scholarly journals Three Stories About the Exploitation of “Chocolate” Flint During the Stone Age in Central Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 56-65
Author(s):  
Dominik Kacper Płaza ◽  
Piotr Papiernik
Keyword(s):  
Physical Nature ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Central Poland ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Dramatic Structure ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Late Mesolithic ◽  
Blade Production

This paper argues that, despite the purely physical nature of the process of the creation of blades that later will be components of multi-material tools, this is also like an artistic act. If this is so, the manner in which we discuss the sequence of blade production can be analysed in much the same way as any other narrative works of art, like Greek literature or Shakespearean drama. The article presents three stories about cores that were used for production of blades for tools during the Stone Age, examining the systematic sequence of actions (like the choice of the raw material, core preparation, blade production, repairs of core and discarding of the exhausted core) in the form of a 5-act dramatic structure. We suggest that these five parts or acts of drama are similar to the manner in which, in Stone Age archaeology, we talk about the knapping sequence and goals of blade production. Observation of three blade cores connected with the late Mesolithic and the Early and Middle Neolithic from the central part of Poland provides an opportunity for discussion about the features of those pieces and searching for similarities and differences in the use of “chocolate” flint during the latter part of the Stone Age

scholarly journals Long and short revolutions towards the Neolithic in western Anatolia and Aegean

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 68-83
Author(s):  
Barbara Horejs
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Economic Strategies ◽  
Material Procurement ◽  
Similarities And Differences

This paper provides an overview of our current knowledge about the transformation towards the Neolithic in western Anatolia and the Aegean, and offers a narrative for their interpretation. Within the longue durée perspective of the long revolution in the Near East, the first millennia of the Holocene of the Aegean and western Anatolia are contrasted with each other. Economic strategies, environmental conditions, technologies, raw material procurement and cultural practices in the Aegean Mesolithic and the Pre-Neolithic times in western Anatolia are analysed to classify potential similarities and differences. The evidence of new cultural and symbolic practices, eco-nomies, and technologies in the seventh millennium is discussed as the paradox of a short revolu-tion embedded in a long-term process of interaction, knowledge-transfer and adaptation, setting the scene for the Neolithic pioneers establishing a new social life.

Ostrich Eggshell Beads in Later Stone Age Contexts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Later Stone Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
Ostrich Eggshell

Ostrich eggshell (OES) beads are a common feature of Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeology throughout eastern and southern Africa and have the potential to inform on site use, cultural diversity, social networks, and site formation. However, too often OES bead assemblages have not been recorded or studied in the necessary detail to make meaningful contributions to these important questions. In this respect, and to aid future research focusing on the African LSA, OES and OES beads must be discussed in detail, beginning with a background to ostriches and their eggs and commenting on why OES is an important raw material. Then, one should consider OES beads in detail, specifically, the manufacturing process, the social context in which they were made, and how they may have been used in the past. Subsequently, the focus should be on how OES bead assemblages are analyzed, as well as archaeometric approaches to studying OES bead residues and OES bead provenance. The potential insights gained from these diverse and multidisciplinary analytical approaches, especially when combined, are then highlighted through discussing trends in OES bead research from African LSA contexts. These trends include the contribution of OES beads to understanding the complex transition from hunter-gatherers to herders, the identification of different cultural groups in the past, and identifying the presence and extent of past social networks. The final focus should be on future research directions that will benefit OES bead research, specifically more detailed approaches to understanding OES bead diversity and the expansion of experimentally derived taphonomic frameworks for identifying past human and nonhuman behaviors in OES bead assemblages. Future research should build on the growing body of detailed OES bead analyses, as they provide unique insight and a strong complement to traditional archaeological approaches to understanding past peoples, groups, and cultures during the African LSA.

scholarly journals Raw material optimization and stone tool engineering in the Early Stone Age of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (162) ◽  
pp. 20190377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alastair Key ◽  
Tomos Proffitt ◽  
Ignacio de la Torre
Keyword(s):  
Functional Performance ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Cutting Tools ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Material Optimization ◽  
Early Stone Age

For more than 1.8 million years hominins at Olduvai Gorge were faced with a choice: whether to use lavas, quartzite or chert to produce stone tools. All are available locally and all are suitable for stone tool production. Using controlled cutting tests and fracture mechanics theory we examine raw material selection decisions throughout Olduvai's Early Stone Age. We quantify the force, work and material deformation required by each stone type when cutting, before using these data to compare edge sharpness and durability. Significant differences are identified, confirming performance to depend on raw material choice. When combined with artefact data, we demonstrate that Early Stone Age hominins optimized raw material choices based on functional performance characteristics. Doing so flexibly: choosing raw materials dependent on their sharpness and durability, alongside a tool's loading potential and anticipated use-life. In this way, we demonstrate that early lithic artefacts at Olduvai Gorge were engineered to be functionally optimized cutting tools.

