scholarly journals Optimization of use-wear detection and characterization on stone tool surfaces

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Borel Antony ◽  
Deltombe Raphaël ◽  
Moreau Philippe ◽  
Ingicco Thomas ◽  
Bigerelle Maxence ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Quantitative Characterization ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Surface Alteration

AbstractDebates and doubt around the interpretation of use-wear on stone tools called for the development of quantitative analysis of surfaces to complement the qualitative description of traces. Recently, a growing number of studies showed that prehistoric activities can be discriminated thanks to quantitative characterization of stone tools surface alteration due to use. However, stone tool surfaces are microscopically very heterogeneous and the calculated parameters may highly vary depending on the areas selected for measurement. Indeed, it may be impacted by the effects from the raw material topography and not from the altered zones only, if non-altered part of the surface is included in the measurement. We propose here to discuss this issue and present a workflow involving the use of masks to separate worn and unworn parts of the surface. Our results show that this step of extraction, together with suitable filtering, could have a high impact on the optimization of the detection and thus characterization of use traces. This represents the basis for future automatic routines allowing the detection, extraction and characterization of wear on stone tools.

scholarly journals Complexity Analysis of Escher’s Art

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
António M. Lopes ◽  
J. A. Tenreiro Machado
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Complexity Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Characterization ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Scaling Technique ◽  
Artistic Production ◽  
Formidable Challenge ◽  
Visualization Techniques

Art is the output of a complex system based on the human spirit and driven by several inputs that embed social, cultural, economic and technological aspects of a given epoch. A solid quantitative analysis of art poses considerable difficulties and reaching assertive conclusions is a formidable challenge. In this paper, we adopt complexity indices, dimensionality-reduction and visualization techniques for studying the evolution of Escher’s art. Grayscale versions of 457 artworks are analyzed by means of complexity indices and represented using the multidimensional scaling technique. The results are correlated with the distinct periods of Escher’s artistic production. The time evolution of the complexity and the emergent patterns demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach for a quantitative characterization of art.

scholarly journals Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Monosaccharide Components of Salvia miltiorrhiza, Liguspyragine Hydrochloride, and Glucose Injection

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fa-huan Ge ◽  
Xian-peng Ma ◽  
Jin-fang Ma ◽  
Chang-qiong Bi ◽  
Tian-ling Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salvia Miltiorrhiza ◽  
Gradient Elution ◽  
Average Concentration ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Precolumn Derivatization ◽  
Quantitative Characterization ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Glucose Injection ◽  
Phosphate Buffered Saline

Salvia miltiorrhiza, liguspyragine hydrochloride, and glucose injection (SLGI) was made of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge., liguspyragine hydrochloride, glucose, and glycerin. There were many kinds of monosaccharide components in SLGI, which might be from the raw material and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. Separation was performed on a Phenomenex Luna C18 analytical column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm, AccuStandard Inc., USA) at 30°C. The mobile phase consisted of two solvents: 0.1 mol/L phosphate-buffered saline (pH 6.7) (solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B) with gradient elution. The flow rate was maintained at 1.0 mL/min. Five kinds of monosaccharide components, glucose, D-mannose, L-rhamnose monohydrate, galactose, and xylose, were detected by precolumn derivatization HPLC, and their contents were compared with each other. And finally, concentrations of glucose in SLGI were determined and they were higher than the values of marked amount, which showed that one source of glucose might be from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. in SLGI. The average concentration of glucose was 5.18 g/100 mL, which was near the average value at 5.25 g/100 mL detected by ultraviolet spectrophotometry and also close to the marked amount (5.00 g/100 mL) on the label.

scholarly journals Using mechanical experiments to study Ground Stone Tool use: exploring the formation of percussive and grinding wear traces on limestone tools

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Paixao ◽  
Antonella Pedergnana ◽  
Joao Marreiros ◽  
Laure Dubreuil ◽  
Marion Prevost ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Ground Stone ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Reference Collection ◽  
Anthropogenic Alterations ◽  
Tool Types

