STONE INDUSTRY OF SAMUSKA III SETTLEMENT BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE STATISTIC ANALYSIS

Комплексы изделий из камня и продуктов его расщепления, обнаруживаемые на поселенческих памятниках Нижнего Притомья, являются содержательным источником знаний о хозяйстве древних обитателей низовий р. Томи в эпоху неолита и бронзы. За последние несколько десятилетий обнаружен и частично исследован целый ряд поселенческих и погребальных комплексов этого периода. Но по-прежнему отсутствует целостная схема развития обработки камня древним населением в эпоху неолита и бронзы на территории Нижнего Притомья. В то же время информационный потенциал колоссального объема материалов, накопленных предшествующими исследователями, не раскрыт в полной мере. Одним из возможных путей решения данного комплекса проблем является сравнительный анализ изделий из камня и продуктов его расщепления с разных археологических памятников эпохи неолита и ранней бронзы. Применение современных методов статистической обработки массового археологического материала позволяет решить эту задачу путем определения встречаемости различных признаков у изучаемых категорий артефактов. Совокупное применение морфологической типологии и статистического анализа в научной литературе получило название атрибутивного подхода. Первостепенным результатом применения данного подхода является выделение технологически значимых характеристик каменной индустрии поселения Самуська III. Эти сведения, полученные путем статистического анализа каменной индустрии, позволяют создать отправную точку для построения региональной схемы развития технологий обработки камня в раннем голоцене на территории Нижнего Притомья. Выделенные характерные черты данной индустрии будут использованы в качестве основы для последующих сравнительных и аналитических мероприятий. Наличие определенных изделий в материалах с поселения Самуська III в совокупности с полученными результатами позволяют проводить натурные эксперименты и технологическое моделирование процесса расщепления камня для верификации результатов аналитических процедур. Эти обстоятельства актуализируют ряд проблем по изучению каменного века бассейна р. Томи. Complexes of stone pieces and products of its knapping are found on settlement sites of the Lower Tom river basin. These artifacts are a meaningful source of knowledge about the economy of the ancient inhabitants of the lower reaches of the river Tom in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Over the past few decades, a number of settlement and burial complexes of this period have been discovered and partially investigated. But there is still no holistic scheme for the development of flintknapping by the ancient population in the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the territory of the Lower Tom river basin. At the same time, the information potential of the colossal volume of materials accumulated by previous researchers has not been fully disclosed. One of the possible solutions to this complex of problems is a comparative analysis of stone pieces and products of its knapping from various archaeological sites of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. The use of modern methods of statistical processing of mass archaeological material allows us to solve this problem by determining the occurrence of various signs in the studied categories of artifacts. The combined use of morphological typology and statistical analysis in the scientific literature is called the attributive approach. The primary result of the study is the allocation of approach significant characteristics of the stone industry of the Samuska III settlement. This information, obtained by statistical analysis of the stone industry, allows you to create a starting point in building a regional scheme for the development of stone knapping technology in the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the territory of the Lower Tom river basin. Highlighted characteristic features of this industry will be used as the basis for subsequent comparative and analytical activities. The presence of certain products in the materials from the Samuska III settlement in conjunction with the results obtained allows us to conduct full-scale experiments and technological modeling of the process of stone knapping to verify the results of analytical procedures. This fact actualizes a number of problems on the study of the Stone Age of the river basin Tom.

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

Activities attested since at least 2.6 Myr, such as stone knapping, marrow extraction, and woodworking may have allowed early hominins to recognize the technological potential of discarded skeletal remains and equipped them with a transferable skillset fit for the marginal modification and utilization of bone flakes. Identifying precisely when and where expedient bone tools were used in prehistory nonetheless remains a challenging task owing to the multiple natural and anthropogenic processes that can mimic deliberately knapped bones. Here, we compare a large sample of the faunal remains from Lingjing, a 115 ka-old site from China which has yielded important hominin remains and rich faunal and lithic assemblages, with bone fragments produced by experimentally fracturing Equus caballus long bones. Our results provide a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria that can help zooarchaeologists and bone technologists distinguish faunal remains with intentional flake removal scars from those resulting from carcass processing activities. Experimental data shows marrow extraction seldom generates diaphyseal fragments bearing more than six flake scars arranged contiguously or in interspersed series. Long bone fragments presenting such characteristics can, therefore, be interpreted as being purposefully knapped to be used as expediency tools. The identification, based on the above experimental criteria, of 56 bone tools in the Lingjing faunal assemblage is consistent with the smaller size of the lithics found in the same layer. The continuity gradient observed in the size of lithics and knapped bones suggest the latter were used for tasks in which the former were less or not effective.

The role of the cerebellum in creativity and expert stone knapping

The purpose of this article is to review the evolution and function of the cerebellum, particularly in regard to its role in creativity and expert stone knapping. First, the article reviews the history of the cerebellum, its evolution and phylogenetics, and its concerted evolution with various brain regions. It also notes the critical role of the cerebellum and the cerebro-cerebellar network in its traditionally recognized control of gross and fine motor movements and in its exaptation for basic and higher level cognitive processes, particularly in regard to increasingly more sophisticated stone knapping. Also, reviewed are various theories, advanced over the past three decades, of how the cerebellum tweaks and refines thoughts, images, and ideas just as it refines and smooths motor movements. Baddeley’s working memory model is also prominently featured, as are the works of Ito, Vandervert, and others on the cerebellum’s role in novel problem-solving, insight, and creativity. Finally, this article reviews two “Cognitive Rubicons” in stone tool knapping, Theory of Mind and stone knapping, and Malafouris’ Material Engagement Theory. The article concludes with a novel hypothesis that the automaticity provided by the cerebellum derived from extensive practice in stone knapping may have freed Baddeley’s central executive from its attentional demands and allows the mind to “wander and wonder.”

In Three Minds

Within cognitive archaeology, the Paleolithic mind is portrayed as rational, experiential, and anthropological. This chapter argues that the use of experiential and anthropological perspectives has the potential to enrich archaeological interpretations of early hominin cognition through the use of emotional and relational aspects. Wynn’s evolutionary cognitive archaeology is extended by using affective and material standpoints to explore the spaces between minds. The chapter emphasizes the importance of the work of Thomas Wynn to the development of the discipline and offers avenues to incorporate social, emotional, and relational aspects of mind in the study of early cognition—for example, the involvement of theory of mind when considering stone knapping, and the cultural transmission of early stone tool industries such as the Lomekwian. In a case study of the Middle Paleolithic site of Bruniquel Cave, the three approaches to the Paleolithic mind are explored, as well as their distinct interpretations.