STONE TOOL FUNCTIONS, HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES, AND FORMATIVE LITHIC ECONOMIES IN NORTHERN TLAXCALA, MEXICO

High-magnification use-wear analyses create datasets that enable microeconomic studies of lithic consumption and household activities that complement macroeconomic studies of lithic production and exchange to collectively improve our reconstructions of ancient economies. In recent decades, compositional and technological analyses have revealed how certain obsidian sources and lithic technologies were exploited, produced, and exchanged in Mexico's central highlands region during the Formative period (1500 b.c.–a.d. 100). This article presents use-wear analyses of 275 lithic artifacts from four sites in northern Tlaxcala—Amomoloc (900–650 b.c.), Tetel (750–500 b.c.), Las Mesitas (600–500 b.c.), and La Laguna (600–400 b.c. and 100 b.c.–a.d. 150)—to compare household activities with lithic technologies and evaluate their roles in regional economies. Blades were used for subsistence and domestic crafting; maguey fiber extraction for textile production increased over time, especially in non-elite households. The preparation and consumption of meat acquired by hunting and other methods increased slightly over time, and bipolar tools were used as kitchen utensils. Bloodletting was practiced with two variations of late-series pressure blades, but these and other tools were neither exchanged as nor used to craft prestige goods, often viewed as driving forces of Formative economies in Mesoamerica.

A Newly Identified Younger Dryas Component in Eagle Cave, Texas

Recent excavations by the Ancient Southwest Texas Project of Texas State University sampled a previously undocumented Younger Dryas component from Eagle Cave in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas. This stratified assemblage consists of bison (Bison antiquus) bones in association with lithic artifacts and a hearth. Bayesian modeling yields an age of 12,660–12,480 cal BP, and analyses indicate behaviors associated with the processing of a juvenile bison and the manufacture and maintenance of lithic tools. This article presents spatial, faunal, macrobotanical, chronometric, geoarchaeological, and lithic analyses relating to the Younger Dryas component within Eagle Cave. The identification of the Younger Dryas occupation in Eagle Cave should encourage archaeologists to revisit previously excavated rockshelter sites in the Lower Pecos and beyond to evaluate deposits for unrecognized, older occupations.

Integrative geochronology calibrates the Middle and Late Stone Ages of Ethiopia’s Afar Rift

The Halibee member of the Upper Dawaitoli Formation of Ethiopia’s Middle Awash study area features a wealth of Middle and Later Stone Age (MSA and LSA) paleoanthropological resources in a succession of Pleistocene sediments. We introduce these artifacts and fossils, and determine their chronostratigraphic placement via a combination of established radioisotopic methods and a recently developed dating method applied to ostrich eggshell (OES). We apply the recently developed 230Th/U burial dating of OES to bridge the temporal gap between radiocarbon (14C) and 40Ar/39Ar ages for the MSA and provide 14C ages to constrain the younger LSA archaeology and fauna to ∼24 to 21.4 ka. Paired 14C and 230Th/U burial ages of OES agree at ∼31 ka for an older LSA locality, validating the newer method, and in turn supporting its application to stratigraphically underlying MSA occurrences previously constrained only by a maximum 40Ar/39Ar age. Associated fauna, flora, and Homo sapiens fossils are thereby now fixed between 106 ± 20 ka and 96.4 ± 1.6 ka (all errors 2σ). Additional 40Ar/39 results on an underlying tuff refine its age to 158.1 ± 11.0 ka, providing a more precise minimum age for MSA lithic artifacts, fauna, and H. sapiens fossils recovered ∼9 m below it. These results demonstrate how chronological control can be obtained in tectonically active and stratigraphically complex settings to precisely calibrate crucial evidence of technological, environmental, and evolutionary changes during the African Middle and Late Pleistocene.

