Palaeoenvironments and Cultural Sequence of the Florisbad Middle Stone Age Hominid Site, South Africa

Florisbad, an open-air spring site with 7 m of strata, has yielded the type assemblage of Middle Stone Age (MSA) fauna, the cranium of an archaic hominid in 1932 and an extensive sequence of MSA artefacts in the 1980s. The cultural assemblages include an early MSA dated broadly to 279,000±47,000 years, a highly retouched form of MSA at 157,000±21,000 years and a minimally retouched, expedient MSA assemblage from a series of occupation horizons at 121,000±6000 years. The latter represents multiple brief visits to a hunting and butchery site on the edge of an active spring pool, where periodic sedimentation gently buried occupation debris in a near-pristine context. Periods of lower spring discharge are represented by organic horizons as swampy vegetation encroached on the springs, while periods of higher spring discharge created pools. Overall the spring sequence indicates low-energy subaqueous environments similar to lakes, ponds or backwater sites. The sequence is characterized by fine sands, silts and clays responsible for the good archaeological preservation.     

Oldowan reduction sequences: methodological considerations

Transport of resources is a major feature of Oldowan hominin technological adaptations. Comparisons between different Oldowan localities often employ measures of transport that are based on artefact attributes as proxies for the intensity of raw material utilization. The Technological Flake Category system [Toth, N., 1985. Oldowan reassessed: a close look at early stone artifacts, Journal of Archaeological Science 12, pp. 101–120] has been used extensively to infer the relative intensity of lithic reduction within Oldowan assemblages. Here we use a large experimental sample to test the relationship between a flake's stage in a reduction sequence and various quantitative attributes. We demonstrate how many previously described attributes are affected by initial core size. We then develop a multiple linear regression model that incorporates several variables to predict the placement of a flake within a generalized reduction sequence. The model is then applied to Oldowan assemblages in the Koobi Fora Formation which explores the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of investigating reduction intensity on an assemblage level.     

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.     

OLDOWAN RAW MATERIAL PROCUREMENT AND USE: EVIDENCE FROM THE KOOBI FORA FORMATION*

Raw material availability has been shown to be a major factor affecting the material culture of Oldowan tool users. Studies of artefact provenance often focus on site‐specific raw material availability. Here, we use data from primary and secondary sources of raw material to develop a model of basin‐scale stone availability in the eastern Turkana Basin, during the KBS and Okote Members of the Koobi Fora Formation. ED‐XRF was used as a method of characterizing raw material sources and artefacts using trace elements. This model is applied to the site of FxJj 50 to investigate transport and discard patterns.     

Comparison of Gadeb and other Early Stone Age assemblages from Africa south of the Sahara

An exploratory multivariate analysis is presented of 64 Early Stone Age tool-assemblages from sub-Saharan Africa. The results generally confirm, but contribute significantly to understanding, the conventional division of these assemblages between Oldowan, Karari, Early Acheulian and Acheulian industrial groupings. The distinction between Oldowan and Developed Oldowan is shown to be less clearly defined.

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Resumé L'auteur présente une analyse tentative à plusieurs variables de 64 groupes d'outils de l'Age de la Pierre Ancien en Afrique méridionale. Les résultats confirment en général—mais aussi contribuent considérablement à comprendre—la division conventionnelle de ces ensembles entre les groupements industriels de l'Oldowayen, le Karari, l'Acheuléen ancien et l'Acheuléen. La différence entre l'Oldowayen et l'Oldowayen évolué se montre moins clairement définie.

     

THE ‘FRYING PANS’ OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE AEGEAN: AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO THEIR POSSIBLE USE AS LIQUID MIRRORS*

The so‐called ‘frying pans’ are peculiar vessels, most of them made of terracotta, flat and shallow, usually decorated on the outside part and dated to the Early Bronze Age. They were unearthed mostly in the Cyclades, in Crete and on the Helladic mainland. There are also a few artefacts made of stone and of bronze, from the Cyclades and Asia Minor, respectively. The intended purpose of these objects is disputed. Several interpretations exist for their function, the earliest one being that of liquid mirror vessels. We investigated the mirror hypothesis experimentally, by testing trays with attributes similar to those of the original ‘frying pans’, filled with a series of liquids familiar to the people of the time and the place where those vessels were made. The criterion employed was the contrast of mirror images. We conclude that, provided that some minimal prerequisites are met, the ‘frying pans’ are quite appropriate as liquid mirror vessels.     

