Wood technology of Patagonian hunter-gatherers: Selection and use of woody resources as raw material

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Caruso Fermé
Keyword(s):  
Raw Material ◽  
Wood Technology ◽  
Hunter Gatherers

scholarly journals Procurement and mobility during the Late Pleistocene: Characterising the stone-tool assemblage of the Picamoixons site (Tarragona, NE Iberian Peninsula)

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Soto
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Petrographic Analysis ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Ne Iberian Peninsula

The Picamoixons site is a rockshelter located in the province of Tarragona (NE Iberian Peninsula). It was object of two rescue campaigns during 1988 and 1993, which led to the recovery of a complete archaeological assemblage, including stone tools as well as faunal and portable art remains that date the occupation to the 14th to 11th millennium BP (calibrated). This study involves a petrographic characterisation of the stone-tool assemblage in order to establish: 1) the procurement areas, 2) the raw materials management strategies and 3) the mobility radius and territorial sizes of the hunter-gatherers groups that occupied the site. The method applied comprises in a multiscale analysis that includes systematic prospection, the petrographic characterisation of geological and archaeological samples, an analysis of the chert types represented in the knapping sequence, and the definition of the mobility axes and areas frequented according to lithic procurement.A petrographic analysis of the chert in the prospected area led to the definition of nine macroscopic varieties related to five types (Vilaplana, Morera, Maset, Vilella and Tossa cherts), related to Lower and Upper Muschelkalk (Triassic), Lutetian, Bartonian (Palaeocene) and Sannonian (Oligocene) deposits.The study of the knapping sequences indicates the main exploitation of Bartonian cherts (Tossa type), and the use of Lutetian cherts (Maset and Morera types) for configuring retouched tools. The exploitation of the remaining raw material types identified is considered sporadic and opportunistic.Defining the procurement areas enabled the mobility radius to be assessed as between 3 and 30 km, highlighting the importance of the fluvial basins as natural movement pathways. The results indicate that the main procurement territory was 16 km2 in area, associable with a forager radius. The most remote procurement distances suggest a maximum exploitation area of 260 km2, defining an intra-regional range. This range presents parallelisms with various contemporaneous hunter-gatherers groups in Western Europe, suggesting a progressive mobility reduction dynamic during the Late Pleistocene-Initial Holocene.

scholarly journals A quantitative assessment of intraspecific morphological variation in Gahagan bifaces from the southern Caddo area and central Texas

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Z. Selden ◽  
John E. Dockall ◽  
Morgane Dubied
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Time Span ◽  
The Other ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Material Source ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Size Discrepancy ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
Intraspecific Morphological Variation

This investigation aggregates intact or reconstructed Gahagan bifaces from the southern Caddo area and central Texas to test the hypothesis that Gahagan biface morphology differs between the regions. The Gahagan bifaces (n = 102) were scanned, then analysed using a novel landmarking protocol and the tools of geometric morphometrics. Results provide a preview of the significant differences in Gahagan biface morphology expressed between the southern Caddo area and central Texas regions. The size discrepancy represents an inversion of current theoretical constructs that posit a decrease in tool size thought to articulate with an increase in distance from the raw material source. It is posited that the contrasting morphologies represent two discrete communities of practise; one (emergent Caddo horticulturalists) where Gahagan bifaces were enlisted primarily for burial and ritualistic activities, and the other (central Texas hunter-gatherers) where Gahagan bifaces were utilised over a longer time span in more practical and utilitarian contexts.

scholarly journals Expedient behaviour and predetermination at the Ciota Ciara cave (north-western Italy) during Middle Palaeolithic.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Daffara ◽  
Gabriele L.F. Berruti ◽  
Marta Arzarello
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Functional Study ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
General Behaviour ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
North Western

The Ciota Ciara cave is a Middle Palaeolithic site located in Piedmont (north-western Italy) and it is the only one systematically investigated in the region. It opens at 670 m a.s.l. on the west side of Monte Fenera and its archaeological deposit has a stratigraphic sequence documenting several and repeated human frequentations. Four archaeological layers have been identified (13, 14, 15 and 103) and are characterized by lithic assemblages where vein quartz is the main exploited raw material. The upper level (13), was already subject to technological and functional studies but the enlargement of the excavated area made necessary a completion of the technological data. The aim of this work is to deal with a complete technological and functional study of the lithic assemblage of the four archaeological layers of the Ciota Ciara cave to face the issues of predetermination and adaptation of the reduction sequences to the raw materials features. The technological analysis is based on the concept of chaîne opératoire and refers to the classical definitions of the S.S.D.A., discoid and Levallois methods for the identification of the different exploitation strategies. The concepts of curated and expedient technology are also applied to the present study. We finally refer to the huge debate concerning the concept of predetermination related to cores that show reduced or none phases of core configuration for the analysis and interpretation of the considered lithic assemblage.The results obtained show that the general behaviour can be interpreted as expedient, both from a technological and a functional point of view. The Middle Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers of the Ciota Ciara cave adapted their “technological background” to the resources available and put into action flexible adaptation strategies. Even in the shortness or absence of phases of core configuration, predetermination can be observed in the adaptation of Levallois and discoid concepts to the natural constraints of the pebbles chosen as cores. The natural convexities are exploited to obtain Levallois and discoid flakes after an intentional choice made by the knappers. In order to deeply investigate the characteristics of the technological behaviour of the hunter-gatherers that inhabited the site, the use-wear analysis is a fundamental additional source of information and it is here aimed to understand if there is or not a differential use of the lithic artefacts according to their typology and/or to the knapping method.

