Journal of Lithic Studies
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The use of fan scrapers: Microwear evidence from Late Pottery Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, Ein Zippori, Israel
Get PDFThe results of a microwear analysis of samples of fan scrapers and fan scrapers spalls from late Pottery Neolithic (PN) and Early Bronze Age (EBA) occupation layers at Ein Zippori, Lower Galilee, Israel are presented. The goal of the microwear analysis was to determine the function of the fan scrapers and compare the visible usewear on the scrapers found in late PN and EBA lithic assemblages. The results indicate that during both periods most of the fan scrapers were used to skin and butcher animals, while some were also used for hide processing and bone working. The working edges of the fan scrapers had sharp, moderate, or steep edge-angles, and different edges were used for different tasks. Edges with microwear from scraping meat, bone, and hides (including some hides that may have been treated with abrasives) had steep edge-angles, while there were moderate or sharp edge-angles on the edges of fan scrapers used for cutting. Two sub-types of fan scrapers were identified, flat cortex fan scrapers (FCFS), and cortical fan scrapers (CFS) with convex dorsal faces. The CFS were abundant in PN contexts, while the FCFS were more common in EBA layers. However both of the sub-types had similar microwear traces
Book review: Pre-Clovis in the Americas: International Science Conference Proceedings
Get PDFThis volume is comprised of papers presented at the “Pre-Clovis in the Americas” conference, held in 2012 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The conference was convened to discuss the current state of research concerning Pre-Clovis occupations in the Americas. The goals of the conference were twofold: to gain a better understanding of Pre-Clovis artifact assemblages and to identify possible patterning in those assemblages that could point to the origin or origins of Pre-Clovis. The eleven papers in this volume present data from numerous Pre-Clovis sites across North and South America and offer unique suggestions for identifying new sites and assemblages that predate Clovis occupations in the Americas
Event review: Central Narmada Basin Paleoanthropology Fieldschool
Get PDFIn comparison to other subjects in Indian archaeology and Quaternary studies, paleoanthropology has declined significantly in recent decades as a prominent academic discipline in the Indian Subcontinent. Most archaeological research and teaching in South Asia are largely focused on younger time periods, primarily the protohistoric or Chalcolithic and historical phases. In addition to lack of general interest and lack of popularization, another major reason for this decline in paleoanthropology may be the methodological challenges in interpreting complex paleoanthropological records, e.g., landform assemblage, paleoenvironmental reconstructions, assessing contextual integrity of the archaeological evidence (compared to younger sites) and so forth. Due to inadequate preserved evidence compared to younger archaeological sites, the study of human history during the Quaternary demands a multi-disciplinary approach with highly sophisticated and extensive field-based surveys and integrated scientific analyses from geological perspectives
Plant use from the grinding stones’ viewpoint: Phytolith analyses from Aeneolithic Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan
Get PDF[Resesarch Article]Recent archaeological examinations include an increasing amount of natural science analyses. They are often carried out by external specialists and their results are often accepted by archaeologists without question. This may lead to incomplete integration of the results into an archaeological context. One of those methods, increasingly employed in the field of archaeology, is phytolith analysis. Phytoliths, microscopic silica bodies from genera-specific plant cells, allow searching for traces of plant material in archaeological contexts where methods based on macroscopic analysis have reached their limits. This paper combines natural science approaches with archaeological data by examining the social life of artefacts via phytolith analyses that can provide data to precisely determine the interpretation and variety of grinding stones, which are often misinterpreted. In this pilot study, the analyses confirmed the macroscopic observations for grinding plant material in some cases, but also opened new areas of study such as mineral-related activities, possible use of wooden implements and the connection between the different archaeological and botanical information. The analysed objects are grinding stones from Monjukli Depe, a small village in modern southern Turkmenistan that was occupied in the Neolithic and Aeneolithic periods. The site was excavated in the 1960s by Soviet archaeologists and restudied since 2010 by a team from the Free University Berlin
The use of stone at Ohalo II, a 23,000 year old site in the Jordan Valley, Israel
Get PDFA wide range of stones were found at the 22,000-24,000 year old lakeshore camp of Ohalo II, the Sea of Galilee, Israel. The well-preserved camp includes the floors of six brush huts, several open-air hearths, a grave, a midden, and small installations. Stones were found in all excavated loci. These include a small assemblage of basalt and limestone tools, among which bowls, grinding implements and weights are the most common. Use-wear analysis supports the identification of the grinding tools, suggesting that cereals were indeed processed with them, but not in an intensive manner. The presence of thousands of cereal grains as well as several sickle blades accord well these finds. Bowls were all shallow and only their fragments were found. Weights were likely used as fishing net sinkers. Limestone and basalt flakes indicate local knapping. Basalt and limestone fragments, shattered from heat, were abundant in all the excavated loci. Their original use is yet to be verified, but their shattering from heat was affirmed by a series of experiments. Stones were also used as wall supports. The range of types, contexts and activities reflected by stone tools and natural stones is unprecedented in other contemporaneous sites in the southern Levant