Ground Stone Tools (GST) have been identified in several Levantine archaeological sites dating to the Middle Paleolithic. These tools, frequently made of limestone, are often interpreted based on their morphology and damage as having been used for knapping flint, and sometimes for breaking animal bones or processing vegetal materials as well. However, the lack of experimental referential collections on limestone is a major obstacle for the identification of diagnostic traces on these types of tools and raw material. In this sense, the understanding of the specific function of these GST and the association between tool types and activity often remains unknown or merely speculative.Recent discoveries at the site of Nesher Ramla revealed one of the largest Middle Paleolithic assemblages of limestone GST. Our use-wear analysis has identified several types of both macro and micro-wear traces on different tools. Such diversity highlights the need for developing an experimental reference collection that can enable detailed comparison between experimental and archaeological use-wear evidence.In this paper, we present the results of mechanical experiments specially designed to understand and quantify major characteristics of macro and micro use-wear traces on limestone GST as a result of three main activities: 1) animal bone breaking, 2) flint knapping and 3) grinding acorns. This study pursues three main goals: a) improving our ability to distinguish natural from anthropogenic alterations on limestone; b) identifying and characterizing differences between wear-traces (macro and micro) produced by different activities, and c) building a reference collection for thorough comparisons of use-wear and residues on archaeological tools.Our results indicate that it is possible not only to identify anthropogenic alterations but also to specifically distinguish the use-wear traces formed on limestone as result of percussive activities of bone and flint. This is shown by controlled experiments allowing variables other than the worked material to remain constant. This study aims to contribute towards establishing an experimental and multi-scale library of use-wear traces on limestone.

scholarly journals A sexual division of labour at the start of agriculture? A multi-proxy comparison through grave good stone tool technological and use-wear analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249130
Author(s):  
Alba Masclans ◽  
Caroline Hamon ◽  
Christian Jeunesse ◽  
Penny Bickle
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Violence ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Sexual Division ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Grave Good ◽  
East West

This work demonstrates the importance of integrating sexual division of labour into the research of the transition to the Neolithic and its social implications. During the spread of the Neolithic in Europe, when migration led to the dispersal of domesticated plants and animals, novel tasks and tools, appear in the archaeological record. By examining the use-wear traces from over 400 stone tools from funerary contexts of the earliest Neolithic in central Europe we provide insights into what tasks could have been carried out by women and men. The results of this analysis are then examined for statistically significant correlations with the osteological, isotopic and other grave good data, informing on sexed-based differences in diet, mobility and symbolism. Our data demonstrate males were buried with stone tools used for woodwork, and butchery, hunting or interpersonal violence, while women with those for the working of animal skins, expanding the range of tasks known to have been carried out. The results also show variation along an east-west cline from Slovakia to eastern France, suggesting that the sexual division of labour (or at least its representation in death) changed as farming spread westwards.

Stone-Tool Production and Exchange in the Eastern Maya Lowlands: The Consumer Perspective from Pulltrouser Swamp, Belize

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. McAnany
Keyword(s):  
Distribution System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Specialized Production ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Consumer Perspective ◽  
Metric Dimensions

Ongoing controversy over the identification of mesoamerican centers as the locus for specialized production of stone tools is addressed by reference to a consumer locality in the eastern Maya Lowlands. Lithic data from Pulltrouser Swamp are used to shed light on the production intensity and scale of a distribution system centered at Colha, Belize. Debitage analyses of technological attributes, use wear, and metric dimensions contrast two contexts of lithic procurement at Pulltrouser Swamp: direct procurement of raw material and indirect procurement of finished tools. Each procurement context results in debitage with different variable states. Characterization of the Colha chert lithic material at Pulltrouser Swamp as a consumer assemblage is supported further by the results of a discriminant analysis in which an experimental "consumer" assemblage is classified with the Colha chert. Such characterizations of lithic assemblages are more robust methodologically and more informative substantively than attempts at the quantification of production or usage rates. The implications of scalar differences in production systems are discussed.

scholarly journals Basic Principles of Selecting Stone Raw Materials in Tool Production in the Industry of Chagyrskaya Peshchera

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
K. A. Kolobova ◽  
S. V. Markin ◽  
A. V. Shalagina ◽  
S. V. Schnaider ◽  
A. I. Krivoshapkin
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Petrographic Analysis ◽  
Secondary Treatment ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Gorny Altai ◽  
High Degree