Oldowan behavior and raw material transport: perspectives from the Kanjera Formation

The archaeological record of Oldowan hominins represents a diverse behavioral system. It has been suggested that exploitation of lithic resources by Oldowan hominins was simplistic and represented mostly use of local sources of stone. Here we investigate the raw material selection and transport behaviors of Oldowan hominins reflected in the stone artifact assemblages from the Kanjera South Formation, South Rachuonyo District, Kenya. Using geochemical methods (ED-XRF) artifacts are linked to primary and secondary source outcrops throughout southwestern Kenya. These data show that hominins selected raw materials for transport at frequencies that are significantly different from their availability on ancient landscapes. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of the assemblage represents transport over relatively long distances (>10 km). Our study further suggests that in the early stages of stone tool use hominins used a wide variety of raw materials and selected these materials at some distance from their eventual discard locations. Early hominin behavior may have incorporated an understanding of raw material source distributions across a more extensive landscape than has been previously documented. This supports the growing perspective that Oldowan technology represents a more complex behavioral pattern than is usually associated with the beginnings of hominin tool use.     

New Data on the Exploitation of Obsidian in the Southern Caucasus (Armenia,Georgia) and Eastern Turkey,Part 1: Source Characterization

A large analytical programme involving both obsidian source characterization and obsidian artefact sourcing was initiated recently within the framework of the French archaeological mission ‘Caucasus’. The results will be presented in two parts: the first part, this paper, deals with the presentation and characterization of obsidian outcrops in the southern Caucasus, while the second presents some results obtained from a selection of artefacts originating from different Armenian sites dated to between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Late Bronze Age. The same analytical method, LA–ICP–MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), has been used to characterize all the studied samples (both geological and archaeological). This method is more and more widely used to determine the elemental composition of obsidian artefacts, as it causes minimal damage to the studied objects. We present in this first part new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians originating from the southern Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. These data enhance our knowledge of the obsidian sources in these regions. A simple methodology, based on the use of three diagrams, is proposed to easily differentiate the deposits and to study the early exploitation of this material in the southern Caucasus.     

The oldowan reassessed: A close look at early stone artifacts

Early Stone Age assemblages called “Oldowan” and early “Developed Oldowan” are discussed, based on the results of a long-term study of Plio-Pleistocene sites at Koobi Fora, Kenya and an extensive experimental research program of replicating and using early stone artifact forms. Five major conclusions are drawn from this investigation: (1) many Oldowan core forms (“core-tools”) are probably simple by-products of flake manufacture rather than representations of stylistic norms; (2) flakes and retouched flakes - were essential tools in Oldowan technology, particularly for activities involving cutting; (3) this simple technology does not necessarily reflect the cognitive abilities of the early hominids that manufactured the stone artifacts; (4) there is evidence to show that Oldowan technology can be viewed as a simple curated one, in which raw material was intentionally carried from place to place for future use; (5) early hominid populations that made and used stone implements were not necessarily dependent upon them for their survival.     

A Revision to the U.S. Southwest Archaeomagnetic Master Curve

Recently, two problems have been recognized with the United States Southwest archaeomagnetic master curve (Eighmy, 1991; LaBelle & Eighmy, 1997; Sternberg, 1989). One of these problems, the damping problem, is inherent to the moving window method of curve construction proposed by Sternberg (1989). The other is due to the fact that the small number of independently dated virtual geomagnetic pole determinations available for the period between 900–1100 are not representative of secular variation during this period. The analyses presented here confirm the existence of these two problems and suggest that they distort the curve by less than 1·0° and between 1·0° and 2·0° respectively. Based on these findings, a new curve is proposed for the U.S. Southwest.     

Correlation BetweenC Ages and Aspartic Acid Racemization at the Upper Palaeolithic Site of the Abri Pataud (Dordogne, France)

The Upper Palaeolithic site of the Abri Pataud (Dordogne, France) has been the subject of numerous¹⁴C age determinations which cover the period from 20,400±450 years (OXA-373) to 34,250±675 years (Grn-4507). The racemization ratios of aspartic acid have been determined in 26 fossil bones. The bones are present in two different sedimentary surroundings: levels (fine deposits with numerous artefacts and fossil bones) and “éboulis” (coarse deposits derived from the neighbouring limestone cliff). Racemization ratios for total aspartic acid have a poor correlation with¹⁴C ages (respectivelyr²=0·59 and 0·82 for the two environments) but apparent racemization rates are clearly dependent on the type of deposits (levels: K=4·4×10⁻⁶year⁻¹; éboulis: K=9×10⁻⁶year⁻¹).Racemization ratios of aspartic acid in a high molecular weight protein fraction (>10,000 Da) correlate much better with¹⁴C ages (r²=0·999) for the samples from the levels (k=2·1×10⁻⁵year⁻¹). From this regression line we estimate ages for two Aurignacian levels: level 6≈29,560 years and level 9≈30,440 years .It is noteworthy that none of the regression lines intercepts the origin. Racemization of aspartic acid appears to occur only after a delay of many thousands of years. This phenomenon could be the result of a coupling between the degradation of proteins and the racemization of amino acids.     

