Hunting lesions caused by osseous projectile points: experimental results and archaeological implications

The identification of projectile impact traces on archaeological faunal remains is an important issue for understanding prehistoric hunting behavior, especially in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. From the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe, and earlier in Africa, projectiles tipped with osseous points were of great importance for subsistence; but thus far, no specific experimental reference has been developed to help identify the traces left by these points. In 2003 and 2004 two series of projectile experiments with antler points of Magdalenian design were organized, involving two ox calves and two female fallow deer as targets for bow and spearthrower shooting. The subsequent study demonstrates that positive identifications of impact traces left by osseous points can be made. The observation of 127 impact traces allowed us to distinguish three main types of traces: notches, punctures and perforations. The relationships between the nature of the impact traces and the (i) target species, (ii) characteristics of the impacted bones, and (iii) type of weapon are presented. Synthesized results are then discussed within the context of the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic.     

Asphaltum hafting and projectile point durability: an experimental comparison of three hafting methods

The design of a projectile delivery system often plays a critical role in the durability and breakage patterns associated with spent projectile points. This paper presents the results of an experimental project designed to examine projectile point durability and breakage patterns between three different hafting methods. Specifically, we compare two asphaltum hafting techniques drawn from archaeological and ethnohistoric accounts from the Central Valley of California with a more stereotypical cross-hatched sinew hafting system. Our results suggest a small yet statistically significant increase in durability among asphaltum hafted points, opening the door to future research on these ethnohistorically documented hafting techniques.     

Investigating the peopling of North America through cladistic analyses of Early Paleoindian projectile points

The initial colonization of North America remains a controversial topic. There is widespread agreement that Clovis and related cultures of the Early Paleoindian period (∼11,500–10,500 BP) represent the first well-documented indications of human occupation, but considerable differences of opinion exist regarding the origins of these cultures. Here, we report the results of a study in which data from a continent-wide sample of Early Paleoindian projectile points were analyzed with cladistic methods in order to assess competing models of colonization as well as several alternative explanations for the variation among the points, including adaptation to local environmental circumstances, cultural diffusion, and site type effects. The analyses suggest that a rapidly migrating population produced the Early Paleoindian projectile point assemblages. They also suggest that the population in question is unlikely to have entered North America from either the Isthmus of Panama or the Midatlantic region. According to the analyses, the Early Paleoindians are more likely to have entered North America via either the ice-free corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets that is hypothesized to have opened around 12,000 BP, or the Northwest Coast.     

Pitted stone cobbles in the Mesolithic site of Font del Ros (Southeastern Pre-Pyrenees,Spain): some experimental remarks around a controversial tool type

The presence of cobbles with activity-related marks in the Mesolithic site of Font del Ros (Berga, Spain), and in particular one group of artefacts – pitted stones – raises problematic issues associated with the characterization of percussion activities. Although these artefacts have generated an extensive bibliography on ethological, ethnographic, ethnoarchaeological and archaeological levels, various questions persist in relation to their possible contextual function. In this paper we present the results of an experimental programme in which three types of activities that could create pitted stones are reproduced: bipolar knapping of vein quartz, hazelnut cracking, and hazelnut grinding. The aim of this experimental programme is to describe marks and use-wear traces related to such activities.     

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.     

Variation in North American dart points and arrow points when one or both are present

The appearance of the bow and arrow in North America as a weapon-delivery system is predicted to have prompted an increase in variation among antecedent projectile points that tipped darts propelled by atlatls. Attributes of dart points are expected to display greater variation with the appearance of the bow as prehistoric artisans experimentally sought points that worked effectively as arrow points. Attributes of arrow points are predicted to also initially display much variation. Subsequent to the initial burst of variation, less-effective variants of attributes were winnowed out, causing a reduction in variation of attributes of both dart points and arrow points. Both coefficients of variation for individual attributes and summed coefficients of variation for multiple attributes of three sequences of projectile points from evolutionarily independent areas in North America confirm these predictions.     

Ground stone tool production and use in the Late Upper Palaeolithic: The evidence from Riparo Dalmeri (Venetian Prealps,Italy)

Abstract

The site of Riparo Dalmeri yielded numerous flint, bone, and shell artifacts, as well as faunal and botanical remains, which are evidence of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (or Late Epigravettian culture, ca. 16,000–12,000 cal b.p.) occupation of the Alps region. The importance of the site is related to the discovery of 267 stones painted with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric designs. Here we report on ground stone tools from Riparo Dalmeri investigated by means of an integrated technofunctional and experimental approach to reconstruct their production and use. The results support the hypothesis that the ground stone artifacts were employed in specialized activities (e.g., hide treatment, flintknapping) as well as in the production of some of the painted stone artifacts.     

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.     

The Old Kinchega Homestead: Doing Household Archaeology in Outback New South Wales, Australia

The Kinchega Pastoral Station in western New South Wales, Australia, was one of the earliest and largest in the area. A study of one of the station's homestead is demonstrating how the integration and negotiation of material and documentary evidence produces information on domestic behavior in rural Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and highlights the activities of women and children in an environment whose history has been dominated by the exploits of men.     

Towards a typology of stone beads in the Neolithic Levant

Abstract

This study is an attempt to develop a comprehensive typology of the earliest stone bead assemblages in the southern Levant from Late Natufian and Neolithic sites. I propose this typology as a tool for studying stone beads almost a century after Horace Beck published his monumental bead typology. Beads are often neglected artifacts in archaeological excavations, but a bead typology can contribute to definitions of relative chronology and to a broader understanding of social and economic aspects of certain prehistoric societies.     

良渚文化石器装柄技术的重要物证

新石器时代多数石器需要安柄使用,但木柄之类的有机质遗存极难保存。由于南湖等地具备特殊的埋藏环境,良渚文化带柄石器的实物竟有成批出土。本文首次公布这些珍贵的装柄石器实物资料,并系统介绍了良渚文化带柄石器出土的历史和现状,对带柄石器的安装和使用进行了初步探讨,相信对良渚文化石器的研究能产生推动作用。     

江苏铜山县伊庄洪山汉画像石墓

1999年3月,徐州博物馆对位于铜山县伊庄镇洪山村西北的古基进行抢救性发掘.该基由基道、甬道、前室及后室组成,由于曾被盗,仅在墓上封土中清理出一件陶虎子,以及墓中残存的三块画像石.墓葬年代应为东汉晚期.     

Differentiating bamboo from stone tool cut marks in the zooarchaeological record,with a discussion on the use of bamboo knives

The archaeological record of Southeast Asia is marked by a relative lack of Acheulian assemblages compared with the rest of the Old World. Suggestions that prehistoric human populations in this area relied instead on a non-lithic technology based on bamboo have not been supported by archaeological evidence. To provide a diagnostic means of assessing prehistoric use of bamboo, cut marks were experimentally produced on bone using chert tools and bamboo knives. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination revealed morphological differences in cut marks produced by the two materials that allow identification of bamboo knife cut marks on faunal materials. Such evidence, if found in Pleistocene through early Holocene archaeological sites in Southeast Asia, would indicate early human reliance on bamboo technology.     

对岭南地区一种早期石器时代文化的辨析

本文通过对岭南地区从旧石器时代晚期到新石器时代早期一批重要遗址的石器进行文化分类排序的尝试 ,归纳出一套具有典型特征结构的石制品组合 ,并将以这套石制品组合为代表的遗存命名为“黄岩洞文化”。对岭南地区所谓的“中石器时代问题”也提出了自己的看法。