Production and Transport of Blanks and Tools at the French Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas

1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Roth ◽  
Harold L. Dibble
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Group Mobility ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Material Procurement ◽  
Core Reduction

Recent studies of Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages have focused on questions of interest to lithic analysts everywhere, including the effect of raw material availability, occupation span, and tool maintenance on assemblage characteristics. In this paper, we add to the growing database on Middle Paleolithic assemblages using material recently excavated at Combe-Capelle Bas in the Dordogne region of southern France. The site provides a unique opportunity for addressing questions concerning lithic assemblage variability because it is located on a high quality flint source. We present data on core reduction, blank selection, raw material procurement, and lithic transport that provide information on lithic use pertinent for both Old World and New World archaeologists. Our data show that raw material availability and group mobility influenced blank selection, production, and transport at Combe-Capelle.

scholarly journals Raw material sourcing in the Middle Paleolithic site of Gruta da Oliveira (Central Limestone Massif, Estremadura, Portugal)

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrique Matias
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Geological Samples ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Probability Interval ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Lithic Assemblages

The cave site of Gruta da Oliveira is located in the Almonda karst system, at the interface between the Central Limestone Massif of Portuguese Estremadura (CLM) and the adjacent Sedimentary Basin of the River Tagus (TSB). The cave presents a stratification dated to ~37-107 ka containing hearth features, Neanderthal skeletal remains, as well as fauna, microfauna and wood charcoal remains. The lithic assemblages are large and feature a diverse range of raw materials.Knappable lithic raw materials in primary, sub-primary and secondary position in the CLM and the TSB were systematically surveyed and sampled. The characterization of the geological samples was carried out at both the macro- and the microscopic scales and data were systematized under the petroarcheological and “evolutionary chain of silica” approaches.The study of the lithic assemblage from layer 14 (dated to the ~61-93 ka 95.4% probability interval by TL) indicates that the Gruta da Oliveira Neanderthals used quartzite, quartz and flint from sources located less than 30 km away in both the CLM and the TSB.

The Measurement and Interpretation of Cortex in Lithic Assemblages

2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold L. Dibble ◽  
Utsav A. Schurmans ◽  
Radu P. Iovita ◽  
Michael V. McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Solid Geometry ◽  
Alternative Method ◽  
Core Reduction

Cortex is often used as an indicator of core reduction and transport, but current measures to evaluate the observed amount of cortex in a lithic assemblage with what might be expected under particular conditions are still ambiguous. The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate an alternative method based on solid geometry. This method is evaluated with an experimentally produced assemblage, and implications of its application to archaeological assemblages are presented and discussed.

Differential Raw Material Use in the Middle Pleistocene of Spain: Evidence from Sierra de Atapuerca, Torralba, Ambrona and Aridos

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Mosquera Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Material Procurement ◽  
Surrounding Landscape ◽  
The Way

This article reviews the evidence for planning behaviour in Middle Pleistocene hominids. It documents the way in which raw material procurement and tool production were structured during the Middle Pleistocene occupations of the Spanish sites of Sierra de Atapuerca, Torralba, Ambrona and Aridos. Differences in the use of raw materials for different kinds of tool or end-product allow inferences to be drawn about pre-Neanderthal intentionality and cognitive ability. The overall pattern of technological behaviour demonstrated by this study is far removed from the purely ‘opportunistic’ and can reasonably be described as involving both forethought and planning. The work is presented from a techno-economic perspective based on the differential use of raw material types present in the lithic assemblages of these sites, and the proximity of sources of these raw materials in the surrounding landscape.

Palaeolithic Archaeology at the Swan Valley Community School, Swanscombe, Kent

2001 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 219-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Wenban-Smith ◽  
David Bridgland ◽  
Simon Parfitt ◽  
Andrew Haggart ◽  
Phillip Rye
Keyword(s):  
Raw Material ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Volume Controlled ◽  
Valuable Role ◽  
Construction Works ◽  
Palaeolithic Archaeology

This paper reports on the recovery of Palaeolithic flint artefacts and faunal remains from fluvial gravels at the base of a sequence of Pleistocene sediments revealed during construction works at two sites to the south of Swanscombe village, Kent. Although outside the mapped extent of the Boyn Hill/Orsett Heath Formation, the newly discovered deposits can be firmly correlated with the Middle Gravels and Upper Loam from the Barnfield Pit sequence dating to c. 400,000–380,000 BP. This increases greatly the known extent of these deposits, one horizon of which produced the Swanscombe Skull, and has provided more information on their upper part.Comparison of the lithic assemblages from volume-controlled sieving with those from general monitoring demonstrated that artefact collections formed without controlled methods of recovery, such as form the majority of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeological record, are likely to be disproportionately dominated by larger, more visible, and more collectable neatly-made handaxes to the detriment of more poorly made, asymmetrical handaxes and cores, flakes, and percussors. The lithic assemblage from the fluvial gravel was confirmed as dominated by pointed handaxes, supporting previous studies of artefacts front the equivalent Lower Middle Gravel at Barnfield Pit. The raw material characteristics of the assemblage were investigated, and it was concluded that there was no indication that the preference for pointed shapes could be related to either the shape or source of raw material.This paper also reviews the significance of lithic assemblages from disturbed fluvial contexts, and concludes that, contrary to some current perspectives, they have a valuable role to play complementing less disturbed evidence in developing understanding of the Palaeolithic.