The Middle Paleolithic Occupations of Mutzig-Rain (Alsace, France)

The Paleolithic site of Mutzig, discovered by chance in 1992 (Sainty 1992), has been the focus of several excavations since 2009. Located in Alsace (Bas-Rhin, France), it is presently one of only a handful of sites reliably attributed to the Middle Paleolithic in this area, thus providing rare evidence for a zone still relatively unknown for Early Prehistoric remains. The excellent preservation of the remains and the long stratigraphic sequence, with 6 to 8 in situ archaeological levels, make Mutzig a potential reference site for environmental and behavioral analyses for the Middle Paleolithic of the region. At least four archaeological levels contain burnt elements, and one level features a hearth structure. Taken together, the archaeological material, which is abundant in each of the different layers, forms an assemblage of more than 3000 faunal remains and more than 1500 lithic artifacts. Analyses of this site provide valuable insights into the environment and Neandertal ways of life in Alsace. We provide here only general results, with more detailed descriptions of the lithic and faunal remains presented in Diemer (this volume) and Sévêque (this volume). The faunal remains recovered from the human occupations in Levels 5 and 7 reflect the same relatively cold steppe-like environmental context and include reindeer, woolly mammoth, steppe horse, steppe bison and woolly rhinoceros. Small vertebrates also indicate a cold climate, though not related to the Pleniglacial. Confirmed isotopic data, from oxygen and carbon isotope measurements of horse and mammoth teeth, indicate temperatures lower than those of today and an open environment. Levels 9 and 10, however, tend to reveal a more temperate climate. The available OSL and ESR/U-series dates place the Mutzig occupations within the Early Weichselian Glacial (MIS 5, ca. 90,000 BP), an attribution which biometric analyses and the large and small fauna record tend to corroborate (Koehler et al. 2016a).

Vác 1 Epigravettian loci at the Danube Bend in North-Central Hungary

In the article, the Vác 1 loci (Danube Bend area in North-Central Hungary) and its surface lithic artifacts systematically collected over the last 20 years have been analyzed. The loci and lithic artifact chaîne opératoire analyses showed that the site served as a hunter-gatherer temporary camp with some base camp characteristics and some similar with lithic artifact primary and secondary treatment processes adding to one another for both rather local and distant raw material types (RMTs). Furthermore, the lithic assemblage data indicate an Early Epigravettian industrial attribution. Likewise, some assemblages’ techno-typological data certainly augment some of the more peculiar features for the already known Early Epigravettian variability in the Eastern Central Europe.

Late Pleistocene microlithic industries in the Ayodhya hills, Purulia, West Bengal: Insights from geoarchaeological exploration

New evidence from Ayodhya hills, located in the western upland of West Bengal has expanded knowledge of a Late Pleistocene microlithic technology in South Asia spanning 42-25 ka. Continuous exploration for the past two decades has resulted in substantial information on technology, distribution of sites and the colluvial context. It is now clear from surface exploration and excavations that there are localized differences in the formation of the colluvial context. At Mahadebbera and Kana sites which have yielded the OSL dates, the Insitu occurrence of artefacts in the excavated sections confirm their association with a colluvial context. The occurrence of microliths for a prolonged period (25-34 ka) at Mahadebbera indicates that the colluvial deposition must have followed a slower rate during the course of occupation at the site. At Khududih-Chauniya, a site currently being investigated, excavation and surface exploration indicate that the artefacts are mostly scattered over the regolith surface capping the bedrock; much of the colluvial material from the site has been eroded and transported downslope exposing the lithic artifacts over the regolithic badland surface. Added interest to this site ensues from recent finds of Middle Paleolithic cores and a Lower Palaeolithic core from the badland rain gullies. This promises to complement the already published results from the region, which has emerged as an important zone in understanding the behaviour patterns of Anatomically Modern Humans in South Asia.

