Journal of Lithic Studies
Not a member yet
375 research outputs found
Sort by
Breaking blades: Experimental programme on intentional fracturing systems of lithic tools
Get PDFThis research represents a first approach to the characterization of blade fractures produced intentionally using various techniques, according to an experimental protocol. The objective is to establish a reference base of marks which serve to define the fractures documented in the archaeological record.
The fractured blade being a very common element in different sites throughout in the Iberian Peninsula during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages. In fact, from the Late Neolithic a new concept applied to the creation of lithic tools arose, involving the fracturing of blades through the improvement of fracturing techniques. In addition, a preference for obtaining the mesial fragments of the blades or those which have more regular measurements can be observed. This type of lithic instrument represents high percentages of all the retouched material, and may possess only one fractured end or, more commonly, both, bi-fractured.
With the archaeological evidence, we decided to carry out an experiment to define and classify the marks that result during the intentional fracturing of laminar fragments, contemplating different variables. We used three types of techniques for fracturing blades: flex, direct percussion and indirect percussion, and we used different types of hammer, made of stone, antler and copper.
For the results, we have standardized the descriptions of different parts of the fracture distinguishing: types of fracture, fracture planes, fracture marks and macrowear. However, we should point out that this experimentation is the beginning of a line of research that, over time, must integrate a wider experimental base which also considers the other mentioned causes of fracture, as well as the functional objective of these tools.
The preliminary study through this experimentation has made it possible to define and describe the types of fractures resulting from the use of different blade fracturing methods. We also have described the main types of fracture marks generated from each fracturing technique
Book review: Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia
Get PDFThis text represents a monumental undertaking in scope and breadth of topical coverage and geographic extent and the editorship and authors have done a tremendous service in its production. The title is an appropriate thumbnail sketch of what this volume presents to the reader. The crux of this book addresses and brings to question the variables that researchers have used and continue to use to identify “modern human behavior” in the prehistoric record. Discussions of what constituted modern human behavior at the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition across Africa and Western Europe have relied largely on trait lists and how these are combined in the archaeological record. The combined papers in the present volume all suggest that, although such trait lists are an appropriate approach to identifying modern human behavior, trying to apply them in toto to parts of Asia beyond Europe and Africa is not feasible
Event review: Introduction to classification and description of knapped lithic remains, Madrid, Spain
Get PDFFrom the 28th to 29th of November 2015, Dibujantes de Arqueología held the third edition of the “Introduction to classification and description of knapped lithic materials” in Madrid, Spain. It was an intensive course of 18 hours. Dibujantes de Arqueología is a well-known Spanish business entity of professional archaeologists and specialised drawers in practice since 2003. They have also organised training courses for archaeologists since 2009
An archaeological experiment and new knowledge about the chipped stone industry from the Vinča culture
Get PDFIn order to examine the hypothesis of our knowledge on the Vinča chipped stone industry which was spreading on the territory of Serbia during the Late Neolithic until the Chalcolithic (the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th millennia BCE) and the previously noticed changes within it, we started from the question about the process of chipped stone tool production and the life cycle of artefacts. A series of preparatory activities in making replicas of flint sickles and the realization of a harvesting process contributed to gaining better knowledge on sequences of stone production technology, from the supply strategy to the production and utilization of artefacts. The main goal of the experiment was to obtain authentic traces of use on the working edges and creation of the first visual comparative database with examples from the region.Preliminary results essentially influenced our determination of the methods applied for reduction sequences during the Vinča culture. A significant result was achieved with the first quantifications of raw materials for making tools, such as a sickle and needs during one season, as well as with the precise definition of areas of sown land necessary for maintenance of an average Vinča family
Experimental study on flint hammerstone use in Discoid-Levallois technologies: A comparison with the workshop assemblages of the central Iberian Peninsula
Get PDFThe basins of the Manzanares and Jarama rivers have been connected to human activity since the early Palaeolithic. At the boundary between these rivers the abundance of flint has given place to exploitation and mining activities even in historical times. In recent years, projects related to urban expansion in the southeast of Madrid have brought to light various Palaeolithic deposits associated with workshops and tool production. These sites do not have evidence of river pebbles of quartzite, quartz or sandstone in the immediate environment that could have been used as hammerstones, meaning that hammerstones in these raw materials had to be transported and introduced into the sites from large distances. Given this situation, attention was paid to flint elements that show clear signs of being used as hammerstones. The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of flint as hammerstone, testing whether the use of this raw material is indifferent to other rock types or if you have limitations or advantages in this regard. An experimental protocol was developed, allowing to observe specific knapping behaviours and justifying them in the archaeological and technological context in which they are located.Las cuencas del Manzanares y el Jarama, se han relacionado con actividad humana desde los inicios del Paleolítico. Nuestra área de estudio se encuentra situada en la Plataforma divisoria entre dichos ríos. El sílex, muy abundante en dicha área fue empleado por los distintos grupos humanos recurrentemente, incluso en tiempos históricos. En los últimos años, los distintos proyectos de ampliación urbana del sureste de la ciudad de Madrid han sacado a la luz diversos yacimientos asociados a talleres de producción de herramientas. El sílex juega un papel fundamental en esta área. En estos yacimientos no tenemos evidencias de cantos de río en cuarcita, cuarzo o