This article is devoted to Neanderthal adaptation strategies, whose study is becoming more and more relevant in recent years as a result of new discoveries demonstrating Neanderthal cognitive capabilities. Our perception of this subspecies of ancient hominins and of their work skills is changing in view of these discoveries. In this connection, investigation of easternmost Eurasian Neanderthals’ tool manufacturing processes, who produced stone tools in the absence of flint and with the raw materials available, is supposed to clarify researchers’ ideas about the strategies ensuring the Neanderthal subsistence. Purpose. We focuses on main trends in manufacturing stone tools developed by the Gorny Altai Neanderthals within the framework of the Sibiryachikha industry. Our research is based on attributive analysis within a technicaltypological method. We aimed at identifying technologically significant morphological and metric features of each item from the collection of stone tools found in Chagyrskaya Peshchera (Cave). In the article, we provide typological definitions for the stone tool blanks, identify variants of the tools’ secondary treatment and the number of such traces on the tool, describe the tools’ edges with retouch and give detailed information on the metric parameters of the tools and blanks. The results of the previously published petrographic analysis, which was conducted by N. A. Kulik, in combination with the attributive analysis of stone artifacts from the 6C/1, 2008 assemblage, indicate that there are four main types of raw materials which were mainly used by the Gorny Altai Neanderthals. Results. The greatest variety of raw materials was recorded in the category of blanks without secondary treatment. Among the tools, the greatest variety is demonstrated by tools that have minimal traces of secondary treatment, namely single scrapers and retouched flakes. There seems to be little diversity among double and convergent scrapers, for which zasuryan jasper were predominantly used. As for bifaces, we observe domination of the blanks made of the zasuryan jasper. Conclusion. Our research has confirmed that the basic principles of using raw materials by the Gorny Altai Neanderthals were the quality and availability of these materials. In general, high-quality stone raw materials were used for the production of well-modified tools, such as bifaces, convergent scrapers and retouched points. Such a selectivity of raw material identified for the items from our collection supports the hypothesis that explains a high degree of Neanderthal adaptation to the paleo-environment.

Raw Material Selection and Stone Tool Production: Limestone Bifaces in the Mopan Valley, Belize

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-204
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Horowitz ◽  
Bernadette Cap ◽  
Jason Yaeger ◽  
Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown ◽  
Mark Eli
Keyword(s):  
Material Selection ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Raw Material Selection

Stone tool producers in the Maya Lowlands had several types of raw materials from which to choose. Limestone, chert, and obsidian are the most naturally abundant, whereas chert and obsidian outnumber limestone in archaeological contexts. The presence of flaked-stone tools made of limestone is typically attributed to the scarcity of more suitable raw materials. Nevertheless, in chert-rich areas, such as the upper Belize River valley, limestone bifaces and production debitage are present. To understand their presence, we examine limestone biface production and use at Buenavista del Cayo.

scholarly journals Evaluating the microscopic effect of brushing stone tools as a cleaning procedure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Pedergnana ◽  
Ivan Calandra ◽  
Konstantin Bob ◽  
Walter Gneisinger ◽  
Eduardo Paixao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Current Trend ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Mechanical Action ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Common Procedure ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Micro Topography

Cleaning stone tool surfaces is a common procedure in lithic studies. The first step widely applied at any archaeological site (and/or at field laboratories) is the gross removal of sediment from the surfaces of artifacts. Lithic surface alterations due to mechanical action applied in wet or dry cleaning regimes have never been examined at a microscopic scale. This could have important implications in traceology, as any modern surface modifications inflicted on archaeological artifacts might compromise their functional interpretations. The current trend toward quantification of use-wear traces makes the testing even more important, as even slight, apparently invisible surface alterations might be measured.In order to evaluate the impact of common cleaning procedures, we undertook a controlled experiment. The main aim of this experiment was to assess the effects that brushing actions applied for removing sediment particles have on flint and quartzite surfaces.All surfaces were analyzed with confocal microscopy before and after having been brushed to quantify possible changes in the micro-topography. Surface roughness parameters (ISO 25178-2 among others) were applied.Nine parameters changed significantly when mechanical actions were applied to lithic surfaces, meaning that some changes in the surface micro-topography were detected. Therefore, archeologists need to be cautious when applying prolonged mechanical actions for cleaning archaeological stone tools.

Middle Stone Age starch acquisition in the Niassa Rift, Mozambique

2008 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Mercader ◽  
Tim Bennett ◽  
Mussa Raja
Keyword(s):  
Human Ecology ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

AbstractThe quest for direct lines of evidence for Paleolithic plant consumption during the African Middle Stone Age has led scientists to study residues and use-wear on flaked stone tools. Past work has established lithic function through multiple lines of evidence and the spatial breakdown of use-wear and microscopic traces on tool surfaces. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of starch assemblages and the botanical identification of grains from flake and core tools to learn about human ecology of carbohydrate use around the Niassa woodlands, in the Mozambican Rift. The processing of starchy plant parts is deduced from the occurrence of starch assemblages that presumably got attached to stone tool surfaces by actions associated with extractive or culinary activities. Specifically, we investigate starch grains from stone tools recently excavated in northern Mozambique at the site of Mikuyu; which presumably spans the middle to late Pleistocene and represents similar sites found along the Malawi/Niassa corridor that links East, Southern, and Central Africa. Starch was extracted and processed with a diverse tool kit consisting of scrapers, cores, points, flakes, and other kinds of tools. The microbotanical data suggests consumption of seeds, legumes, caryopses, piths, underground storage organs, nuts, and mesocarps from more than a dozen families. Our data suggest a great antiquity for starch use in Africa as well as an expanded diet and intensification.

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