•The Nelson stone tool cache was discovered in Mount Vernon, Ohio.•We analyzed it to assess its cultural affiliation.•We compared it to Clovis and post-Clovis caches.•We also conducted geochemical, ...ochre, and microwear analyses.•By some key measures it is consistent with Clovis, but the case remains unproven.
The Nelson stone tool cache was discovered in 2008 in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The cache does not include any diagnostic materials, and independent age control is unavailable. Although aspects of its 164 bifaces are suggestive of a Clovis affiliation – including the occasional occurrence of unmistakable flute scars – nearly all are in the early- to mid-stages of production, there are no definitive finished Clovis fluted points that would make it possible to assign the cache to that time period. To ascertain its cultural affiliation, we undertook a detailed qualitative and quantitative comparison of the Nelson cache bifaces with ones known to be both Clovis and post-Clovis in age. We also conducted geochemical sourcing, ochre analyses, and microwear analysis to understand the context of the cache, regardless of its age and cultural affinity. By some key measures it is consistent with Clovis caches in this region and elsewhere, but the case remains unproven. Nonetheless, if the Nelson cache is from the Clovis period, it is significant that most of its bifaces appear to be made on large flakes, in keeping with Clovis technology in the Lower Great Lakes, and an economically conservative, risk-mitigating strategy that conforms to predictions of human foragers colonizing the area in late Pleistocene times.
A prompt-gamma aktivációs analízis (PGAA) elemösszetétel mennyiségi meghatározására használható roncsolásmentes nukleáris analitikai módszer, a minták összetételére vonatkozó előzetes információ ...nélkül. Analitikai jellemzői alkalmassá teszik különböző kőzetek fő összetevőinek és néhány különleges nyomelemnek a kimutatására, ezen keresztül kőeszközök provenienciájának kutatásában való alkalmazásra. Jelen cikk a témában több mint 25 éves, a Budapesti Neutron Centrum, a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum és az ELTE Kőzettan-Geokémiai Tanszék közötti együttműködés főbb eredményeit mutatja be. Az írás tisztelgés Szakmány György archeometriai munkássága előtt.
The use of pounding stone tools (PSTs) is a customary behaviour in several wild populations of capuchin monkeys; most of these monkeys use PSTs primarily to open hard palm nuts. Here, we describe the ...use of PSTs in two not previously studied groups of capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) in Serra da Capivara National Park (SCNP), northeastern Brazil, and compare them to other groups and populations. Capuchins from SCNP are one of the only known population that habitually use PSTs for several purposes other than nut processing, including cracking seeds and fruits, breaking and/or enlarging holes in tree trunks or rocks, and pulverizing pebbles. Moreover, they use PSTs sequentially with probe stick tools to access hidden prey. The average size of PSTs was larger than the average locally available stones, suggesting active choice. The two groups exhibited more diversity in the use of PSTs than any other known population to date.
The manufacture of flaked stone artifacts represents a major milestone in the technology of the human lineage. Although the earliest production of primitive stone tools, predating the genus Homo and ...emphasizing percussive activities, has been reported at 3.3 million years ago (Ma) from Lomekwi, Kenya, the systematic production of sharp-edged stone tools is unknown before the 2.58–2.55 Ma Oldowan assemblages from Gona, Ethiopia. The organized production of Oldowan stone artifacts is part of a suite of characteristics that is often associated with the adaptive grade shift linked to the genus Homo. Recent discoveries from Ledi-Geraru (LG), Ethiopia, place the first occurrence of Homo ∼250 thousand years earlier than the Oldowan at Gona. Here, we describe a substantial assemblage of systematically flaked stone tools excavated in situ from a stratigraphically constrained context Bokol Dora 1, (BD 1) hereafter at LG bracketed between 2.61 and 2.58 Ma. Although perhaps more primitive in some respects, quantitative analysis suggests the BD 1 assemblage fits more closely with the variability previously described for the Oldowan than with the earlier Lomekwian or with stone tools produced by modern nonhuman primates. These differences suggest that hominin technology is distinctly different from generalized tool use that may be a shared feature of much of the primate lineage. The BD 1 assemblage, near the origin of our genus, provides a link between behavioral adaptations—in the form of flaked stone artifacts—and the biological evolution of our ancestors.
For many years, intuition and common sense often guided the transference of patterning ostensibly evident in experimental flintknapping results to interpretations of the archaeological record, with ...little emphasis placed on hypothesis testing, experimental variables, experimental design, or statistical analysis of data. Today, archaeologists routinely take steps to address these issues. We build on these modern efforts by reviewing several important uses of replication experiments: (1) as a means of testing a question, hypothesis, or assumption about certain parameters of stone-tool technology; (2) as a model, in which information from empirically documented situations is used to generate predictions; and (3) as a means of validating analytical methods. This review highlights the important strategic role that stone artifact replication experiments must continue to play in further developing a scientific approach to archaeology.
Born again Dragana Antonović; Vidan Dimić
Documenta praehistorica,
06/2024, Volume:
51
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Ground and abrasive stone tools had a long, dynamic and complex life during which they could repeatedly pass through different segments of the operational chain until their final disposal. Those ...tools would wear out slowly and could be used for a long time with constant renewal. Even after being damaged, they would start a new life cycle through various recycling processes or in a secondary context. The aim of this paper is to consider the transformative processes within the ground and abrasive stone industry in the Neolithic of Serbia and clarify their use in terms of maintenance, secondary use, and recycling, as well as to show the most frequent examples of such technological practices. The focus is primarily on tools for everyday use and the ways in which they were rerouted through various segments of the operational chain.
