to the rotary motion of drills is laid out. I briefly discuss the historical development of each type, referencing more detailed studies, where available. This study should be seen as a prelude to a more comprehensive study that will test hypotheses by means of experiment and catalogue more completely and precisely the ground stone components of drills that have been unidentified or misidentified in archaeological contexts
A flint artefact (Accession No. DONMG 2016.7.1) from Lindholme, South Yorkshire
Get PDFOne of the last papers which Alan was working on when he died was a short note on a flint artefact from the surface of a gravel scrape at Lindholme in South Yorkshire. This was found during fieldwork by Robert Friend, a postgraduate student in Geography at the University of Edinburgh, working on the limits of the last glaciation in the Vale of York (Friend 2011). The results of this have been published elsewhere (Bateman et al. 2015; Friend et al. 2016), but the context of the artefact is ambivalent and Alan’s appendix on the flint was judged too archaeological and site specific for inclusion in either paper. It is a find, however, worth placing on record as one of a number of scattered surface finds of Upper Palaeolithic affinity from the region (compare with Garton et al. 2016; Grassam & Weston 2015; Harding et al. 2014)
Book review: From the Pleistocene to the Holocene
Get PDFFrom the Pleistocene to the Holocene, edited by Bousman and Vierra, resets our thinking on the pace and overall patterns of transitions in North America at this time. This book brings together detailed archaeological syntheses from multiple geographic regions. The result is a volume that stands alone as a new interpretative framework for cultural change during the transition from the last Ice Age to the beginning of the Holocene.
Lost and found twice: Discussion of an early post-glacial single-edged tanged point from Brodgar on Orkney, Scotland
Get PDFOver the last few decades it has been shown that Scotland was settled – or at least occasionally visited – during the late Upper Palaeolithic period. The finds include diagnostic artefacts of Hamburgian, Federmesser and Ahrensburgian typology, but since Livens’ presentation in 1956 of three tanged arrowheads from Scotland, it has also been discussed whether northern Britain was settled or visited from the north-east, by groups belonging to the Scandinavian Fosna-Hensbacka complex. Only one of the three arrowheads presented by Livens appeared to be a Fosna-Hensbacka point, but this piece was lost immediately after the paper in which it was initially summarily described was published. However, this point – originally found at Brodgar on Orkney – has now been refound, and the authors hope that their detailed characterization and discussion of the object’s date and affinity will allow the question of a possible Upper Palaeolithic-Early Mesolithic connection across Doggerland to be addressed in a more authoritative manner
Preliminary experimental insights into differential heat impact among lithic artifacts
Get PDFThe presence of thermally altered and broken flint artifacts is common at archaeological sites. Most studies focus their attention on the effects of heat treatment on flint to improve knapping qualities, disregarding the effects of fire over flint under uncontrolled conditions. This paper aims to show how under uncontrolled heating processes flint artifacts develop different heat alterations (such as levels of breakage, presence of scales, etc.) as a result of vertical distribution, volume or raw material and to establish a gradient of rock changes and behavior. Artifacts where macroscopically analyzed and a series of uncontrolled heating experiments through the distribution of flint blanks under two hearths were carried out, allowing a comparison of the before and after of the blanks. Preliminary results show how levels of breakage, surface alteration or development of heat alteration features can be differentiated according to artifact volume, vertical distribution and level of surface alteration. Results also show how two different raw materials react differently to similar thermal impact, and how surface alteration reacts at different rhythm in the case of recycled artifacts. We conclude that levels of thermal alteration can be differentiated through macroscopic analysis of flint surface
The Escalada Formation: Characterization of a potential chert supply source in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) during prehistory.
