76 research outputs found
Expert and novice stone tool-making energetics
No full textR code and raw data files to accompany Pargeter et al., Expert and novice stone tool-making energetic
Expert and novice stone tool-making energetics
No full textR code and raw data files to accompany Pargeter et al., Expert and novice stone tool-making energetic
Pargeter et al., 2021, Testing the social, cognitive, and motor foundations of Paleolithic skill reproduction
No full textReplicability in lithic analysis
No full textThe ubiquity and durability of lithic artifacts inform archeologists about important dimensions of human behavioral variability. Despite their importance, lithic artifacts can be problematic to study because lithic analysts differ widely in their theoretical approaches and in the data they collect. The extent to which differences in lithic data relate to prehistoric behavioral variability or differences between archaeologists today remains incompletely known. We address this issue with the most extensive lithic replicability study yet involving 11 analysts, 100 flakes, and 38 ratio, discrete, and nominal attributes. Using mixture models, we show strong inter-analyst repeatability scores on several attributes making them well suited to comparative lithic analyses. Based on our results we highlight 17 variables that we consider reliable when compiling datasets collected by different individuals for comparative analyses. Demonstrating this repeatability is a crucial first step in tackling more general problems of data comparability in lithic analysis and the ability to conduct large-scale meta-analyses that combine multiple datasets.
American Antiquity published the paper under the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2023.
Testing models for shifts in signaling behavior across the Last Glacial Maximum and early Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition at Boomplaas Cave, South Africa
No full text
Data repository for: Stone tool backing and adhesion in hunting weaponry: First results of an experimental program
No full textStone tool backing repeatedly occurred on several continents throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Yet, any
potential utilitarian advantages or disadvantages of backed stone tools relative to non-backed tools has been experimentally
under-explored. Modern engineering experiments involving adhesion mechanics suggest an inverse
relationship between surface area and the strength of a bond, especially on heterogeneous surfaces like stone.
Some stone flakes, especially those with longer edges, may have been backed to make them easier to hold and
safer to use. Further, Stone Age humans hafted both backed and un-backed tools for millennia in many parts of
the world, suggesting effective hafting could occur with or without backing. Backing itself is a relatively simple
technique providing toolmakers with an easy way to shape stone flakes. Some archaeologists have even hypothesized
backed tool shaping was an end to communicate social information via stone symbols. This is the first pilot
in a series of experiments testing a straightforward null and alternative hypothesis assessing the relationship between
backing and adhesion and shaft damage with respect to projectile weaponry. Overall, our experimental results
suggested two central conclusions with respect to backing. First, backing does not appear to improve adhesion
but instead significantly worsens it. Second, laterally backed tools seem to increase the chances of shaft splitting
relative to laterally hafted non-backed tools. Assuming for a moment that our results are supported by our
future experimental research, our findings suggest that factors other than increased adhesion, such as intentional
‘failure,’ drift, or non-functional bias during social signaling or symbolic communication events, may have been
responsible for the adoption and transmission of backed tools
What does ‘controlled’ bipolar lithic reduction look like?
No full textThis study presents an innovative experimental approach to bipolar reduction using standardized glass balls as proxies for lithic materials. Bipolar reduction is often viewed as an uncontrolled knapping strategy used in resource-limited settings or by unskilled knappers. To reassess this assumption, experiments were conducted at the Kent State Experimental Archaeology Laboratory, employing both mechanical and manual methods. Glass balls, chosen for their homogeneity, were reduced using three techniques: static compression via an Instron Materials tester, human knapping on a stone anvil, and via a metal Rock Crusher. Results show that the Instron produced bipolar products comparable to those created by human knappers, while the crusher failed, only pulverizing the glass. These findings highlight the importance of a flake escape mechanism in successful bipolar reduction. Spatial dynamics within the setup significantly affected the quality and efficiency of core and flake production. This study challenges the perception of bipolar reduction as inefficient and uncontrolled, demonstrating its potential under specific conditions. The controlled setup provides a scalable model for investigating variables influencing bipolar reduction, enhancing our understanding of this widely used prehistoric knapping strategy
Interpretative tools for studying Stone Age hunting technologies: experimental archaeology, macrofracture analyses and morphometric techniques
No full textThis dissertation contains an assessment and use of the macrofracture and morphometric methods for detecting Later Stone Age hunting weaponry. Two sets of replicated unretouched stone artefacts were trampled by cattle and humans to determine the formation of impact fractures under these, and knapping conditions. The results suggest that small frequencies (c. 3 %) of certain impact fracture types do occur on flakes subject to trampling and knapping forces. Macrofracture and morphometric data were recorded for stone artefacts (bladelets, backed artefacts and convergent pieces) from Robberg (c. 18 000 - 12 000 years ago) and Wilton (c. 8000 - 2000 years ago) Later Stone Age assemblages on the southern Cape coast. Impact fracture frequencies were similar in these two samples, but were significantly higher than in the trampling experiments. The morphometric data suggests, on average, congruence between Later Stone Age tools with impact fractures and experimental, archaeological and ethnohistoric spear and arrow tips. Based on these results it appears likely that Wilton backed artefacts, specifically segments, were used as arrowheads and it is unclear at present what weapon types were used during the Robberg phase although the use of spears seems probable
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