Journal of Lithic Studies
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Lithic variability and raw material exploitation at the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Gotera, southern Ethiopia: A combined technological and quantitative approach: a combined technological and quantitative approach
Full text linkTechnological variability within East African Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblages is considered a reflection of regional or local identities. These identities are a possible outcome of different social dynamics in human populations or interaction with the environment. Here we analysed the lithic assemblage from GOT 1-S site, in the Gotera area (Southern Ethiopia) in order to integrate fresh data from the region into the broader discussion on the technological variability of the MSA of Eastern Africa. To reach this goal, we considered lithic data from a surface dispersion, through the combination of different methods. Technological and statistical analyses performed on lithic assemblage suggest the existence of two distinct reduction sequences related to different raw materials: quartz and basalt. The technological analysis shows a more opportunistic reduction strategy on basalt artefacts, while the quartz lithic assemblage exhibits a more accurate preparation of core striking platforms and more predetermined products. The results of technological analyses on flakes, tools and cores were elaborated using Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The two analyses allowed to confirm the hypothesis of two reduction strategies according to different raw material selection and managing. Furthermore, the categorical attributes from cores and flakes were processed by means of Correspondence Analysis, highlighting the technological differences linked to the different raw materials exploited. Moreover, the combined results from the technological and statistical analyses proved the validity of this integrated methodology to analyse a lithic collection from a surface context
Adaptation à la variabilité interne des matériaux : un exemple issu de trois stations de surfaces du Paléolithique moyen de la vallée de l’Hérault, France (Les Geissières, Saint-Saturnin et Camillo)
No full textUp to now, little was known about the Middle Palaeolithic from the Hérault Valley (France). Recently, systematic surveys have led to the discovery of several surface stations on river terraces. Some of these have yielded stone tools made from unusual raw materials, such as, brecciated quartzites and jasper-like rocks, as well as quartz and rare flints. These rocks are found in primary position in the Montagne Noire area, and are also available in the alluvial deposits of the Hérault and its tributaries in the form of more or less rounded cobbles. These raw materials are very heterogeneous even within a single cobble. Their inter and intra-variability has been found to have induced specific knapping strategies as hominins adapted to - or took full advantage of - their special petrographic characteristics.
Here we present data from three Middle Palaeolithic open-air stations (Les Geissières, Saint-Saturnin and Camillo) to illustrate adaptive knapping strategies performed by Neanderthals. In addition to the technological analysis, experiments were also conducted to test some of the identified methods, such as bipolar-on-anvil, with the aims of: 1) evaluating flake production efficiency and 2) recognizing specific traces left on the products by this method. This enabled us to better identify archaeological artefacts in this particular alluvial context.
The study shows the use of stone reduction methods that allowed the knappers to adapt to the constraints posed by the raw materials: Discoid sensu lato (bifacial, unifacial, partial), Clactonian and bipolar-on-anvil. Methods more diagnostic of the Middle Palaeolithic, such as the Levallois and typo-Levallois or various Kombewa methods were used on finer grained raw materials. There are a few retouched flake tools and some pebble tools (mainly choppers). These assemblages show us that, despite the influence of the raw materials (which is more of a constraint than a limit), Neanderthals achieved their goals through a variety of methods.
These surface stations make it possible to better perceive adaptive strategies in the Middle Palaeolithic in Languedoc-Roussillon, in a context where the Levallois techno-complexes prevail.Le Paléolithique moyen de la vallée de l\u27Hérault (France) reste jusqu’à aujourd’hui peu exploré, malgré la présence de plusieurs sites majeurs de cette période comme le Mas des Caves I (Lunel-Viel, l’abri Rothschild (Cabrières) ou encore l’Hortus (Valflaunès). Récemment, des prospections systématiques ont conduit à la découverte de plusieurs stations de surface attribuées au Paléolithique moyen sur des terrasses alluviales dans la moyenne vallée de l’Hérault, autour de Pézenas. Certaines d\u27entre elles ont livré des industries lithiques réalisées à partir de matières premières peu habituelles pour le Paléolithique de la région, telles que des quartzites bréchiques et des jaspoides, ainsi que du quartz. Si les silex sont également présents, ils sont utilisés en plus faible proportion. Ces roches (métaquartzites, jaspoïdes) se trouvent en position primaire en amont, dans la zone de la Montagne Noire. Elles se retrouvent dans les alluvions de l\u27Hérault et de ses affluents sous forme de galets plus ou moins roulés. Ces matières premières sont très hétérogènes (taille des grains, inclusions, diaclases), parfois y compris au sein d\u27un même bloc, pouvant leur réaction à la taille. Ces variations d’homogénéités internes ont ainsi induit des stratégies de taille spécifiques, les préhistoriques s\u27adaptant à ces caractéristiques pétrographiques particulières pour en tirer pleinement profit.
