1,721,031 research outputs found
Adaptive flexibility of Oldowan hominins: secondary use of flakes at Bizat Ruhama, Israel.
No full textThe lithic assemblage of the Early Pleistocene site of Bizat Ruhama, Israel demonstrates the earliest evidence for systematic secondary knapping of flakes. The site, dated to the Matuyama chron, is one of the earliest primary context Oldowan occurrences in Eurasia. According to the experimental replication of the stone-tool production sequence, the secondary knapping of flakes was a part of a multi-stage operational sequence targeted at the production of small (<2 cm) flakes. This sequence included four stages: acquisition of chert pebbles, production of flakes, deliberate selection of flakes of specific morphologies, and their secondary knapping by free-hand or bipolar methods. The results suggest that flakes with retouch-like scars that were produced during this sequence and which commonly are interpreted as shaped tools are unintentional waste products of the small flake production. The intentional manufacture of very small flakes at Bizat Ruhama was probably an economic response to the raw material constrains. Systematic secondary knapping of flakes has not yet been reported from other Early Pleistocene sites. Systematic secondary knapping for small flake production became increasingly important only in the lithic industries of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene, almost a million years later. The results from Bizat Ruhama indicate that Oldowan stone-tool production sequence was conceptually more complex than previously suggested and offer a new perspective on the capabilities for invention and the adaptive flexibility of the Oldowan hominins
Signs of impact on the ventral and lateral/broken surfaces intersection of secondary knapped flakes in archaeological and experimental assemblages.
No full text<p>Signs of impact on the ventral and lateral/broken surfaces intersection of secondary knapped flakes in archaeological and experimental assemblages.</p
Small flakes from archaeological assemblages with signs of impact on the distal edges.
No full text<p>The signs were probably caused by a hammerstone impact.</p
Descriptive statistics of small flakes from experimental and archaeological assemblages.
No full text<p>Descriptive statistics of small flakes from experimental and archaeological assemblages.</p
Taphonomy and paleoecological implications of fossorial microvertebrates at the Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Nesher Ramla, Israel
No full textMap, plan and stratigraphic column of Bizat Ruhama site.
No full text<p>BR1996– Bizat Ruhama, area excavated in 1996. BRAT5, BRT1, BRT2, BRT3, BRT4, BRT6–2004–05 excavated areas and trenches. γ– Sampled locations with <i>in situ</i> artifacts or bones. X – Sampled locations without artifacts or bones. -Thick curved lines mark the contour of the erosional channels along which archaeological layer is exposed. Stratigraphy: 1. 01.–2 m. Loessial arid brown soil; 2. 11–12 m. Brown silty clays/grumosol; the basal 3 m are situated within the Matuyama reverse polarity chron (1.96–0.78 Ma). 3. 1–3 m. Grayish black, massive, prismatic, greasy clay/loam; extensive iron–manganese impregnation; dated to the Matuyama reverse polarity chron (1.96–0.78 Ma). Palustrine origin (seasonal ponds). 4. 0.2–1 m. Massive sand with some clayey domains; archaeological remains in lower 0.2 m; dated to the Matuyama reverse polarity chron (1.96–0.78 Ma); locally reworked sand and soil aggregates from the Stratum 5 topsoil by wind and overland flow. 5. Unknown depth. Red sandy soil (locally known as <i>hamra</i>) formed on coastal sand dunes; archaeological bones and lithics within the uppermost 5 cm and at the interface with Stratum 4; dated to the Matuyama reverse polarity chron (1.96–0.78 Ma).</p
Secondary knapped flakes with the signs of dorsal impact in Bizat Ruhama assemblages.
No full text<p>1. Pointed piece with (a) point of percussion, crushing and crack-lines on the dorsal surface; 2. Broken flake with (a) signs of impact and crushing directed from the dorsal surface, (b) signs of impact and crushing directed from the ventral surface; 3. Clactonian notch with (a) opposite point of percussion and crushing on the dorsal surface; 4. Flake with retouch-like scars with (a) opposite scars and crushing on the dorsal surface directed from the ventral surface.</p
Small flakes from archaeological and experimental assemblages.
No full text<p>Note the large bulbs of the specimens. The bulbs of experimental specimens were produced by an anvil impact.</p
The size of the scars on cores-on-flake, bipolar and exhausted cores and Clactonian notches.
No full text<p>The maximum length of the largest scar was measured.</p
- …