arenisca en el entorno inmediato que sean susceptibles de ser empleados como percutores. No obstante, sí aparecen percutores en estas materias primas que son claramente aportados a los yacimientos desde mayores distancias. Dada esta situación, llaman especialmente la atención los elementos en sílex que presentan claras huellas de haber sido empleados en la percusión.La existencia de éste tipo de percutores nos puede mostrar dos concepciones distintas: por un lado, un uso inmediato de la materia prima más cercana y por otro el reciclaje de elementos previamente desechados o agotados. También es probable un doble uso de una misma herramienta, como es el caso de los bifaces y percutores.El planteamiento principal, en este caso de estudio, era comprobar la eficacia del sílex como percutor. Por medio de la experimentación, podemos comprobar si el empleo de esta materia prima resulta indiferente con respecto a otros tipos de rocas o si presenta dificultades o ventajas en este sentido. Para alcanzar dicho objetivo se ha planteado un programa experimental específico. Con esta experimentación tratamos de observar comportamientos concretos de los talladores y justificarlos enmarcándolos dentro del contexto en el que se encuentran
Event review: Thematic Symposium Contributions of Technological Approaches to the Pre-history of South America: Theoretical Perspectives and Case Studies, Goiânia (Brazil)
Get PDFThe thematic symposium “Contributions of technological approaches to the pre-history of South America: Theoretical perspectives and case studies” took place in Goiânia, Brazil, during the 8th Congress of the Brazilian Archaeological Society (XVIII Congresso da Sociedade de Arqueologia Brasileira), on 1 October 2015. The organizers, Dr. Maria Jacqueline Rodet (Lithic Technology Laboratory, Federal University of Minas Gerais) and Barbara Romina Sacur Silvestre (National Institute of Anthropology and Latin-American Thought, Buenos Aires University) had the goal of connecting specialists in South-American technological analyses, irrespective of the nature of the supporting material or the archaeological period
Bronze Age cereal processing in Southern Iberia: A material approach to the production and use of grinding equipment
Get PDFDuring the last two decades important progress has been made regarding functional analysis on prehistoric grinding equipment, thanks to the application of new methods and techniques. Despite these efforts studies integrating archaeology, ethnography, geology and other disciplines related to the material sciences are still rare. The main focus of this paper is placed on the grinding equipment composed of two elements, grinding slab and rubber, acting in reciprocal abrasive contact. Starting from systematic petrological, morphometrical, and functional analysis, qualitative and quantitative data are considered to define the manufacturing and use of grinding tools participating specifically in the production of flour. Morphology and size of grinding slabs and rubbers, raw materials used for manufacturing them, their mechanical properties as well as the geographical management of rocks will be interrelated in this study. From a methodological perspective, socio-economic contexts where grain processing was the main food supplying strategy are of particular interest. In these contexts, access to mechanically optimal raw materials and technical equipment plays a crucial role in the social as well as biological reproduction of human communities. This was the case in the El Argar society of southeast Iberia, where barley became the main staple food and the basic good of large scale surplus production between 2200 and 1550 cal. BCE. We will use this archaeological context to highlight the complexity of macro-lithic tool analyses and in particular with regards to the study of grinding tools. The ultimate aim is to understand to what extent the technological parameters of this subsistence strategy were related to the development of class society
Macrolithic tools for mining and primary processing of metal ores from the site of Grotta della Monaca (Calabria, Italy)
Get PDFGrotta della Monaca is a karst cave located in Calabria, the southernmost region of the Italian peninsula. About half a kilometre deep, the cavern has drawn the attention of people since the Palaeolithic period due to the abundance of metal ores within (mainly iron hydroxides but also copper carbonates). These easily reachable minerals were exploited during prehistory, especially between the late Neolithic and the early Copper Age.Research conducted from 2000 to 2012 has allowed us to understand various aspects of ancient mining activities performed within the site and to reconstruct a basic operational chain concerning the procurement and the primary processing of such resources, from the choice of tools to the various extractive techniques, from the disposal of mining debris to the early operations of ore processing.In this paper we focus on two categories of macrolithic tools: those used to extract minerals, and those used for their primary processing. The first group is composed of 51 artefacts divided into axes, hammers, and pickaxes with a central groove, found in the deeper areas of the cave, which represent the mining areas. Their morphological and dimensional variability indicates a significant functional diversification; furthermore, the choice of different very hard metamorphic rocks implies a high awareness in the selection of the raw materials used for making these implements. The second group includes 22 tools with different functions - mainly made of sandstone - classified as querns, grinders and crushers. They were found in an underground area adjacent to the entrance, which is characterized by large and comfortable spaces, with the widespread presence of natural light. A recent traceological study has clarified the function of such artefacts; they were used to grind mined blocks of iron hydroxides to obtain a powder. The multidisciplinary approach adopted in studying mining tools from Grotta della Monaca, including petrographic, typological and use-wear analysis, has allowed us to gain important knowledge about the general characteristics of these tools
Lithic technology of an Itaparica industry archaeological site: the Gruta das Araras rockshelter, Midwest of Brazil
No full textThe Itaparica tradition is a lithic industry largely known with evidences of its presence in sites all over Brazil’s Central Plateau. Its main characteristic is the overwhelming presence of unifacially retouched artifacts (limaces) in these sites during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and Early Holocene. Previous researches confirm the technological similarity of the limaces between some of these sites. This paper presents a technological analysis of the flaking residues of one of these sites: The Grutas das Araras Rockshelter, in which the oldest levels were interpreted as a lithic workshop
Detailed Guide to Citing Bibliographic References
No full textAuthors are recommended to use a citation software while writing papers for submission to JLS. If you prefer to edit references manually, please consult this guide