Remains of the day-preservation of organic micro-residues on stone tools

Here I report on the decay processes of microscopic organic residues left on stone tool surfaces after their use. Residue analysis on ancient stone tools facilitates reconstruction of past activities. This study enables predictions about the circumstances under which ancient residues preserve. Experimental tool sets with modern residues were buried for a year in separate deposits at Sterkfontein, Sibudu (South Africa) and Zelhem (the Netherlands) whose pH and geomorphology varied, they were then analysed using light microscopy. Biological weathering mainly causes residue decay. In unstable environments rich in microbes and micro-organisms, residues decay quickly. From an archaeological perspective this means that sites that are stable, desiccated, waterlogged, extremely acidic or alkaline and extremely cold or hot sites. Different residue types have different preservation optima and this may lead to a preservation and perhaps interpretation bias. The preliminary predictive models presented in this paper could aid in the considered selection of sites and samples.     

Small things in perspective: the contribution of our blind tests to micro-residue studies on archaeological stone tools

Our blind tests are distinctive for they were conducted on replicated stone tools used for a variety of tasks that included the processing of animal remains and plants. The analyst was required to differentiate an array of residues from microscopic morphological characteristics, using light microscopy. The original aim of our first tests was to assess the analyst's ability to identify a variety of plant and animal residues, but issues and problems that arose during the testing process made it clear that greater value might be gained from the lessons that we learnt about methodology and the direction for future micro-residue research. We show that problems identified during our first tests stimulated research. Amongst other things, we learnt to distinguish plant and animal remains more confidently than previously. Our residue analyses are firmly embedded in wider archaeological research and our tests help to explain why there are sometimes contradictions between the evidence from archaeologically recovered remains and residues on stone tools. A further outcome of the tests is that we have adopted a multi-stranded approach that provides a cautious, but secure strategy for identifying and interpreting use-residues. Our studies of contaminants through replications have also been invaluable for distinguishing incidental residues from use-related residues.     

Blind tests shed light on possibilities and limitations for identifying stone tool prehension and hafting

Prehensile wear has never formed the focus of a blind test in microwear studies and doubts remain about the formation, identification and interpretation of diagnostic prehension and hafting wear. The results of the presented blind tests demonstrate that prehension and hafting traces do form and that their formation is sufficiently systematic and patterned to allow valid and reliable interpretations. A combined approach, involving macroscopic, low power and high power analyses, is suggested as the most meaningful approach for consistent inferences.     

Scanning electron microscopy of dry hide working tools: The role of abrasives and humidity in microwear polish formation

This paper presents the results of the scanning electron microscopy of a series of experimental tools designed to investigate the role of abrasive agents and humidity in microwear polish formation. The tools—35 end scrapers—were divided into four groups and used to work dry hide. It was found that both humidity and abrasive agents are two basic variables in the development of the microwear polish.     

Use of stone hammer tools and anvils by bearded capuchin monkeys over time and space: construction of an archeological record of tool use

Wild bearded capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus) in the cerrado (seasonally dry savannah-like region) of Brazil routinely crack open several species of palm nuts and other hard encased fruits and seeds on level surfaces (anvils) using stones as hammers. At our field site, their nut cracking activity leaves enduring diagnostic physical remains: distinctive shallow depressions (pits) on the surface of the anvil, and cracked shells and stone hammer(s) on or next to the anvil. A monthly survey of the physical remains of percussive tool use at 58 anvils in our study site over a 36-month period revealed repeated use, seasonal consistency, temporal variation, landscape-scale patterning, appearance of new hammers and transport of existing hammers to new anvil sites. Artefactual evidence of the temporal and spatial pattern of tool use collected in the survey is in correspondence with concurrent direct observation of monkeys using and transporting tools at this site. Shell fragments endure for years above ground, suggesting that they may also endure in the strata around anvil sites. The bearded capuchins provide an opportunity to study the construction of percussive tool sites suitable for archeological investigation concurrently with the behavior responsible for the construction of these sites. We suggest several lines of inquiry into tool sites created by capuchin monkeys that may be useful to interpret the archeological evidence of percussive tool use in early humans. Archeologists should be aware that transported stone materials and artificial durable landscape features may be the result of activity by non-human animals.     

