Journal of Lithic Studies
Not a member yet
375 research outputs found
Sort by
Cazando en la costa: Una galería de imágenes de los rompecráneos
No full textThe Rompecráneo is a special kind of lithic artifact which was, presumably, involved in the capture of pinnipeds carried out along the Patagonian coast of Argentina during prehistoric times. Recent papers had offered some information about their morphology but up to now they are poorly studied. In order to offset this situation in a previous work we addressed their role in hunting technics developed at the archaeological locality of Punta Entrada (Santa Cruz, Argentina). This allowed us to propose that rompecráneos were used in combination with spears when hunting on the coast. With the aim of expanding this information, here we present an image gallery of some rompecráneos recovered there. Two of these pieces share a similar morphology but were made of different lithic raw materials. The other one has the appearance of a bola stone but its weight is higher than other bola stones in Patagonia. That is why it is considered a different kind of artifact. The importance of studying these kinds of artifacts is that they have the potential of providing information about the way people interacted with the different resources (biotic and abiotic) in the past so that a better understanding of human behavior can be developed.
Gallery
Figure 1. Geographic location of Punta Entrada.
Figure 2. Rompecráneo made of andesite. The base can be seen in the lower part of the image. Weight: 593 g.
Figure 3. Different view of the rompecráneo shown in Figure 2
Figure 4. Rompecráneo made of coquina. The base can be seen in the lower part of the image. Weight: 421 g.
Figure 5. Different view of the rompecráneo shown in Figure 3.
Figure 6. Bola stone made of andesite. Weight:1.476 kg.
Figure 7. Detail of the groove of the bola stone shown in Figure 6
Figure 8. Context of recovery of bola stone presented in Figure 6.
Los rompecráneos son un tipo de artefacto lítico presuntamente vinculado a la captura de pinnípedos llevada a cabo a lo largo de la costa patagónica argentina durante tiempos prehistóricos. Investigaciones recientes han ofrecido información sobre su morfología pero hasta el momento siguen siendo poco estudiados. Para contrarrestar esta situación, en un trabajo anterior se abordó su rol en las técnicas de caza llevadas a cabo en la localidad arqueológica de Punta Entrada (Santa Cruz, Argentina). Con el objetivo de ampliar esta información, aquí se presenta una galería de imágenes de algunos rompecráneos recuperados en dicha localidad. Dos de estas piezas comparten características morfológicas pero fueron manufacturadas a partir de rocas diferentes. La tercera es más parecida a las bolas de boleadora pero su peso es superior al registrado para otros artefactos de su tipo en el resto de la Patagonia. Por tal motivo aquí no se la considera como tal. La importancia de estudiar estas piezas radica en que tienen el potencial de ofrecer información sobre el modo en que los humanos interactuaban con los diferentes recursos (bióticos y abióticos) en el pasado. De esta forma es posible desarrollar un mejor entendimiento sobre las conductas humanas
Materias primas y funcionalidad de los diseños de las puntas de proyectil cola de pescado del sur de Brasil
No full textThis study analyses the lithic landscape and the selection of rocks used to manufacture Fishtail points (FP) in southern Brazil, their designs, and some functional aspects. In order to identify the offer of lithic resources, we carried out several surveys throughout 15 months in 47 counties in the Southern Brazil covered by the Botucatú - Serra Geral Vulcano Sedimentary Complex. The lithic composition of numerous hill slopes, fallen rocks, and accumulations of pebbles and boulders in the riversides was evaluated. The results show that basalts (including a small proportion of andesites and rhyodacites-rhyolites), and silicified sandstones, are ubiquitous in the landscape. Conversely, non-translucent cherts are scarce, so their acquisition would have been time-consuming. However, these local cherts were the rocks mostly used to manufacture these points, being another example of the selectivity for high quality rocks by Paleoamerican hunter-gatherers. The same cherts selected in southern Brazil to produce the FP were used to manufacture other point-types by local hunter-gatherers of the early and middle Holocene grouped in the so-called “Umbú Tradition”. Not a single FP of the entire collection analyzed here was made from silicified limestones, which is one of the most common raw materials among the Uruguayan FPs, nor were they made from quartzites as were most of the FPs of the Pampean plains.
