scholarly journals An experimental approach to ground stone tool manufacture

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Squitieri ◽  
David Eitam
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Tool Manufacture ◽  
Ground Stone

scholarly journals Prehistoric Ceramics from the Browning Site (41SM195A)

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Walters
Keyword(s):  
Woodland Period ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Tool Manufacture ◽  
Ground Stone ◽  
Soil Zone ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Prehistoric Ceramics

Archaeological work at the Browning site (4JSM195A) in eastern Smith County, Texas, has shown that it is a stratified site with two very distinct occupations: an early nineteenth century assemblage of artifacts in the upper zone overlying a buried prehistoric occupation. This occupation appears to be confined to the Woodland time period (ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 800) with little evidence of any earlier or later prehistoric activity. The Woodland period in East Texas is a time of important cultural changes, "the most obvious (and most important?) of which is pottery-making and the bow and arrow." The main focus of the prehistoric occupation at the Browning site occurs in an organically enriched darker soil zone that is the result of either a continuous human occupation or frequent revisiting of this location, what Waters has described as archaeo-sediments resulting from human activity. This darker soil occupies the center of the landform and covers approximately 500m2 It contains charred wood, charred nut shell, lithic debris from stone tool manufacture/maintenance, and small amounts of burned and unburned animal bone. Other artifacts in this distinct soil zone include small dart points, mostly varieties of Gary; arrow points, mostly of the Friley and Steiner types; ground stone tools; and ceramics, primarily plain grog-tempered wares. Early work at the site included the excavation of 6.546 m3 of archaeological deposits from 10 1 x 1 m test units plus 22 shovel tests, resulting in the recovery of numerous historic and prehistoric artifacts, including eight Woodland period sherds. To date, excavations at the Browning site have totaled 20.4 m3 of archaeological deposits from 41 1 x 1m test units. The total amount of sherds associated with the Woodland occupation now totals 40 pieces. Those sherds, which are described in some detail and compared with other known sites, are the focus of this article. These sherds are scattered evenly across the occupation area in low densities.

scholarly journals Economy and status of Neolithic to Early Bronze age sites in the Southern Caucasus during the 6th‐3rd mill. BCE: The evidence from ground stone tools

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Hamon
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Tool Manufacture ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
Ground Stone ◽  
Southern Caucasus

In the Southern Caucasus, the evolution of the Neolithic to Bronze age (6th-3rd millenia BCE) economies is often investigated through the prism of adaptation to constrasted landscapes and environments (arid plain, high moutains, subtropical western coasts) and strategies of natural resource exploitation. This overview of the main technological and functional characteristics of ground stone tools from about 20 sites in the Kura Valley (Georgia, Azerbaijan) contributes to the discussion surrounding these questions. After an overview of the evolution of the grinding equipment and stone tool manufacture within a long term perspective, from the Late Neoliothic to the Early Bronze Age, several issues are adressed. The composition of the macrolithic toolkit is a key issue when discussing the importance of agriculture versus pastoralism in the economy of these populations, which evolved in different regional and environmental contexts. Its management also contributes to our understanding of the degree of sedentarity versus mobility of the populations. Finally, we discuss how the technical evolution of the macrolithic toolkit reflects the principal global changes occurring during this long period of time (neolithisation, emergence of metallurgy, and the mining phenomenon) and their cultural meaning. Our initial results underline the significance of some implements as cultural markers, and also contribute to defining the common cultural background and regional specificities within the South Caucasus region.

scholarly journals The First Acheulian Quarry in India: Stone Tool Manufacture, Biface Morphology, and Behaviors

1999 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Petraglia ◽  
Philip LaPorta ◽  
K. Paddayya
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tool ◽  
Tool Manufacture ◽  
And Behaviors

Levallois

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Chazan
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
General Level ◽  
Significant Component ◽  
Tool Manufacture ◽  
Core Technology ◽  
Artifact Analysis ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The 19Th Century

Levallois refers to a way of making stone tools that is a significant component of the technological adaptations of both Neanderthals and early modern humans. Although distinctive Levallois artifacts were identified already in the 19th century, a consensus on the definition of the Levallois and clear criteria for distinguishing Levallois from non-Levallois artifacts remain elusive. At a general level, Levallois is one variant on prepared core technology. In a prepared core approach to stone tool manufacture, the worked material (the core) is configured and maintained to allow for the production of detached pieces (flakes) whose morphology is constrained by the production process. The difficulty for archaeologists is that Levallois refers to a particular process of manufacture rather than a discrete finality. The study of Levallois exposes limitations of typological approaches to artifact analysis and forces a consideration of the challenges in creating a solid empirical basis for characterizing technological processes.

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 Variability of the Lithic Raw Material in the Upper and Late Palaeolithic sites in Southeastern Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Dariusz Bobak ◽  
Marta Połtowicz-Bobak
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
The South ◽  
Tool Manufacture ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
Later Phase ◽  
Late Palaeolithic ◽  
Lithic Raw Material

In terms of supply of good quality raw materials for stone tool manufacture, the area of southeastern Poland is rather poor. Considering research conducted so far, there are only few sites that can be the basis for analysis. Nevertheless, certain phenomena seem to be characteristic on sites in southeastern Poland in the later phase of the Upper Palaeolithic and in the Late Palaeolithic. There are usually more than one kind of raw material present. Apart from local erratic flint, imported Świeciechów (grey white-spotted) and ‘chocolate’ flint dominate. The presence of both Jurassic (areas near Cracow) and Volhynian flints are poorly recorded, whereas resources from the south are almost absent. These imported raw materials indicate the existence of particularly strong relations linking the areas of southeastern Poland with the Sandomierz Upland, and much weaker relationships with the territories of Lesser Poland and Western Ukraine

Interview with a Neanderthal: an Experimental Approach for Reconstructing Scraper Production Rules, and their Implications for Imposed Form in Middle Palaeolithic Tools

2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Bisson
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Plane Angle ◽  
Production Rules ◽  
Common Category ◽  
Significant Divergence ◽  
Striking Platform

This article investigates the degree and nature of ‘imposed form’ in Middle Palaeolithic scrapers, the most common category of stone tool produced by Neanderthals. Novice flintknappers unfamiliar with Middle Palaeolithic tool forms were found to consistently employ two rules in manufacturing scrapers: the striking platform and any adjacent blunt edges were left intact to facilitate prehension, and the longest edge with the most acute spine-plane angle was retouched. Scrapers from three major Middle Palaeolithic sites adhered to these rules in over 90 per cent of cases, but significant divergence from these rules was found in a sample from Skhul cave (Israel) level B1, associated with early anatomically modern Homo sapiens. It is concluded that Middle Palaeolithic scraper manufacture was structured by the need to create a suitable working edge, and to locate that edge to maximize ease and comfort during manufacture and use. The overall shape of the resulting tools was thus not an expression of ‘imposed form’ in the conventional sense. The discovery of violations of these rules in the Skhul B1 collection provides evidence of increased use of imposed form, as well as potentially significant behavioural differences between early anatomically modern Homo sapiens and contemporary Neanderthals.

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