Application of magnetic susceptibility on polished stone tools from Western Hungary and the Eastern part of the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

A non-destructive method – magnetic susceptibility (MS, κ) measurement – was used to characterize about 360 Neolithic, Copper and Bronze age polished stone tools of the Miháldy collection (Laczkó Dezső Museum, Veszprém, Hungary), composed of artefacts from three Neolithic (Moravian Painted Ware) workshops around a source of greenschist at Želešice near Brno (Moravia, Czech Republic) and semifinished artefacts from workshops at Neolithic mines in the Jizerské hory Mts. (Bohemia, Czech Republic); in addition, rock reference samples collected from the possible provenance areas and rock outcrops in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were analysed as comparative material with the same method. We elaborated a model experience to control the thickness correction factor (TCF) following Williams-Thorpe et al. (2000).Among various stone raw materials of polished artefacts we found basaltic rocks and greenschists-metabasites as the most common.     

民具研究的理论与方法

"民具",是对人类社会生产、生活用具的统称,是特指民俗学物质文化的新学术概念.在现代社会学科意义上,民具概念的提出者与相关理论研究的先行者,当首推日本学者.但在不同国家、不同的历史发展阶段里,这一概念的运用或许有所不同.我国在物质文化研究领域里,习惯用"民族民俗文物"来涵盖所谓"民具".近几年来,则开始使用"物质文化遗产"或"有形文化遗产".但这些概念及其范畴,既互有交叉,又各有侧重.     

The molecular palaeoecology of geese: identification of archaeological goose remains using ancient DNA analysis

The remains of six species of geese are commonly recovered from archaeological sites in Britain dating from the Saxon and later periods. However, identification of this material to species level is hampered by a lack of morphological variation and a large overlap in size. To address this issue we obtained DNA sequence data for a section of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from modern samples of each species, and successfully identified several DNA markers for Branta species. No markers were found within the cytochrome b gene for the genus Anser. Ancient DNA techniques were then used to recover DNA from goose bones excavated from two archaeological sites. The DNA sequences enabled identification of Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) from one site and confirmed the presence of Anser species at another. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geochemical and mineralogical analysis of stone anchors from west coast of India: provenance study using thin sections,XRF and SEM-EDS

Stone anchors have been recovered along the Indian coast as a part of the maritime archaeological studies at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa. Study of stone anchors provides clues to understand the ancient maritime trade contacts of India with other countries. These anchors resemble those found in the Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea Coast. Underwater explorations at Bet Dwarka, Dwarka, Goa, Visawada and Somnath have yielded stone anchors of widely varying shapes, sizes and weights ranging between 16 and 410 kg. Sixteen (10 Indo-Arabian, 4 Ringstone and 2 Single hole type) of the total of 269 stone anchors have been studied to determine provenance of rock through petrographic analysis using thin section studies, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Scanning Electron Microscope – Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS).     

Beyond the identification of formation processes: Behavioral inference based on traces left by cultural formation processes

Formation processes are generally considered as a negative factor for behavioral inference in archaeology. The concept of formation processes, however, can potentially be far more useful for behavioral inference in archaeology than simply identifying spurious variability in the archaeological record. Physical traces left by cultural formation processes convey a certain kind of behavioral information which may not be otherwise available. Variables related to site occupation, such as the occupation span, the number of occupation episodes, and the location of activities, can be inferred from characteristics of refuse deposits, or refuse structure.     

The crystallinity of ancient bone and dentine: new insights by transmission electron microscopy

We studied various archaeological and palaeontological bones and dentines from different burial environments by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR), X–ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in the framework of a general study of diagenesis. FT–IR and XRD were used to evaluate the global preservation state of the bone and dentine mineral phase by determining a splitting factor (SF) or a crystallinity index (CI), respectively. These data can be combined with studies on the nanometer scale made with TEM. This latter technique,coupled with electron microdiffraction, provides determination of dimensions and shapes of individual bone and dentine apatite nanocrystals as well as of secondary minerals formed during diagenesis. It enables us to distinguish between heat–induced recrystallization processes and crystal growth in solution occurring during diagenesis.     

The Mousterian bone retouchers of Noisetier Cave: experimentation and identification of marks

Retouchers are fragments of bone used during the Paleolithic to strike stone flakes in order to transform them into retouched tools. Our experiments show that the mark produced on retouchers differs depending on whether they were used to strike flint or quartzite. Our results suggest that numerous pits, most often with an ovoid form, characterize the retouching of quartzite flakes. Most of the scores produced with this material have a sinuous morphology with rough interior faces. The areas with superposed traces have a pitted appearance. On the other hand, the retouching of flint flakes, produces pits that are most often triangular in form. Most of the scores have a rectilinear morphology with smooth interior faces and their superposition results in the formation of hatch marks. There is also a relationship between the characteristics of the mark and the relative state of freshness of the retouchers. The validity of the criteria identified was confirmed by a blind test. These diagnostic criteria were applied to archaeological retouchers from the Mousterian site of Noisetier Cave. The results obtained improve our knowledge of the technical behaviors of Neanderthals and allow us to address questions concerning their techno-economic implications.