Regarding to the designs of these projectiles, some morphotypes appear to have been designed to produce multiple injuries through successive thrusts and withdrawals in the bodies of the prey, while in others, the design seems to have favoured penetration and fixation on the prey, suggesting in this case, a single shot technique for each projectile. As the maintenance process unfolded, especially for points below ~ 80 mm in length, they show features that negatively impacted their efficiency, including distinct asymmetries, somewhat open front angles, a decrease in the cutting perimeter and cross-sectional area, an increase in the bevel angle of the blade edges, and a tendency to a conical cross-section. Behaviours intended to counteract these problems were maximizing the length of the leading edge, maintaining the symmetry and the triangular blade resting on straight shoulders, and maintaining the aerodynamic properties as much as it were possible, in order to improve their lethality and the fixation capacity.
Beyond these rejuvenation processes, three different morphotypes of points appear to be included within the sample. The first includes points over 120 mm and ~ 80 g in weight, with triangular or slightly lanceolate limbs, which mostly present straight shoulders, but there are also examples of rounded shoulders. The second design corresponds to projectiles between 110 and 87 mm and ~30 g in weight, with triangular or slightly lanceolate blades and straight shoulders. The third design presents the classic shape of these projectiles, with a fish silhouette, with maximum lengths below 90 mm, with a more robust and conceptually different design, where the angles of the edges of the blades and of the shoulders are equal, perhaps with the intention to facilitate the spear withdrawal to produce multiple injuries.Este estudio analiza la oferta de materias primas líticas aptas para la talla y la selección de rocas utilizadas para la manufactura de puntas de proyectil Fell, también conocidas como Fell 1 o cola de pescado (PCP) en el sur de Brasil, sus diseños y algunos aspectos funcionales de los mismos. Para identificar la oferta de recursos líticos, se realizaron numerosas prospecciones a lo largo de 15 meses en 47 municipios del Sur de Brasil, cuya geología superficial se expresa mediante la exposición del Complejo Vulcano-Sedimentario Botucatú - Serra Geral. Se evaluó la composición lítica de numerosos afloramientos rocosos y de acumulaciones de rocas caídas en las laderas y en los piedemontes, y se efectuaron muestreos sistemáticos y selectivos de las acumulaciones de guijarros y bloques existentes en las riberas de tres cursos fluviales de la región. Los resultados demostraron que los basaltos (incluyendo una pequeña proporción de andesitas y riodacitas-riolitas) y las areniscas silicificadas son omnipresentes en el paisaje. Por el contrario, los cherts no translúcidos de buena calidad para la talla son muy escasos, por lo que su adquisición requiere una inversión de tiempo significativa de búsqueda y testeo. A pesar de su escasez, estos cherts fueron seleccionados para la fabricación de las PCP en el sur de Brasil, constituyendo otro ejemplo de la selectividad por las rocas de alta calidad por parte de los grupos de cazadores-recolectores tempranos de América. Estos mismos cherts también fueron seleccionados por los grupos cazadores-recolectores más tardíos de la región bajo estudio, agrupados bajo el nombre genérico de la llamada “Tradición Umbú”. Debe notarse que ninguna de todas las puntas analizadas del sur de Brasil está confeccionada con caliza silicificada proveniente de la Formación Puerto Yeruá-Mercedes, que es la materia prima por excelencia con la cual están confeccionadas las PCP de Uruguay. De la misma manera, tampoco hay una sola pieza manufacturada con ortocuarcita de la región pampeana de Argentina, que es la roca más abundante entre las PCP de aquella región. Por otro lado, ni la ftanita pampeana ni la calcedonia bandeada del norte de Uruguay, han sido identificadas entre las materias primas utilizadas en el sur de Brasil. Sumando evidencias concurrentes tales como la ausencia de materias primas exóticas entre las PCP de Brasil, la gran cantidad de proyectiles que se están identificado en este país, incluyendo zonas tan alejadas de la frontera con Uruguay y Argentina como Bahia y Piauí (2800 km de la frontera con Uruguay), se considera que la idea del intercambio de estas puntas desde estos países hacia el actual territorio de Brasil es la hipótesis menos probable. Por el contrario, las PCP que se recuperan a lo largo de la vertiente atlántica de Brasil parecen reflejar la ocupación por parte de grupos que manufacturaban estos cabezales, de acuerdo con los modelos generales subcontinentales de dispersión de estas puntas.