The aspects of hominin behavior responsible for Oldowan stone tool variation are the focus of much debate. There is some consensus that this variation arises from a combination of ecological and ...cultural factors. The diversity of raw material types and technological strategies present at Kanjera South, Kenya, provide an opportunity to examine the interacting influences of ecology and culture on Oldowan stone tool variation. Here, we combine previous analyses of raw material properties, provenance, and technology with quantitative measures of core reduction intensity and tool utilization to examine the influence of both ecological and technocultural factors on stone tool variation at Kanjera South. The results of this analysis reflect a dynamic relationship between raw material properties, provenance, and hominin mobility. Exotic raw materials are generally more resistant to edge attrition compared with those available locally, which may have incentivized their transport over long distances and more extensive reduction. Cores produced on raw materials from distant sources also exhibit more complex core reduction strategies than locally acquired materials. While this pattern is partially due to the differences in the quality of knappable stone, bifacial centripetal and multifacial core reduction strategies also arise due to the continuous transport and use of exotic raw materials. Moreover, the variation in stone tool reduction is not consistent with neutral models of stone tool transport and discard. These results demonstrate that ecological factors such as raw material provenance and physical properties have strong impacts on reduction intensity and the technological strategies used by hominins.
The behavioral origins of Homo sapiens can be traced back to the first material culture produced by our species in Africa, the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Beyond this broad consensus, the origins, ...patterns, and causes of behavioral complexity in modern humans remain debated. Here, we consider whether recent findings continue to support popular scenarios of: (1) a modern human ‘package,’ (2) a gradual and ‘pan-African’ emergence of behavioral complexity, and (3) a direct connection to changes in the human brain. Our geographically structured review shows that decades of scientific research have continuously failed to find a discrete threshold for a complete ‘modernity package’ and that the concept is theoretically obsolete. Instead of a continent-wide, gradual accumulation of complex material culture, the record exhibits a predominantly asynchronous presence and duration of many innovations across different regions of Africa. The emerging pattern of behavioral complexity from the MSA conforms to an intricate mosaic characterized by spatially discrete, temporally variable, and historically contingent trajectories. This archaeological record bears no direct relation to a simplistic shift in the human brain but rather reflects similar cognitive capacities that are variably manifested. The interaction of multiple causal factors constitutes the most parsimonious explanation driving the variable expression of complex behaviors, with demographic processes such as population structure, size, and connectivity playing a key role. While much emphasis has been given to innovation and variability in the MSA record, long periods of stasis and a lack of cumulative developments argue further against a strictly gradualistic nature in the record. Instead, we are confronted with humanity's deep, variegated roots in Africa, and a dynamic metapopulation that took many millennia to reach the critical mass capable of producing the ratchet effect commonly used to define contemporary human culture. Finally, we note a weakening link between ‘modern’ human biology and behavior from around 300 ka ago.
The Later Stone Age of southern Africa sees the succession of varied lithic traditions. The Wilton (8ka BP – second millennium AD) corresponds to the last techno-complex of the LSA in South Africa. ...It has been typologically recognised over vast geographical areas and seems to last until the progressive disappearance of stone tool industries, while experiencing chronological and geographical variations. While Wilton formal tools, mainly small scrapers and microliths, have received much attention, the ways in which the stone tools themselves were produced are still unknown. This paper provides keys to describe mid-Holocene Wilton microlithic productions at the reference site of Rose Cottage Cave (Free-State). The lithic technological analysis highlights the integrated production of ‘ready-made’ blanks from one volume, including bladelets. The scraper and backed piece typologies are analysed and reveal an interesting diversity. These results provide a foundation for the building of the technological understanding of the Wilton in southern Africa. This paper ultimately aims to facilitate the exploration of regional and chronological variations at Wilton sites, and, by contrast, to differentiate other lithic traditions in southern Africa.
•This paper provides keys for better understanding Wilton lithic technologies in South Africa•The knapping methods allowed for the production of various ‘ready-made’ blanks from one volume.•Different knapping techniques could have been used within one operational sequence.•The scraper and backed piece typology are more diverse than revealed by previous studies.•The paper provides a base line for future comparative studies.
rock engraving made by Neanderthals in Gibraltar Rodríguez-Vidal, Joaquín; d'Errico, Francesco; Pacheco, Francisco Giles ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
09/2014, Volume:
111, Issue:
37
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Significance The production of purposely made painted or engraved designs on cave walls is recognized as a major cognitive step in human evolution, considered exclusive to modern humans. Here we ...present the first known example of an abstract pattern engraved by Neanderthals, from Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar. It consists of a deeply impressed cross-hatching carved into the bedrock of the cave older than 39 cal kyr. The engraving was made before the accumulation of Mousterian layer IV. Most of the lines composing the design were made by repeatedly and carefully passing a pointed lithic tool into the grooves, excluding the possibility of an unintentional or utilitarian origin. This discovery demonstrates the Neanderthals’ capacity for abstract thought and expression.
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