Social Landscapes of the Late Palaeolithic: Marking Meaning in the Magdalenian

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Cultural Importance ◽  
Lithic Tools ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Landscapes ◽  
Late Palaeolithic

Landscape archaeologies that pay attention to cultural importance of place have become increasingly common in recent years in many parts of the world. However, these approaches have largely failed to make inroads into Pleistocene European hunter–gatherer archaeology. This is partly due to a focus on economics, survival, and neo-liberal assumptions of ‘efficiency’ in early modern human behaviour. With evidence of lithic use drawn from cave sites, survey, and open-air excavation, I argue that Upper Paleolithic hunter–gatherers left clues to the importance of certain places in the landscape. Lithic tools in particular have been undervalued for their symbolic meaning, which goes well beyond style and ethnicity models. Raw material has been seen as evidence of mobility and trade, but possible cultural motives behind material choices have been downplayed or ignored.

San Patrice: An Example of Late Paleoindian Adaptive Versatility in South-Central North America

2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Jennings
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
South Central ◽  
Late Paleoindian

Coincident with the climatic changes occurring during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, a number of regionally distinct Paleoindian projectile-point styles emerged throughout North America. This paper examines one understudied and poorly understood Late Paleoindian style, the San Patrice point. Although traditionally considered woodland-adapted hunter-gatherers, projectile-point distributions indicate that San Patrice groups, utilizing the same hafting and resharpening technologies, also made significant use of plains resources. Raw material sourcing reveals that while all San Patrice populations focused on local toolstone sources, plains bands were more mobile than those in the woodlands. These findings have implications for our greater understanding of Paleoindian adaptations. While some hunter-gatherers developed specialized, environmentally specific strategies, San Patrice groups adopted more generalized strategies enabling them to succeed in diverse settings.

scholarly journals A Great Step Forward. Lithic Raw Material Procurement and Management among Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers in the Basque Crossroads

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maite García-Rojas ◽  
Eder Dominguez-Ballesteros ◽  
Alejandro Prieto ◽  
Aitor Calvo ◽  
Aitor Sánchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Economic Dynamics ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Ebro Valley ◽  
The North ◽  
The Social

This paper is divided into three sections. The first section describes the historiographic evolution of the study of prehistoric lithic raw materials in the Basque Crossroads (in the north of the Iberian Peninsula) during the last three decades. The second section explains the currently available information about geological outcrops of flint in the eastern end of the Cantabrian Mountain range (the Basque-Cantabrian Basin), the upper Ebro valley and both sides of the western Pyrenees, in the central part of the northern Iberian Peninsula, as that was the main raw material used by hunter-gatherer groups in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. Finally, the last section describes the way in which progress in both aspects of research have enabled the introduction of new concepts and perspectives in the reconstruction of the social and economic dynamics of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. This has given rise to an innovative methodology that is able to address and solve important issues, particularly regarding mobility and territoriality patterns of those human groups, allowing the proposal of mobility and territoriality models that, while they will not match exactly the systems used by Upper Palaeolithic communities, represent significant progress in understanding the social and economic dynamics of hunter-gatherer groups.

Shallow Lake Environments in the Hunter-Gatherer's Way of Life (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina)

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimena Oría ◽  
Mónica Salemme
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Lakes ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Semiarid Environment ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Lithic Reduction ◽  
Study Case ◽  
Transported Material

In the semiarid environment of the Fuegian steppe (Argentina), shallow lakes were intensively exploited by hunter-gatherers throughout the Holocene. The archaeological record concentrated along their shoreline frequently reports the first stages of the lithic reduction sequence. In this article, we consider rock availability at different coastal sectors in Lake Amalia. The data focus on the size and weight of the cobbles used as raw material (in Lake Amalia and nearby locations), aiming to compare transported material and that which is spatially located. We analyze information regarding the role played by shallow lakes in the exploitation of steppe environments and their importance in hunter-gatherers’ mobility. We suggest that raw material frequency, size, and spatial distribution have conditioned space-use patterns in the Fuegian steppe. The Amalia locality study case sheds light on recurrent visits to specific places in these landscapes.

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