En cuanto a los diseños, algunos morfotipos parecen haber sido diseñados para producir múltiples lesiones a través de sucesivos ingresos y retiros de los proyectiles en los cuerpos de las presas, mientras que otros, la morfología favoreció la penetración y fijación de las puntas en las heridas, probablemente con el objeto de generar un canal permanente de sangrado, sugiriendo en este caso, una técnica de un disparo único para cada proyectil. A medida que se desarrolló el proceso de mantenimiento, se observa en las puntas diferentes características que impactaron negativamente en su eficiencia, especialmente en aquellas que exhiben longitudes menores de 80 mm, tales como asimetrías, ángulos frontales más abiertos, una disminución en el perímetro de corte y del área de la sección transversal, un aumento en el ángulo de bisel de los filos de los limbos y una tendencia general hacia una sección transversal cónica. Todo ello redunda en una menor capacidad de penetración. Las conductas destinadas para contrarrestar esta disminución en la letalidad de los cabezales fueron la maximización de la longitud del borde de ataque, el mantenimiento de las simetrías de los limbos a través de su reducción y el mantenimiento de los hombros rectos tanto como esto fue posible, probablemente con la intención de seguir manteniendo su capacidad de fijación en el cuerpo de las presas.
Más allá de estos procesos de mantenimiento, en la muestra parecen estas incluidos tres morfotipos diferentes de cabezales. El primer diseño incluye puntas con umbrales mínimos de alrededor 120 mm de longitud y ~ 80 g de peso, con limbos triangulares o ligeramente lanceolados, que en su mayoría presentan hombros rectos, pero también hay piezas con hombros redondeados. El segundo diseño corresponde a proyectiles entre 110 y 87 mm de longitud y unos 30 g de peso aproximadamente, con limbos triangulares o ligeramente lanceolados y hombros rectos. Los hombros están diseñados con ángulos de bisel abruptos, generalmente obtenidos por retoques cortos y anchos o muescas de retoque, que producen un cambio inmediato del ángulo del bisel entre los filos del limbo y de los hombros. El tercer diseño presenta la forma clásica de estos proyectiles, con silueta de pez, con longitudes totales inferiores a 90 mm. Su diseño es conceptualmente diferente, siendo piezas más robustas, con hombros redondeados cuyos ángulos de bisel son semejantes a los ángulos de los filos de los limbos, quizás con la intención de facilitar el retiro de los proyectiles para producir múltiples y sucesivas heridas
Not only a tool-stone: Other ways of using obsidian in the Near East
Full text linkObsidian was used widely in the Near East in prehistoric and early historic times to make tools and other objects. We know quite a lot about its use as a tool-stone, but much less about other objects made from it, although such things in other contexts would be regarded as markers of identity. This apparent duality of use raises the question of whether the object made or obsidian as a raw material was more significant; it also raises questions about whether the same crafts-people were involved in both the production of tools and other objects or whether they were separated. As research progresses, we are increasingly realising that there is much information that is scattered and that more holistic and integrated approaches are needed. This demands in-depth study of individual objects using multi-disciplinary approaches. Significant areas for further study include the use of geochemical analysis to determine the provenance of the obsidian from which the objects were made and so to evaluate choice of source. Advanced technological investigation is also needed to elucidate manufacturing methods and techniques. These include studies of manufacturing techniques and surface topography as well as an evaluation of experimental data, not only to elucidate which techniques might have been used but also to assess skill and time input. The objects also need to be examined for indications of use and their context of deposition considered in greater detail. The type of objects produced and the way they were crafted also need to be compared to similar objects made of other materials to see if obsidian had a privileged position. Research into these matters is still at an early stage and this paper can only summarise what we know in order to provide a foundation for further study
Flint vs. Limestone – A comparative analysis on the development of macro-wear traces: Implications for the analysis of ancient lithic toolkits
No full textEspecially for the Lower Palaeolithic, traceological analysis is very difficult to carry out due to bad preservation and the diversity of raw materials used for tool production. Due to the problem of preservation, focuses the functional analysis on the observation of macro-wear appears to be a good solution to the challenge of obtaining functional data.