Nous présentons ici des données provenant de trois de ces stations de plein-air attribuées au Paléolithique moyen de la moyenne vallée de l’Hérault (Les Geissières, Saint-Saturnin et Camillo). Elles permettent d’illustrer les stratégies adaptatives des Néandertaliens face à ces matériaux locaux parfois très hétérogènes. Une analyse technologique du matériel a été réalisée. Cette analyse est associée à des expérimentations qui ont été menées dans le but de tester certaines des méthodes identifiées dans les séries, comme que le débitage bipolaire sur enclume. Ces expérimentations ont été réalisées d’une part dans le but d\u27évaluer l\u27efficacité de la production d’éclats sur ces matériaux (métaquartzites, jaspoïdes) et d’autre part afin de mieux caractériser les traces spécifiques laissées sur les produits par cette méthode. Ceci nous a permis de mieux identifier les artefacts archéologiques dans ce contexte alluvial particulier.
L\u27étude de ces trois stations montre l\u27utilisation de méthodes de débitage qui ont permis aux tailleurs de s\u27adapter aux contraintes posées par les matières premières : débitage Discoïde lato sensu (bifacial, unifacial, partiel), Clactonien et débitage bipolaire sur enclume. Des méthodes plus diagnostiques du Paléolithique moyen ont également été identifiées, comme le débitage Levallois, principalement récurrent et le typo-Levallois ou des méthodes Kombewa. Ces concepts de production ont été appliqués sur des matières premières à grains plus fins. Quelques outils retouchés et façonnés ont également été identifiés dans les séries (principalement des choppers et chopping-tools). Ces assemblages nous montrent que, malgré l\u27influence des matières premières (qui est plus une contrainte qu\u27une limite), les Néandertaliens de l’Hérault ont atteint leurs objectifs grâce à des méthodes de production variées.
De manière plus générale, ces stations de surface permettent de mieux percevoir les modes de productions utilisés au Paléolithique moyen en Languedoc-Roussillon et attestent d’une diversité des systèmes techniques plus importante que supposée, dans un contexte où dominent les techno-complexes Levallois classiques
Quartzite procurement, not only in fluvial deposits: raw material characterisation of the lithic assemblage from Level XXII-R at El Esquilleu, Cantabrian Region, Spain.
Full text linkThe consideration of quartzite as a secondary raw material has relegated in-depth research of this raw material in favour of such other rocks as flint or obsidian. The latter two are the most researched raw materials because of the information derived from their study: long-distance transport of rocks and mobility of people. In contrast, information obtained from research into quartzite generally supported near-site procurement areas mainly related to secondary river deposits. Together with the wide range of rocks called quartzite by archaeologists, this has influenced the poverty of research on the second most-often used raw material during the Palaeolithic. To overcome this narrow perspective, it is necessary to put quartzite in the centre of the debate as a raw material, using an inductive proposal based on geoarchaeological methodologies.
This issue is approached by the application of a geoarchaeological methodology that combines thin section analysis, stereomicroscope observation, and X-ray Fluorescence compositional analysis of the quartzite from Level-XXII-R at El Esquilleu. Potential areas where quartzite could be procured, especially river beaches, are also characterised here. The results show complex mechanisms of quartzite acquisition based on intensive and selective searching, not only in proximate river deposits, but also in more distant fluvial deposits and conglomerate formations. Finally, in combination with techno-typological criteria, complex mechanisms of exploitation are proposed. These depended on each quartzite type, which promoted not only lithological but also technological variability. All these data open new perspectives for the characterisation of the second best represented raw material in Europe, as well as for understanding acquisition mechanisms in fluvial deposits and conglomerate formations
Early Harappan interaction between Sindh and Gujarat, as evidenced by lithic tools
Full text linkThe spread and development of the Indus Valley Civilisation, also known as the Harappan civilisation, one of the oldest civilisations of the world, is still an enigma. Indus Valley Civilisation was spread over modern day India and Pakistan. The civilisation has been divided into three phases, Early or Pre-Harappan, Mature or Urban Harappan and Post- or Late Harappan. The Urban phase is very well studied and understood. However, this phase is the culmination of a process that started much earlier. A lot of effort during recent years has led to new discoveries and clues regarding the interactions during the Early Harappan period between now politically divided areas. Unfortunately, this struggle to understand the spread of Early Harappan cultural traits between these distinct regions is one on-going and far from over.