Pyhtää Susikopinharju (1), Finland: a Site with Mesolithic Dwellings

2009 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 305-334
Author(s):  
Kenneth K.A. Lönnqvist
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
The People ◽  
A Site ◽  
Late Mesolithic

The paper presents the excavations of a Late Mesolithic settlement and the dwelling depressions at Pyhtää Susikopinharju (1), Finland, in 1998. The excavations revealed the first Mesolithic house remains unearthed to date. A rich finds assemblage was also recovered, including unusual amounts of organic material such as refuse fauna and bone tools, and a chert microlith. Parallels for the Stone Age house/hut are found in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. The evidence suggests that the people were in interaction with a world that lay hundreds of kilometres outside their territory.

scholarly journals The Birch as a Source of Raw Material during the Stone Age

1949 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 50-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emil Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Thin Layers ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Birch Bark ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Birch Wood ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The Common

It is hardly necessary to point out that birch was one of the common trees of the younger stone age and that its wood was much used for technical purposes. This must have been even more the case in mesolithic times and during the upper palaeolithic period, when during a certain period this tree dominated the landscape to such an extent that we can even speak of a Birch period.The use of birch wood soon made men acquainted with its own special properties. If at present we are first able to demonstrate a knowledge of these for the neolithic and later stages, it is not to be doubted that this merely represented a continuation of a mesolithic accomplishment. There are two properties of birch which are particularly well exhibited by the pile-dwelling finds. The bark can be detached from the tree in thin layers, is extraordinarily easily worked and can be sewn like fine leather. But, secondly, it is possible to obtain a pitch from the bark, which after correct preparation makes a particularly useful glue. The pitch occurs especially in the bark and allows rolled up pieces of this to burn with a clear flame. These so-called birch-bark tapers, which even in modern times played an important part in illumination, are found not uncommonly in the Swiss pile-dwellings.

scholarly journals ПРОЯВЛЕНИЕ ПРИЗНАКОВ НЕОЛИТИЧЕСКОГО ПАКЕТА НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ ЛЕСНОЙ ПОЛОСЫ В VII – IV ТЫС. ДО Н.Э.

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Анастасия Юрьевна Назарова
Keyword(s):  
Stone Age ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Late Mesolithic