We propose thus to present the results of a large experiment (up to 300 experimental tools), conducted with limestone and flint flakes. Controlled parameters were disposed to provide replicative criteria for comparison. Three movements were performed systematically (longitudinal action, and transversal action both unidirectional and bidirectional), across two durations. In the first stage, actions were realised on the same worked material: dry wood calibrated. Each raw material for each action was represented by 48 experimental tools. In the second stage (63 experimental tools), the same actions were realised on different worked materials such as fresh wood, skin, bone, meat, and others. The macro-wear traces produced (mainly micro-flakes) were described relative to their position on the edge and their morphology.
The comparison between the two raw materials was made using a statistical approach. The results were discussed under the influence of different parameters: morphology of the cutting edge, duration of use and edge angle of the active part. These results confirm firstly that macro-wear is reliable in determining the tool movement. Moreover, as assessed by the chosen criteria, only a few differences exist in the macro-wear development between flint and limestone. Finally, we conclude that the micro-flakes provide relevant information and should be used more frequently for functional analysis of ancient and badly preserved material.Especially for the Lower Palaeolithic, traceological analysis is very difficult to carry out due to bad preservation and the diversity of raw materials used for tool production. Due to the problem of preservation, focuses the functional analysis on the observation of macro-wear appears to be a good solution to the challenge of obtaining functional data.
We propose thus to present the results of a large experiment (up to 300 experimental tools), conducted with limestone and flint flakes. Controlled parameters were disposed to provide replicative criteria for comparison. Three movements were performed systematically (longitudinal action, and transversal action both unidirectional and bidirectional), across two durations. In the first stage, actions were realised on the same worked material: dry wood calibrated. Each raw material for each action was represented by 48 experimental tools. In the second stage (63 experimental tools), the same actions were realised on different worked materials such as fresh wood, skin, bone, meat, and others. The macro-wear traces produced (mainly micro-flakes) were described relative to their position on the edge and their morphology.
The comparison between the two raw materials was made using a statistical approach. The results were discussed under the influence of different parameters: morphology of the cutting edge, duration of use and edge angle of the active part. These results confirm firstly that macro-wear is reliable in determining the tool movement. Moreover, as assessed by the chosen criteria, only a few differences exist in the macro-wear development between flint and limestone. Finally, we conclude that the micro-flakes provide relevant information and should be used more frequently for functional analysis of ancient and badly preserved material
Manufacturing technology of stone miniature columns from the Bronze Age site Gonur Depe (southern Turkmenistan)
Full text linkArchaeological cultures of the Bronze Age, despite the widespread use of metal, also used stone raw materials for the manufacture of tools, household, and sacred items. A lot of stone products had a complicated shape and meticulous finishing, but the technology of their manufacture is still not always clear. This fully applies to the materials of the Bronze Age of southern Turkmenistan where long-term settlements of the proto-urban type are being studied. These include Gonur Depe (2500-1500 BCE) - the administrative and religious centre of ancient Margiana (Sarianidi 2005). Among its materials are stone miniature columns of “unknown” purpose in the shape of a chess rook, which are usually found in sacral complexes. This paper deals with the technology of producing these objects (half of the collection of intact items was investigated) and is part of a collective work on a comprehensive study of large stone cult objects from Gonur Depe. The raw materials for studied miniature columns were gypsum, limestone, marbled limestone, marbled onyx, onyx, talcochlorite, and polymictic breccia. For the first time the authors made an attempt to consider the issues of miniature columns manufacturing technology. Thanks to the use-wear study of their surfaces, it became possible to reveal numerous technological traces invisible to the naked eye. The data obtained made it possible to characterize all stages of the miniature columns manufacturing technology, which indicates a high level of development of the stone-processing industry in the settlements of the Bronze Age of Turkmenistan
Book review: The prehistoric apprentice: Investigating apprenticeship, know-how and expertise in prehistoric technologies; L’apprenti préhistorique: Appréhender l’apprentissage, les savoir-faire et l’expertise à travers les productions techniques des soci