A Core Reduction Experiment Finds No Effect of Original Stone Size and Reduction Intensity on Flake Debris Size Distribution

2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 562-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam C. Lin ◽  
Cornel M. Pop ◽  
Harold L. Dibble ◽  
Will Archer ◽  
Dawit Desta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Stone Size ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Reduction Experiment ◽  
Package Size ◽  
Core Reduction ◽  
Taphonomic Processes

Studies have long noted the influence of stone package size and reduction intensity on lithic assemblage composition, particularly in the form of flake size distributions. However, it remains difficult to distinguish objectively the effect of either factor in archaeological contexts without controlling for the variation in one of the two variables. Here we report on an experimental study designed to test the null hypotheses that original stone size and reduction intensity have no impact on the size distribution of lithic flake debris produced during core reduction. Results indicate statistically significant influence from original stone size but not reduction intensity, although the effects from the former are low enough to be considered trivial. In reviewing a sequence of archaeological assemblages from a Middle Paleolithic site, all exhibit an excess of smallsized materials in comparison to the experimental data. When exceptionally high frequencies of the smaller size classes occur, taphonomic processes are clearly responsible.

scholarly journals Stone Tools in the High Molise Mountains (Italy): a first Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorio Mironti ◽  
Melissa Vilmercati ◽  
Enrico Lucci ◽  
Rachele Modesto
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Material Procurement ◽  
Mountainous Landscape ◽  
Molise Region ◽  
University Of Rome

In the last decades, several researches focused on the inland areas of Molise Region (Central-Southern Italy) to investigate the occupation and exploitation of this environment during Pleistocene and Holocene. The “Molise Survey Project” started in 2015 with the aim to explore, through systematic surveys, an area of 60 square kilometres, chiefly characterized by a mountainous landscape and part of the Central-Southern Italy Apennines. The project seeks to investigate the patterns of human occupation in the mountainous landscape between the provinces of Campobasso and Isernia. The surveys, carried out during the last four years, allowed the identification of 19 prehistoric sites ranging from Palaeolithic to Bronze Age: the archaeological materials belonging to the latter period are being studied by the team of “Paletnologia” of Sapienza University of Rome. This work aims to show the preliminary results of the analysis of the lithic assemblage acquired during the summer of 2016 surveys, focusing on raw material procurement and the related chaîne opératoire, also considering post-depositional agents. The obtained data allowed to reassess the human presence over inland and high-altitude areas of Molise during prehistoric times, stressing a seasonal use of the territory, from Palaeolithic to Late Prehistory, with different patterns of occupation and exploitation.

Detecting patterns of local raw material utilization among informal lithic assemblages at the late Paleolithic site of Shuidonggou Locality 2 (China)

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 137-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam C. Lin ◽  
Fei Peng ◽  
Nicolas Zwyns ◽  
Jialong Guo ◽  
Huimin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raw Material ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Late Paleolithic ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Material Utilization

Stone Raw Material Availability and Early Archaic Settlement in the Southeastern United States

2001 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Randolph Daniel
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Southeastern United States ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Group Mobility ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
North American Archaeology ◽  
Quality Tool ◽  
Site Types

The band-macroband Early Archaic settlement model has had widespread use in Southeastern North American archaeology since its introduction some ten years ago (Anderson and Hanson 1988). Nevertheless, the model has undergone little critical testing. New data from Early Archaic assemblages in North Carolina and South Carolina are used to test the model's posited settlement range and site types. At issue is the role played by the limited distribution of high-quality knappable stone in Early Archaic adaptations. Contrary to the band-macroband model, it is suggested that high-quality tool stone played a more significant role in settlement adaptations than previously recognized. In particular, group mobility incorporated the geological occurrence of preferred tool stone. Moreover, it is argued that the level of tool curation in Early Archaic assemblages is telling us less about forager or collector site types than it is about the differential use of stone raw material. Last, a new settlement model is proposed whereby settlement ranges were not restricted to particular watersheds along the South Atlantic Slope; rather, settlement ranges “mapped on” to an area that varied annually across the landscape according to food availability but generally included regionally significant stone quarries.

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