Статья посвящена анализу наиболее изученных культур неолита лесной полосы Прибалтики и Европейской части России (VII IV тыс. до н.э.). Для анализа были отобраны следующие признаки неолитического пакета: керамика, шлифованные деревообрабатывающие орудия, долговременные жилища, крупные могильники, святилища и предметы импорта. В результате исследования были выделены наиболее развитые культуры раннего и среднего неолита, с учетом данных, которые существуют на сегодняшний день. В ранних культурах было обнаружено от 1 до 3 признаков, в среднем неолите было обнаружено от 3 до 5 заявленных признаков. В ходе работы, был прослежен процесс неолитизации лесной полосы. Библиографические ссылки Археология Карелии / Отв. ред. М.Г. Косменко, С.И. Кочкуркина. Петрозаводск: КарНЦ РАН, 1996. 416 с. Габяшев Р.С. Население Нижнего Прикамья в V–III тысячелетиях до нашей эры. Казань: Ин-т истории им. Ш. Марджани АН РТ, 2003. 226 с. Герман К.Э. Культура сперрингс (современное состояние изучения) // Самарский научный вестник. Т. 7. № 3 (24). 2018. С. 225–230. Герман К.Э., Мельников И.В. Поселения мезолита - раннего неолита Южного Заонежья (Республика Карелия) // Мезолит и неолит Восточной Европы: хронология и культурное взаимодействие. / Отв. ред. С.А. Васильев, В.Я. Шумкин. СПб.: ИИМК РАН, МАЭ РАН, 2012. С. 57–68. Гусенцова Т.М. Мезолит и неолит Камско-Вятского междуречья. Ижевск: Изд-во Удмурт. ун-та, 1993. 237 с. Долбунова Е.В. Древнейшие керамические традиции в Днепро-Двинском Междуречье (7–6-го тыс. до н. э.). Дисс… канд. ист. наук. Санкт-Петербург, 2015. 380 с. Карманов В.Н. Неолит европейского Северо-Востока. Сыктывкар, 2008. 226 с. Карманов В.Н. Неолитическое население на европейском Северо-Востоке: обитание или пребывание? // Первобытные древности Евразии / Отв. ред. С.В. Ошибкина. М.: ИА РАН, 2012. С. 419–446. Костылева Е.Л. Артефакты из органических материалов из захоронений и «святилищ» могильника Сахтыш IIа (Центральная Россия) // Historia provinciae – журнал региональной истории. 2018. №4. С. 286−325. Костылёва Е.Л., Уткин А.В. Нео-энеолитические могильники Верхнего Поволжья и Волго-Окского междуречья: планиграфические и хронологические структуры. М.: ТАУС, 2010. 300 с. Лобанова Н.В. Новые данные о периодизации наскального искусства Онежского озера // Альманах североевропейских и балтийских исследований. 2016. № 1. С. 12−34. Лычагина Е.Л. Неолит Верхнего и Среднего Прикамья. Дисс... д-ра. ист. наук. Пермь, 2019. 632 с. Лычагина Е.Л., Цыгвинцева Т.А. Сравнительный анализ ранненеолитических культур Прикамья // Вестник Пермского университета. Серия История. 2013. №1 (21). С. 22−36. Мельников И.В. Святилища древней Карелии: (Палеоэтногр. очерки о культовых памятниках). Гос. ист.-архитектур. и этногр. музей-заповедник "Кижи". 1998. 133 с. Мельников И.В., Герман К.Э. Древние поселения южного Заонежья (мезолит – энеолит). Петрозаводск: ФГБУК «Государственный историко-архитектурный и этнографический музей-заповедник “Кижи”», 2013. 409 с. Никитин В.В. Итоги изучения каменного века в Марийском Поволжье // Поволжская археология. 2017. №3 (21). С. 168−189. Никитин В.В. Мезолит и неолит Марийского Полесья (эволюция, проблемы выделения культур) // Эволюция неолитических культур Восточной Европы (Санкт-Петербург, 15-17 мая, 2019) / Отв. ред. А.А. Выборнов, Е.В. Долбунова, Е.М. Колпаков, Е.С. Ткач. СПб.: ООО «Порто-Принт», 2019. С. 69−71. Хорошун Т.А. К вопросу смены культур в неолите раннем энеолите Карелии (по материалам памятников западного побережья Онежского озера) // Труды Карельского научного центра Российской академии наук. 2011. №6. С. 124−132. Хрусталева И.Ю. Постройки позднего этапа заселения памятника Сертея XIV: культурная атрибуция и возможности графической реконструкции // Самарский научный вестник. 2017. №3(20). С. 143−150. Цветкова Н.А. Ранний неолит Верхнего Поволжья: некоторые итоги изучения // Российский археологический ежегодник. № 1. / Глав. ред. Л.Б. Вишняцкий. СПб.: Изд-во С.-Петерб. ун-та, 2011. С. 148−182. Cilingiroglu, C. The concept of «Neolithic package»: considering its meaning and applicability // Documenta Praehistorica. 2005. Vol. XXXII. P. 1−13. Khrustaleva I., Roog R., Kholkina M., Kriiska A. Hunter-gatherer pit-houses in Stone Age Estonia // Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 2020. 12(2). 56. P. 1–17. Kriiska A., Oras E., Lõugas L., Meadows J., Lucquinand A., Craig O.E. Late Mesolithic Narva Stage in Estonia: pottery, settlement types and chronology // Estonian Journal of Archaeology. 2017. №1 (21). P. 52–86. Stutz L., Larsson L., Zagorska I. The persistent presence of the dead: Recent excavations at the huntergatherer cemetery at Zvejnieki (Latvia) // Antiquity. 2015. 87 (338) P. 1016–1029.

scholarly journals Situs Megalitik Tutari sebagai Sumber Inspirasi Penciptaan Koreografi Site-Specific “Tutari MegArt Lithic”

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sri Rustiyanti
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Large Stone ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
The Creation

The Tutari Megalithic Site is a large stone age civilization site located in Doyo Lama Village, Waibu District, Jayapura Regency, Papua. Visually, on this site, there are stones with various motifs of prehistoric paintings on them. However, if it is studied in-depth, primarily through the perspective of choreography, this site has a broad potential to be a source of inspiration for creating works of art. Collaborating with previous research from the Papua Archeology Center, the creation of this Tutari MegArt Lithic artwork is focused on specific parts of the Tutari Megalithic site that can be used as inspiration for creating artworks. The method used in this writing is descriptive analysis. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how choreography can collaborate across disciplines in the creation of works of art staged at the Tutari archaeological site. This paper describes the sources of inspiration for creating site-specific choreographic works of art entitled Tutari MegArt Lithic, including visual inspiration, artistic inspiration and idea inspiration.Keywords: Tutari Megalithic Site; site-specific choreography; source of inspiration; painting motive

Space-time analysis of raw material utilization for stone implements of the Jomon culture in Japan

Antiquity ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (245) ◽  
pp. 868-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaoru Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Space Time ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Time Analysis ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
Material Utilization

Introduction The materials from which tools are made reflect the intention of tool makers concerning function, use, size and shape of the tools. Even the materials of stone implements in prehistoric times must have reflected the intention of tool makers. Inada (1969: 4) pointed out that the technology of making tools reflects the interacting elements of materials and retouchments. It is a fundamental premise of this paper that understanding patterns of raw material utilization for stone implements is a key to the solution of questions concerning cultural tradition, cultural behaviour, culture areas and trade in the stone age.

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