Full text linkDescribing cultural change and variability and inferring sociocultural dynamics about past people and communities may be among archaeology’s main goals as a field of practice. In this regard, the concept of skill has proved its usefulness to, time and again, expand the breath of archaeologists and lithic technologists’ analyses. It covers a wide range of applications, from apprenticeship, cognition, paleo-sociology, spatial organization. It is one of the main causes for material culture variability, up there with raw material constraints, design, technological organization or cultural norms. Yet, while skill has certainly been the focus of some research in the last decades, it remains quite peripheral, when considering how central the concept should be to technological inquiries. Whatever the reasons may be, this book, edited by Laurent Klaric and fully bilingual (French and English), aims at changing that, and argues for skill to become a central concern in lithic technology. Its chapters do so strongly and the end-result is a book that should become a reference for lithic technologists, whatever their research interests or schools of thought may be
Hunter-gatherer mobility and territories in the dunefields of center Argentina
Full text linkThe distribution of certain rocks in the landscape allows us to reconstruct diverse aspects of past hunter-gatherer behavior. In this work, we evaluate the mobility patterns employed by these groups and the presence or absence of boundaries in the Aeolian system of the center of Argentina. To accomplish this objective, we consider two types of evidence: 1) raw material frequencies and distributions in three areas of this Aeolian System and 2) presence and frequency of knapping stones from Tandilia sources. We construct a fall-off curve that is based on the relationship between the frequency of an item and the distance to the source of supply. The characteristics of each area yielded the human groups that inhabited delineate different modes of exploitation of the rocks. The fall-off curve documents a steep drop-off between 300 and 350 km from the Tandilia source and the spatial analysis indicates that within this distance the source probably represents the threshold of direct access to the quarries. Tandilia stone-tools seem to systematically supply a relatively wide area of the Central Pampean Dunefields of the Pampa grasslands, through varied processes, but they arrive at very low frequencies over great distances. The presence of Tandilia rocks in the Western Pampean Dunefields and Western Pampas Sand Mantles and Dunefields indicates social interaction between human groups that shared some common technological knowledge. The presence of stones in the Central Pampean Dunefields coming from the xerophytic woodland of the Dry Pampas can be related with contacts and exchanges among the hunter-gatherer group that occupied different territories
Lithic industries, territory and mobility in the western Linear Pottery Culture
Full text linkTerritory is a complex notion whose definition varies depending on the discipline in which it is applied. Research on the notion of territory has often focused on the Palaeolithic. Studies in this field are mainly based on comparisons between archaeological assemblages and ethnographic data, an approach originating from the work of L.R. Binford, who introduced the concept of mobility, leading to various models of spatial occupation. How have researchers approached the notion of territory with regard to the first mixed farming populations of the Linear Pottery Culture in the Seine Basin and neighbouring regions? Can lithic industries contribute to our understanding of how these first sedentary populations perceived their territory? In this paper, we show that these first Neolithic communities likely obtained their siliceous materials via direct procurement strategies across a territory that they knew well and regularly frequented. In our study area, centred around the Rhine-Meuse region and the Seine Basin, two distinct litho-spaces are comprised of: 1) small numbers of minor territories with local resources, and 2) vast territories requiring greater mobility among the groups that occupied them. Furthermore, the procurement strategies of the occupants of the regions with few siliceous resources seem to have been based on long-distance relationships and networks. In this case, a high degree of mobility and ensuing social relations would have contributed to the attractivity of villages.Le territoire est une notion encore complexe qui recouvre des définitions polymorphes selon les disciplines. Les travaux sur la notion de territoire se sont particulièrement développés sur le Paléolithique (Delvigne 2016). Ils se fondent principalement sur des comparaisons entre les assemblages archéologiques et les données ethnographiques, issues notamment des travaux de Binford qui introduit le concept de mobilité, à l’origine de différents modèles d’occupation de l’espace (Binford 1982). Comment la notion de territoire a-t-elle été explorée pour les premières populations agro-pastorales ? L’industrie lithique peut-elle apporter des éléments sur la compréhension de la perception du territoire des premières populations sédentaires ?