The chert workshop of Tozal de la Mesa (Alins del Monte, Huesca, Spain) and its exploitation in historical times
Get PDFIn 2012, during a field survey to locate primary outcrops of cherts in the Carrodilla Mountain Range (Huesca, Spain), abundant remains of chert-knapping were found next to nodular cherts in primary and sub-primary position from the Garumnian limestones. Chert knapping evidences were discovered in Tozal de la Mesa mount, near the town of Alins del Monte (Huesca, Spain), in the first prepyrenean foothills of the province of Huesca.In order to define the features of the workshop and to determine their limits, in 2015 we conducted a field survey. Due to these works, it has been possible to define the perimeter of the chert workshop as well as to collect abundant lithic remains of chert and other rocks (e.g., ophites) that may have been directly related to chert exploitation.In this paper we are going to present the results obtained after the textural, micropaleontological, petrographic and mineralogical characterization of these cherts as well as the results of the techno-typological and traceological analyses. Moreover, we will define the features of the chert workshop and its functionality.The first approach to contextualize the recovered materials of Tozal de la Mesa workshop area has allowed determining an exploitation of the Garumnian cherts that has lasted until the late nineteenth century according to some recovered products (e.g., pottery) and to oral sources
Approach to the blade technology analysis of the Upper Palaeolithic site of “Tajos de Marchales” (Granada, Spain)
Get PDFThe study of the Upper Palaeolithic in the South of the Iberian Peninsula is usually addressed from a few stratigraphic sequences recognized in the region. We can say that the upper Palaeolithic in Andalusia is one of the worse known stages of regional prehistory. On the other hand, its development has just surpassed the description of the typological formal characterization. In some cases, recent contributions in the central region of the Baetic Mountain range, confined to the province of Granada, appeared during the last century.In this sense, the present study has two objectives. On one hand, to present the site of the rockshelter 3 of the “tajos de Marchales” (Colomera, Granada, Spain), as a new Magdalenian site in the mountainous area of Sub-Baetic Andalusia.On the other hand, through the application of diacritic analysis on cores, unretouched material and tools recognisable, we present the technological characterization of different chaîne opératoire from the production supported by the main idea of different typological objectives (domain of burins, scrapers and to a lesser extent with backed edge blades). We distinguish the different operational sequences aimed at the generation of the artefactual set. All of this will allow us to obtain a global comprehension of the lithic assemblages from the site, and to define the beginning of its chaîne opératoire. The work presents and discusses the distinctive traits of the different technical elements, focused on laminar production (blades and bladelets) and knapping methods
Book review: Clovis Lithic Technology: Investigation of a Stratified Workshop at the Gault Site, Texas
Get PDFClovis Lithic Technology presents a detailed technological, typological, and spatial analysis and interpretation of the Clovis lithic assemblage from the Gault Site in central Texas. The Gault site itself is a sine qua non of Clovis sites and represents one of the few of such locales that can be identified as a workshop associated with this industry. The technical descriptions, published data, and interpretive detail of this volume make it a welcome addition to the growing body of new technological information on Clovis in general.
Event review: How Interesting Archaeology Is! - Captivating and Leading-Edge Student Research
Get PDFKyoto City Archaeological Museum situated in Kansai region, the central part of Honshu Island, Japan, has held special exhibitions in collaboration with external organizations every year since 2011. From 2011 to 2013, several universities and even a high school have participated projects, and in 2014, the Kansai Archaeological Association for Students (KAAS) played an important role as partner, producing the exhibit “ここまでわかる！考古学―学生が魅せる最先端” (“How Interesting Archaeology Is! - Captivating and Leading-Edge Student Research”)
Biography of Jack Holland (1926-2014): Chert expert
Get PDFJack was born and grew up in Lock Haven Pennsylvania, the son of William G. Holland and Florence (Davies) Holland. He had an older brother, William and a younger brother, Donald. Jack spent much of his boyhood roaming the surrounding flood plains of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River looking for arrowheads. As Jack recalled, his parents gave him a great deal of freedom, just asking that he be home in time for dinner. Dr. T. B. Stewart, a Lock Haven dentist, encouraged Jack’s early archaeological interest, helping him to identify specimens. Dr. Stewart had an extensive archaeological collection and had worked with Donald Cadzow, Pennsylvania’s State Archaeologist (1929-1939). Dr. Stewart was also one of the founders of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, an organization with which Jack would later become involved and that bestowed their J. Alden Mason Award on him as a professional who encouraged society members in the “proper pursuit of archaeology.”