scholarly journals North American grooved-axe replication: A taphonomic experiment in central Connecticut

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Swieton
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
The North ◽  
Ground Stone ◽  
Experimental Analogue ◽  
Technological Stage ◽  
Wear Damage

Taphonomic experiments in lithic technology have been used to understand many facets of the archaeological record including site-formation processes, artifact displacement, and wear damage. The North American grooved-axe - an artifact type of which little technological attention has been given in the literature - is examined as a case study for a taphonomic experiment conducted in Central Connecticut. The use of an actualistic taphonomic experiment is used to generate an analogous experimental signature for archaeological grooved-axe manufacturing areas in North America. More specifically, the taphonomic experiment is used here to see if the isolated technological stage of impaction is archaeologically visible before short-term formation processes affect the manufacturing area in question. Impaction is a ground stone tool manufacturing technique that is otherwise known as pecking or hammer-dressing. Hypothesized archaeological traces of impaction include the recovery of flakes with macroscopic impaction wear and a lens of impaction slurry that is both visibly and texturally distinct. In addition to generating an experimental analogue for grooved-axe impaction, the replicative dimension of the taphonomic experiment is used to informally assess the plausibility of certain technological decisions in axe manufacture. Here, the use of quartzite impaction tools and expedient anvils in the production of North American grooved-axes are scrutinized.

The Size Effect: An Explanation of Variability in Surface Artifact Assemblage Content

1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles M. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Size Effect ◽  
North American ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Natural Site

The reuse of certain categories of artifacts combined with natural site formation processes, such as sedimentation and erosion, is suggested to result in the disproportionate occurrence of “large” artifacts on the surface of sites. This phenomenon, known as the size effect, is investigated with artifact assemblage data from several stratified Eastern North American sites.

The Use of Chipped Lithic Material in the Contemporary Maya Highlands

1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 885-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Hayden ◽  
Margaret Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Resource Distribution ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Industrial Glass ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Learning Contexts

Ethnoarchaeological work in the Mayan Highlands has revealed that some individuals continue to make and use chipped stone implements for the manufacture of manos and metates. As a result site formation processes, effects of resource distribution, and stone tool characteristics can still be studied. Chipped tools of industrial glass are also made and used in the area, and provide useful models for some of the prehistoric uses of flaked stone tools, as well as information relating to their storage, curation, discard, and learning contexts.

A Prehistoric Ford near Rough Castle, Falkirk

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
JAMIE HAMILTON ◽  
CIARA CLARKE ◽  
ANDREW DUNWELL ◽  
RICHARD TIPPING
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Mining Project ◽  
First Millennium

This report presents the results of the excavation of a stone ford laid across the base of a small stream valley near Rough Castle, Falkirk. It was discovered during an opencast coal mining project. Radiocarbon dates and pollen analysis of deposits overlying the ford combine to indicate a date for its construction no later than the early first millennium cal BC. Interpreting this evidence was not straightforward and the report raises significant issues about site formation processes and the interpretation of radiocarbon and pollen evidence. The importance of these issues extends beyond the rarely investigated features such as fords and deserve a larger place in the archaeological literature.

A propos des processus de formation des sites préhistoriques / About prehistoric site formation processes

Paléo ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 379-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre TEXIER
Keyword(s):  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes

The Archaeological Record

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjil Hazarika
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Site Structure ◽  
Reserve Forest ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Ways Of Life

This chapter elaborates the data and results of the explorations conducted in the Garbhanga Reserve Forest. The area has been intensively surveyed for the location of potential archaeological sites and the collection of ethnographic data in order to draw direct historical analogies. An ‘area-approach’ study has been conducted in order to formulate a general model for archaeological site structure, locations, geomorphic situations, and site formation processes that can be used for archaeological study in the hilly landscape of Northeast India. Present-day agricultural implements have been analysed and compared with Neolithic implements in order to reconstruct ancient farming culture by way of undertaking systematic study of modern peasant ways of life in the study area. The ideological significance of stone artefacts as ‘thunderstone’ in Northeast India and among the Karbis has also been discussed.

Approaching daily life at Late Palaeolithic camps: The case of Lubrza 10, Western Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-333
Author(s):  
Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka ◽  
Aleksandr Diachenko
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
The North ◽  
Locational Analysis ◽  
Research Procedure ◽  
Sandy Sediments ◽  
Integrative Social ◽  
Late Palaeolithic

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to develop a systematic approach to understanding daily life at Late Palaeolithic camps and identifying its impact on broader site formation processes. Late Palaeolithic contexts are often poorly preserved, especially those found in the sandy sediments of the North European Plain. However, taphonomic obstacles may be overcome through the introduction of spatial statistics into research procedures. We illustrate our approach using a case study of Federmesser and Swiderian campsites at the site of Lubrza 10, Western Poland. The locational analysis of hearths, features that constitute the most important integrative social foci of Palaeolithic camps, provides information on activity areas, seasonality and occupational duration. Additionally, we examine the function of spatially distinct artefact concentrations and their methods of aggregation. The presented research procedure enables us to trace the contribution of individuals to group behaviour, as well as specific individual activities at both camps.

Quantifying the threat to archaeological sites from the erosion of cultivated soil

Antiquity ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (309) ◽  
pp. 658-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Wilkinson ◽  
Andrew Tyler ◽  
Donald Davidson ◽  
Ian Grieve
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nuclear Weapons Testing ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Soil Movements

Ploughing is probably the greatest agent of attrition to archaeological sites world-wide. In every country, every year, a bit more is shaved off buried strata and a bit more of the past becomes unreadable. On the other hand, people must eat and crops must be planted. How can the fields be best managed to get the best of both worlds? Perhaps the most pressing need for resource managers is to know how quickly a particular field is eroding: negotiation and protection is then possible. Up to now that has been difficult to measure.The new procedure presented here, which draws on the unexpected benefits of nuclear weapons testing, shows how variation in the concentration of the radioisotope 137Cs can be used to monitor soil movements over the last 40 years. The measurements allow a site's ‘life expectancy’ to be calculated, and there are some promising dividends for tracking site formation processes.

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