L’espace parcouru par ces premières communautés néolithiques pour acquérir leur matériau siliceux, selon des modalités d’acquisition directe, pourrait être entendu comme un territoire connu et traversé de manière relativement régulière. Pour notre zone d’étude, deux formes de litho-espaces se distinguent alors individualisant des petits territoires, finalement peu nombreux, où les ressources sont proches et de vastes territoires impliquant une plus forte mobilité des groupes qui les occupaient. Nous émettrons le principe que cette situation, pour les habitants de des régions pauvres en ressources, a nécessité le développement de liens et de réseaux à plus grande échelle que pour les habitats bien pourvus en ressources locales. La mobilité serait dans ce cas particulièrement régulière et avec des liens sociaux étendus, favorisant l’attractivité des villages
To haft and to hold: Evidence for the hafting of Clovis fluted points
Full text linkClovis fluted points vary considerably in technology and morphology, but also share a set of attributes, the most diagnostic of which are the flute scars, the remnants of the flake removals from the basal region that travelled up towards the tip. Fluting on Clovis and Clovis-like points generally extends no further than a third of the way up the face of the point. Finished points are usually ground smooth along the base and lower edges, suggesting facilitation of the hafting (attachment) to a wooden shaft or handle by way of an ivory or bone socket. The points may have been hafted directly to a main-shaft and used as a thrusting spear during close encounter attacks, or in the hand as knife or butchery tool. Alternatively, an intermediary shaft, or foreshaft may have been used to secure the point. The suggestion of foreshafts being used by Clovis hunters received support after the discovery of bone rods in association with mammoth remains and Clovis points at the type site at Blackwater Draw, New Mexico in 1936. Several other Clovis-aged sites across North America have yielded ivory and beveled rods that have also been associated with foreshafts and the hafting of Clovis points. Scratches that are present on a couple of Clovis points made on varieties of obsidian, have been identified as being “hafting abrasion” evidence, this roughening of the surface would have helped in securing the point into the shaft or socket. In one example from the Hoyt site in Oregon, remains of a “pitch” or hafting adhesive was discovered in the abrasions in the fluted area of the point
Introduction: Immersed in Lithics
Full text linkThe idea of holding a conference to discuss how we can explore what affects our approaches to, and understanding of, lithic artefacts and their analysis emerged from a hands-on workshop entitled Northern Knap-in in November 2014. In that workshop we wanted to explore how prehistoric people in the north of England, which is perceived by many as being a (lithic)resource-poor region, might have adapted to the lack of good quality flint and chert for tool manufacture and so we experimented with the working of non-flint raw materials. Many things emerged from that day including how the experimental knapping of materials other than flint allowed us to think outside the conventional box, and how communal knapping and grinding demonstrated some of the different ways that people interacted and adapted to each other’s rhythm when making artefacts. We were also struck (excuse the pun) by how much non-lithic specialists contributed to the questions we raise in lithic analysis. This brought home to us the importance of finding other, sometimes non- conventional, ways in which we can engage with the past. This eventually led to the Immersed in Lithics Conference in February 2016