LASER ARGON DATING AND GEOLOGICAL PROVENANCING OF A STONE AXE FROM THE STONEHENGE ENVIRONS*

The recently-developed laser microprobe ⁴⁰argon-³⁹ argon technique has been used to give a geological date for a rhyolitic tuff stone axe fragment from the Stonehenge environs. The method requires only milligramme-sized samples and gives dates of sufficient accuracy to aid in provenancing artefacts to sources, as well as information on the heating history of samples. The axe sample is of Lower Carboniferous date (341 ± 5 Ma) and this limits possible sources to outcrops within the Scottish Midland Valley and small altered exposures in Dartmoor. X-ray fluorescence analysis of the axe suggests the Scottish Midland Valley as the more likely source. The laser argon analysis also shows that the implement had not been heated in antiquity. Laser argon-argon dating can, therefore, be a useful tool in artefact study.     

The fire stones carry: Ethnographic records and archaeological expectations for hot-rock cookery in western North America

Ethnographic data from Kalispel elders in the 1930s attest to use of wild root foods, rock-filled earth ovens, steaming and boiling pits, and hot-rock griddles during the 1800s in forested montane regions of the interior Northwest. Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative of his 1528–1536 travels across the Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas and deserts of northern Mexico illustrates the importance of root foods, earth ovens, and stone boiling in aboriginal Southwest North America. These and other accounts, results of actualistic experiments, and knowledge of cooking requirements afford reliable bases for generating archaeological expectations about fire-cracked-rock assemblages representative of diverse cook-stone facilities.     

Does it come from the Pays de Bray? Examination of an origin hypothesis for the ferrous reinforcements used in French medieval churches using major and trace element analyses

A new methodology based on major and trace element analyses of slag inclusions is proposed to determine (or exclude) the provenance of iron artefacts. It is applied to verify if the Pays de Bray, a French area between Rouen and Beauvais, could have been an important supplier for the ferrous reinforcements used in the Middle Ages for the building of churches and cathedrals in these two towns. To this purpose, the behaviour of trace elements during both direct and indirect operating chains is studied combining experimental smelting and different analytical methods, such as SEM–EDS, ICP–MS, LA–ICP–MS and INAA, performed on archaeological samples. The chemical signature of the Pays de Bray iron ore and slag is determined considering MnO and P₂O₅ contents as a first rough filter and seven couples of trace elements. Then, the major and trace elements are analysed using the same methods in the slag inclusions of 32 artefacts from the Beauvais and Rouen churches, made by the bloomery process. The trace element signature of the inclusions from each artefact is compared with the ore from the Pays de Bray area. The iron used in the Rouen and Beauvais churches seems not to come mainly from the Pays de Bray.     

Geochronology of Palaeolithic cultures in the Hiran Valley, Saurashtra, India

The U and Th concentrations of 16 miliolite samples from the Hiran Valley in Saurashtra ranged from 0·3 to 2·14ppm and 0·12 to 0·82ppm respectively. The ²³⁴U/²³⁸U activity ratio ranged from 1·09 to 1·16, with a mean of 1·12±0·02. It agrees well with the seawater value of 1·14±0·02 within the quoted errors. Nine of the samples were datable by the ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U method and the ages ranged from 56·8 to 190 Kyr. The problem of chronology of Palaeolithic artifacts is interlinked with the miliolite and other coastal formations. The present investigations permit the development of a chronological framework for the Palaeolithic cultures in the Hiran Valley in particular, and generally in Saurashtra Peninsula. On the basis of radiometric dates and relative chronology, the Lower Palaeolithic cultures fall in a time-bracket of 190-69 Kyr bp. The Middle Palaeolithic industry is much older than 56·8 Kyr bp. The dates obtained for the Lower Palaeolithic cultures are perhaps the oldest reported to date.     

Assessing the macrofracture method for identifying Stone Age hunting weaponry

Macrofracture analysis is an experimentally derived method used as an initial step in investigating the hunting function of stone artefacts. Diagnostic impact fractures, which can only develop as a result of longitudinal impact, underpin this method. Macrofracture analysis recently gained favour in Middle Stone Age studies, supporting hypotheses for effective hunting during the late Pleistocene in southern Africa. However, the factors affecting diagnostic impact fracture formation and the interpretation of these fracture frequencies are not yet fully understood. This paper outlines a set of experiments designed to test macrofracture formation under human and cattle trampling and knapping conditions. The results show that: (a) macrofractures occur frequently when stone artefacts are trampled by cattle and humans and in knapping debris; (b) diagnostic impact fractures occur on some of the trampled flakes and knapping debris (≤3%), but significantly less often than in previous hunting experiments; (c) when they do occur, they are likely produced by longitudinal forces similar to those experienced during hunting; (d) considering artefact morphology is important during macrofracture analysis; and (e) macrofracture analysis is not a standalone method, but is most useful as part of a multi-analytical approach to functional analysis. These experiments help to establish a significant baseline diagnostic impact fracture frequency for the interpretation of archaeological macrofracture frequencies.     