Molluscs of the Genus Glycymeris from Vogelherd Cave near Niederstotzingen (Lonetal, Southwestern Germany)

The site of Vogelherd in the Lone Valley of southwestern Germany has become world famous for its many unique artworks made from mammoth ivory, personal ornaments, flute fragments, lithic artifacts, and antler and bone artifacts. In the study below, the molluscs from Vogelherd are presented, offering us new insights on the mobility and social behavior of Aurignacian groups in the Lone Valley. Some of the mollusc finds come from the 1931 excavation of Gustav Riek; however, most of them were uncovered during the later re-excavations of the site between 2005 and 2012. In order to provide context for these finds, we compare the molluscs from Vogelherd with those from across Central Europe. The identifiable fragments from Vogelherd belong to the genus Glycymeris. The Glycymeris molluscs originated from the Mainz Basin. This determination makes it possible to reconstruct one of the farthest long-distance connections known for the Upper Paleolithic in Germany. In addition to the Glycymeris finds, we present a tool that was also made from a mollusc. This mollusc-tool, coming from the excavation of 1931 and attributed to the Aurignacian, is a unique find for this time period of southern Germany. With this piece, along with microscopic examinations and discussions of the Glycymeris molluscs, we present a wide range of possible uses for these finds. For example, we discuss the possible use of the molluscs as ochre containers. To test this, we used EDX-analysis and a raster electron microscope. We compare the Glycymeris molluscs of Vogelherd with those from Gravettian and Magdalenian contexts at Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle, Petersfels, and Gnirshöhle, and we provide a list of all sites from Germany, Switzerland, Eastern France, and Belgium with Glycymeris finds. We use size comparisons to show differences as well among the Glycymeris finds of Vogelherd and other Upper Paleolithic sites in southwestern Germany. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the Glycymeris molluscs of Vogelherd best fit into the Aurignacian, and we provide other Aurignacian sites that contained similar finds. By discussing other long-distance connections in the Aurignacian of southern Germany, it becomes evident that Glycymeris molluscs are not specific only to the Swabian Aurignacian.

A Swiss Army Knife from the Upper Paleolithic? Experiments on Non-Projectile Uses of Backed Pieces

Backed lithic artifacts are an important part of the Upper Paleolithic tool kit, and are often among the most abundant categories of lithic tools found at Magdalenian and Gravettian sites. Often these tools are exclusively referred to as projectiles, and indeed many – if not most – backed pieces may have been parts of composite projectile heads, mounted laterally onto organic points (e.g., Allain and Descouts 1957; Allain 1979; Abramova 1982; Bergman and Newcomer 1983; Leroi­ Gourhan 1983; Plisson 1985; Nuzhnyi 1993; Christensen and Valentin 2004; Sano 2009; Langlais 2010; Araujo­Igreja 2011; Tomasso et al. 2018). Experiments of varying comprehensiveness concerned with the use of (Magdalenian) backed pieces as projectile inserts have confirmed the effectivity of this setup (e.g., Moss and Newcomer 1982; Pétillon et al. 2011; Gauvrit Roux et al. 2020). However, backed pieces sometimes also served other purposes like cutting, sawing, shaving, scraping or perforating (Moss and Newcomer 1982; Moss 1983; Owen 1988; Piel­Desruisseaux 1998; Christensen and Valentin 2004; Taller et al. 2012). The modular technological system involving these lithic artifacts is highly versatile, mobile and dynamic as there are numerous possibilities of use and as the small lithic inserts are easy to transport and the composite tools themselves are easy to maintain and repair. Here, we present the results of an experiment where different tasks were carried out using backed pieces hafted in a wooden handle or operated handheld. The design of the handles loosely follows examples found at Canadian Dorset sites where bladelets comparable in size to Magdalenian backed pieces were hafted and used as knives (Owen 1988, 88ff.). We tried out the tools in various activities (cutting, perforating and carving/whittling) on a set of worked materials (wood, antler, marine shell, smoked meat, dried, semi­tanned hide, and tanned leather). After the completion of these tasks, the applicability, durability and usefulness of the setup were evaluated and the lithic inserts were checked microscopically for use­wear traces.