Get PDFA study of the chert nodules found in the Escalada Formation (Carboniferous, Ponga region, Cantabrian Zone) was carried out as a means to characterise a number of lithic raw materials found in several prehistoric sites of the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). This study comprises fieldwork aimed at locating the outcrops and obtaining samples. Some selected samples from two localities were used for both petrological (macroscopic and microscopic analyses from thin sections) and geochemical (X-ray fluorescence and powder diffraction) analysis. The macroscopic study shows a rather homogeneus coloration and a conchoidal fracture although two extreme types of cherts with a variety of intermediate forms can be differentiated according to the matrix composition. The microscopic analysis shows a high heterogeneity in carbonate versus silica percentage and gentle differences in some other features such as type of silica, origin of carbonates, occurrence of organic matter and type of skeletal components. The results of several geochemical analysis suggest that there are not geochemical features neither in the major elements nor in the traces that allows us to clearly distinguish between the analysed samples. All these studies allow us to define the main features of these chert nodules and to establish several types and varieties among them. Those varieties with high percentage of silica and with a more homogeneous matrix are the most suitable samples for knapping. These results together with the study of the geological and geographical location of archaeological sites suggest that the nodules from the Escalada Formation likely were lithic material supply sources used in knapping activitiesWhen aiming to demonstrate the use of these materials at archaeological sites the sole macroscopic analysis of the pieces does not suffice; further analyses, such as those involving thin sections, are necessary. The absence of chert from Escalada Formation in some Mesolithic sites in the area was confirmed via these additional analyses
Alan Saville (31 December 1946 – 19 June 2016): One of Britain’s finest lithics specialists
Get PDFAlan Saville had a long and distinguished career in British archaeology, and following his education and early archaeological background in England, he has latterly been associated mainly with Scottish archaeology, where he held the post of Senior Curator at the Department of Scottish Archaeology and History, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh
Stone pedestalled vessels from Tel Tsaf, a Middle Chalcolithic site in the Central Jordan Valley, Israel
Get PDFThe pedestalled bowls described here are part of the ground stone tool assemblage discovered during the Hebrew University of Jerusalem excavations at Tel Tsaf (2004-2007). This site, located in the Central Jordan Valley, is the first well-documented and large-scale excavation of the Middle Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant. The inhabitants used two types of raw materials for their stone items: basalt and limestone. While the first is commonly used in the stone-vessel industry of the Chalcolithic period, the second is rarer. We present here the preliminary results of our analysis of the typology and function of the pedestalled bowls, a small but important component of the local ground stone tool assemblage
The ground stone assemblage of a metal workers community: An unexplored dimension of Iron Age copper production at Timna
Get PDFThe systematic archaeological study of the Timna Valley began over 50 years ago. Since then it has become a key site for understanding ancient copper production technologies in the Near East and beyond. However, the fantastic quantity of ground stone tools which are present at the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age copper smelting sites were never systematically studied. Questions regarding their origin, distribution, typologies, and especially their role within the chaîne opératoire of copper production, were seldom addressed. Although surprising, this has been the case for almost all of the excavated metal production sites around the world.In the framework of the renewed excavations at several of the copper smelting sites at Timna, a pioneering study was conducted in which more than 1000 ground stone tools were identified and registered. These tools include, among others, grinding stones, pounders, anvils and mortars; most were manufactured of compacted sandstone and granite, exposed in several locations in the valley. In this paper we present a typology and quantitative analysis of the ground stone tools which were used by the metal workers, and offer an interpretation of how the various types of tools were employed as part of the copper production process. This provides new insights regarding the smelting process and the conditions needed for its successful outcome.
An experimental approach to ground stone tool manufacture
Get PDFThe manufacture of ground stone tools has long been a topic of interest for archaeologists. Ground stone tools made of specific stone types (e.g., limestone, basalt, granite) have been investigated with regards to the technology chosen by craftsmen, the manufacturing process, working tools and tool mark analysis. Here, we present the results of an experimental study of the manufacture of a basalt mortar. In particular, the strategy we adopted in designing this study was to present a method for producing a basalt mortar by pecking and abrading with basalt tools. The study was designed and conducted by A. Squitieri and D. Eitam, while the mortar was made by the sculptor D. Yassur. The goals of our experiment were to observe and document the choices made by the sculptor in creating the mortar, starting from the selection of a basalt cobblestone as the raw material, the tools (made from basalt) he used and the ways he used them. We detected practical problems the sculptor had to overcome during the process, the amount of debitage, and the nature of tool marks in the mortar cavity after the manufacturing process. We documented the entirety of the experiment through photographs and videos. Our experimental production using the expertise of a professional sculpture and his thorough knowledge of basalt offers a better understanding of basalt artefact manufacture, the physical properties of the raw material and the interaction between basalt tools and basalt raw material