Absolute dating of hominids and palaeolithic artifacts of the cave of La Chaise-de-Vouthon (Charente), France

Two adjacent chambers of the cave of La Chaise, Grotte de Bourgeois-Delaunay (B-D) and Grotte Suard, have been studied. Both were partly filled with detrital sediments containing lower and middle Palaeolithic artifacts and skeletal remains of pre-Neanderthalian hominids. Layers of stalagmitic calcite occur interstratified in the sediments of both chambers. Dates obtained by ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ratios have provided a time scale for hominid and cultural evolution as represented in this cave.In B-D the lower travertine rests on a breccia containing cranial remains of juvenile Neanderthals. The base of the travertine dates to 151 ± 15 Ky (Ky = 1000 years BP); the top of the travertine yields a date of 112±5 Ky. The travertine contains pollen of an interglacial flora. Overlying detrital sediments 1·2 m in thickness contain artifacts transitional from Acheulian to Mousterian industries. They are capped by a travertine (Layer 7) whose base is dated at 100±6 Ky, and which is capped by stalagmites ranging in age down to 58±7 Ky. Overlying the travertine is sediment containing first Mousterian, and then Aurignacian artifacts.Near the base of the sediments filling Grotte Suard is a stalagmite layer dated to 249±30 Ky. It contains interglacial pollen and presumably dates to the beginning of the isotope stage 7 interglacial. Neanderthaloid hominid teeth and cranial fragments are found scattered through the overlying sediments, up to a capping stalagmitic layer whose base is dated at 101±7 Ky. The best described hominids from Suard are from a section that was probably overlying the capping stalagmite. The capping stalagmite is temporally correlated with layer 7 of B-D.     

Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Plant Movements in Southern Kyushu, Japan

From the late Pleistocene to early Holocene in Japan, subtropical and temperate forest elements moved northwards. This affected human choices and access to food sources. More settled patterns of living spread northwards gradually, and northern hunting-gathering-fishing people began cultivating vegetables and cereal crops. This poster reports the presence of ancient starch residues on stone artefacts in Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Kyushu. The oldest residues recovered are dated by context to about 30,000 ¹⁴C yr BP. If such residues can be identified, it may be possible to detect a hypothesized early phase of tropical plant movement northwards during warmer climate peaks in the late terminal Pleistocene, as well as during the long period of Holocene warming that followed. As an initial step towards identification, the morphological characteristics and condition of the starch granules are described and compared to those of other sites in early Japan.     

Mummies, maize, and manure: multi-tissue stable isotope analysis of late prehistoric human remains from the Ayacucho Valley, Perú

This paper reports the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of bone collagen, muscle and skin from several late prehistoric–early colonial (AD 1490–1640) mummies from Perú's Ayacucho Valley. The mean of the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of bone collagen are −11.5 ± 1.4 and 11.1 ± 0.7‰, respectively. The mean of the δ¹³C values for Vinchos skin is −11.8 ± 1.2‰ and the mean of δ¹⁵N values is 13.2 ± 0.5‰. The samples of muscle tissue have a δ¹³C mean of −11.9 ± 0.9‰ and a δ¹⁵N mean of 12.7 ± 0.3‰. The data from bone collagen indicate maize was the basis of the region's subsistence economy. A significant correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of bone collagen (R² = 0.75) is consistent with the preferential fertilization of maize with composted manure. Both skin and muscle samples are consistently enriched in δ¹⁵N relative to paired samples of bone (2.1 ± 0.5 and 1.6 ± 0.7‰, respectively), possibly as a result of short term physiological stress or differential decomposition.     

A Case of Ancient Bladder Stones from Oluz Höyük,Amasya, Turkey

A biological object was recovered from the pelvic region of an adult woman coded to SK13 unearthed from Oluz Höyük in Amasya, Turkey. The skeleton was dated to the medieval period on the basis of the burial customs and the calibrated ¹⁴C dates. The find was identified as a bladder stone on morphological, radiographic and chemo‐analytical grounds with the help of X‐ray diffraction, polarised energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and microscopic techniques. The mineralogical composition of urinary stone was found to be as calcium phosphate (apatite). Bladder stone disease is endemic in poor agricultural regions where the typical diet is mostly based on grain carbohydrate consumption with scarce intake of animal protein. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.