Explorations and subsequent excavations at the site of Juna Khatiya, situated in Kachchh district of Gujarat, India have brought to light noteworthy evidence of the Early Harappan period in terms of artefacts and burials. Other than the ubiquitous pottery, these indications include a lithic blade industry comprising of various types of blades, various types of scrapers, points and associated lithic debitage. The tools are made out of locally available raw material (mostly chalcedony). However, the discovery of a few blades of chert imported from the Rohri hills (situated about 500 km as-the-crow-flies from Gujarat) in modern Pakistan is important. Rohri chert blades are significant since they are very distinct and easily identifiable. The wide distribution of standardised Rohri chert blades is also often regarded as a testimony to the Harappan efficiency in long distance trade and craft production. The technique used in the manufacturing of these blades is known as the crested guiding ridge, a technique not observed in Gujarat before this contact between Sindh (in modern Pakistan) and Gujarat (in modern India) developed. This paper highlights the contributions of lithic artefacts to understand the Early Harappan interactions between these two politically divided but culturally united regions
Shine on you crazy diamond: Symbolism and social use of fluorite ornaments in Iberia’s late prehistory
Full text linkFluorite ornaments have been recorded in different sites of Europe since Upper Paleolithic. Due to its visual appearance and physical properties, some translucent or transparent mineralogies like fluorite were searched for or casually acquired by late prehistory’s human communities. After intensive research on archaeological contexts from the Iberian Peninsula with personal ornaments from 4th to 2nd millennia BCE, we have recently identified and characterized for the first time an important number of fluorite ornaments, confronting a previous background where little attention was paid. Our work has been carried out in different archaeological collections and museums from the whole Iberian Peninsula by non-destructive techniques (Raman spectroscopy, portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), that revealed the nature of fluorite ornaments and points to its consideration as scarce and highly symbolic items during late prehistory. A total of 36 fluorite beads from 23 sites are here recorded and studied, many of them unpublished or wrong catalogued as other mineralogies. These adornments could have important roles in trade and use among the communities of Iberia from the 4th millennium BCE onwards, because of their scarcity and its recurrent association with important funerary complex and exotic materials. Fluorite ornaments could have been significant and special symbols in the development of new and exclusive raw materials in the context of increasing social complexity and inequality
Knapping before and after polishing: Technological evidence in the Neolithic polished stone tools from Hungary
Full text linkThe authors present the evidence gathered during the interdisciplinary study of several polished stone tools from some Neolithic sites in Hungary. In particular, the cutting-edged tool production (axes, adzes, chisels) involves knapping at several stages of the operational-chain within an artefact’s ‘life cycle’ - from raw material procurement, its manufacture, use, and discard. Some specific fine-grained and non-siliceous raw materials, among which are mainly hornfels, “white stones” and a few greenstones, show evidence of being worked by knapping as shown by the recovery of rough-outs, flaked similarly to biface artefacts, reworked pieces during retooling attempts, and several flakes detached before and after polishing the artefact surfaces. These latter demonstrate that re-sharpening and re-working polished cutting-edged tools was a common practice within the settlements during the whole Neolithic period. These small flakes, that sometimes look like true bladelets, have been often confused with, and published as, chipped stone tools. Therefore, it is important to get a holistic view of the whole stone industry during the study of the lithic assemblages. As in the case for chert and flint in N Europe, which have been intensively exploited for the production of polished axes and adzes, some other lithic raw materials could be easily worked by knapping for the production of polished tools, especially micro-crystalline rocks that have technical response and physical properties very similar to true flint and chert. Moreover, there are indeed implications regarding social organization among Neolithic communities, not only from the point of view of raw material procurement. Notably, the technical capability of producing and maintaining in efficiency the polished stone tools had to be acquired by individuals belonging to each household within the community, since stone axe-adzes were polyfunctional tools for mundane and multiple tasks. Therefore, as an important means for survival, the production of stone tools, both chipped and polished, was a knowledge certainly transmitted from generation to generation, although we still have to understand the modes and social implications of the transfer in details
The New evidence for the Palaeolithic on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros), North Eastern Aegean
No full textEksino, on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) in the Northeast Aegean, is a new open-air site with evidence of Palaeolithic cultural remains. Stone tools collected by an initial survey have clarified an assessment of the site from the Lower Palaeolithic, and brought to light new evidence from the Middle Palaeolithic as well as transition to the Upper Palaeolithic. Eksino is probably one of the most significant Lower Palaeolithic tool collections in the North Aegean, and finds such as chopper or chopping tools and Acheulean bifacial handaxes from the site show that the North Aegean may be another possible dispersal route from hominids to Europe via the East and Northeast Mediterranean during the Lower Palaeolithic. Middle Palaeolithic finds are frequent in the site and finds resemble the typical Mousterian type which is characterized by discoidal cores, Levallois cores and flakes, scrapers, denticulates, notches and points. Upper Palaeolithic finds are rare in the site, and a bifacial leaf point and large crescent-shaped backed pieces made on blades may reveal the presence of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition on the island. This new data from Palaeolithic Gökçeada is likely to fill key geographic gaps associated with the initial dispersal of hominins through the northeast Aegean islands
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Use-wear and residue analysis of knapped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina (Serbia)
Full text linkFollowing a series of published analyses ranging from architecture to prehistoric diet of the Iron Gates’ inhabitants, our research aims to present new results regarding use-wear analysis of knapped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina with a particular focus on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic in this region. Use-wear and residue analysis are applied using the low and high-power approach by Optical Light Microscope (OLM) observations combined with FTIR analysis.
Based on the results, some of the main activities that took place in Iron Gates are processing of hide, bone, antler, plants, and soft stone. It is very important to highlight the complexity of various processes, which make this already specific area more peculiar. A variety of both simple, but overall, more complex and composite activities are recorded with the elaborate preparation of the used materials, for example, hide. Particular processes, such as butchering, were noted both inside the houses, and also concentrated in precise, specific areas of the settlements, where only tools involved in the processing of hide and meat were found. The data obtained highlight the activities of these advanced hunter-gatherer-fishermen and first farmers communities. Together with spatial analysis, the dynamics and processes in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic are revealed, but also many questions regarding the specialization of the prehistoric settlements on the Danube are posed
Manufacture, use and management of macro-lithic resources in the Bronze Age settlement of Bruszczewo (Poland)
Full text linkContrary to pottery or metal artefacts, macro-lithic tools are still not fully integrated into the archaeological research programs concerning the Early Bronze Age of Central Europe. While such kind of archaeological materials usually do not easily allow typological approaches, their constant participation in several productive spheres makes them a crucial element for understanding the economic processes and the organisation of past societies. This paper presents the general results of the investigation carried out on an assemblage of 1073 macro-lithic items recovered in the wet soil area of the site of Bruszczewo (municipality of Śmigiel, Poland). This fortified settlement was inhabited during the Early Bronze Age (2100-1650 BCE) and later on in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (1100-800 BCE), with minor archaeological evidences from Middle Ages. The methodology applied in this assessment is a holistic one, which combines manufacturing (petrography and morphometry), functional (use-wear and residues) and spatial analyses. This approach has allowed recording a mainly local raw material supplying system, based on the gathering of pebbles in the vicinity of the site and a minimal transformation of raw pieces previous to use. Moreover, Bruszczewo comes out to be a central settlement managing and controlling exogenous ores, such as copper and gold, as shown by residues found on some macro-lithic forging anvils. All in all, the recognition in the macro-lithic tool assemblage of different tasks related to subsistence (food preparation) as well as to manufacture (metallurgy, probably bone working) processes contributes to (a) defining the settlement\u27s organisation and the management of resources in the site and (b) improving our understanding of the role played by central settlements in the socio-economic networks, at a time when the first class societies emerged in Central Europe