Experimental analysis of the practical limits of lithic refitting

We report on the results of an experiment aimed at determining the effects of experience/aptitude, lithic reduction type (biface v. core), and flake size cut-offs on different rates of success in refitting studies. We found that experience matters, but that there can be large differences in aptitude for refitting; that cores are easier to refit than bifaces; and that the effort of refitting increases considerably for flakes smaller than 5–6 g. We propose the use of an asymptotic equation fit to a cumulative curve as a way to determine when a study has reached the point of diminishing returns for a given flake size cut-off, and to help determine differences in aptitude for refitting.     

Experimental insights into alternative strategies of lithic heat treatment

Conditions in which thermal fractures occur are explored experimentally, and the results are used to assess heat treatment strategies. We conclude that no single ‘critical temperature’ for thermal fracturing or heat treatment can be specified for any particular raw material, as has so often been attempted, because threshold temperatures exist in relationship to specimen sizes. Our experiments show that smaller specimens are resilient to greater ranges of temperature fluctuations than larger ones, and that by manufacturing/selecting specimens of smaller sizes there is more potential to heat them rapidly and to higher temperatures without producing thermal fractures. We hypothesize a continuum of heat treating strategies between a ‘slow and steady’ strategy, which has overwhelmingly dominated past experimental designs, and a ‘fast’ strategy, which has received much less attention. The paper discusses the economic and technological contexts to which different heat treating strategies might be suited.     

Experimental evidence for lithic projectile injuries: improving identification of an under-recognised phenomenon

Between the Upper Palaeolithic and the spread of metallurgy stone-tipped projectiles were of great importance both for subsistence and as weapons. Whilst finds of embedded projectile points in human and animal bone are not uncommon, identifications of such wounds in the absence of embedded points are rare. Previous experimentation involving archaic projectiles has not examined the effects of stone-tipped projectiles on bone. This paper presents the results of experiments in which samples of animal bone were impacted with flint-tipped arrows. The results demonstrate that positive identifications can be made, both grossly and microscopically, of bony trauma caused by flint projectiles. In addition, flint projectiles are shown to often leave small embedded fragments, which can also be identified microscopically. These results compare well with archaeological examples of suspected ‘arrow wounds’ and the article demonstrates the practical application of this data in identifying such injuries. By facilitating the recognition of projectile trauma these findings will have significance both for the investigation of hunting strategies and levels of conflict amongst early human societies.     

Late Classic Maya lithic production and exchange at Rio Bec and Calakmul,Mexico

Abstract

The organization of production and exchange of everyday lithic items is important in defining Classic period lowland Maya economic organization, but the current debate relies on the study of a few lithic workshops, whereas little is known about the consumers’ quotidian acquisition of everyday tools. I suggest looking at the problem from the point of view of the household and distinguishing local from nonlocal production by comparing experimental and quantitative data. Examination of the chert collections from households at Rio Bec and Calakmul enabled me to distinguish two different types of chert biface production and distribution during the Late Classic period (a.d. 650–800), namely by means of markets and itinerant craftsmen. Both sites had very different political organizations, but households from both cities acquired lithics through similar networks, showing that this particular aspect of the domestic economy probably had little to do with political power and centralization in the region.     

Experimental assessment of plan-view and profile-view gross-edge curvature on stone flake slicing efficiency

Separating two or more aspects of an object via cutting was likely an important factor in the origin and evolution of flaked stone technology. In recent years experiments have demonstrated that several stone tool attributes can influence different kinds of cutting behaviour: slicing, cleaving, scraping, sawing, drilling, piercing and abrading. Here we experimentally assessed the role of stone flake plan- and profile-view gross-edge curvature in a controlled slicing task. We also assessed the role of edge length. A total of 21 participants, using 252 stone flakes with distinct gross-edge curvatures and edge lengths, were asked to cut through a standardized substrate, and their efficiency in the task was measured over time. Flakes with longer edge lengths increased the efficiency of the cutting task, but increasing either plan- or profile-view edge curvature decreased the efficiency of the cutting task. These results have implications for the emergence of particular tool forms or reduction sequences throughout the Pleistocene, and may in part explain why certain forms were favoured by Paleolithic people, leading to their convergent evolution or widespread transmission.     

A method for estimating edge length from flake dimensions: use and implications for technological change in the southern African MSA

This paper presents a method for estimating edge length from flake dimensions. Comparison of estimated values with data from measured flake edges demonstrates the robusticity of the method. Building on the work of Braun (Braun, D.R., 2005. Examining flake production strategies: examples from the Middle Paleolithic of Southwest Asia. Lithic Technology 30, 107–125; Braun, D.R., Harris, J.W.K., 2003. Technological developments in the Oldowan of Koobi Fora: innovative techniques of artifact analysis and new interpretations of Oldowan behavior, in Mora, R., de la Torre, I. (Eds.), Oldowan: Rather More than Smashing Stones. Treballs d’ Arqueologia 9, pp. 132–144) this estimate is used to generate an edge length to mass value for complete flakes—taken to be a proxy for flaking efficiency. It is shown that this value is useful in tracking the onset, variability and decline of a well known technological phase—the Howiesons Poort of South Africa. The results suggest that the Howiesons Poort was a time in which flaking efficiency was emphasised. Furthermore, comparison of upper limits of edge to mass values for different raw materials may provide an insight into changes in raw material selection.     

Geology and lithic procurement in Upper Palaeolithic Europe: a weights-of-evidence based GIS model of lithic resource potential

In this paper we examine ways to predict the distribution of siliceous rock in Europe, using a Bayesian technique known as ‘Weights-of-Evidence’. We use the technique to classify bedrock geological formations in terms of their likelihood of yielding tool-quality lithic raw materials, and we use the results to re-examine possible causes of a west–east cline in maximum lithic raw material transfer distances observed when comparing sites in both Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Europe. It is evident from our results that there is a decline in abundance of geological formations highly predictive of tool-quality rock along a west–east cline, predominantly reflecting a decrease in abundance of Jurassic and Cretaceous chert-bearing sedimentaries. Our results are consistent with an interpretation of the Upper Palaeolithic record of transfer distances as indicating special-purpose procurement.     

The implications of information and communication technologies for sexualities and sexualised violences: Contradictions of sexual citizenships

A key aspect of globalisation, glocalisation and transnationalisation is the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Such technologies have major implications for sexualities and sexualised violences, and raise profound implications, contradictions and challenges for sexual citizenship. These implications include the affirmation of sexual citizenship, with the creation of new forms of sexual communities; and the denial of sexual citizenship, with the production of new opportunities for pornography, prostitution, sexual exploitation and sexual violences. The article goes on to focus particularly on the contradictory implications of ICTs for sexual citizenship. These include the simultaneous development of more democratic and diverse sexual communities, and sexual work and sexually violent work; movements beyond the exploiter/exploited dichotomy; complex relations of non-exploitative and sexual exploitation, commercialisation of sex, and enforcement of dominant sexual practices; blurring of the social, sexual–social, sexual and sexually violent, and of the sexually ‘real’ and sexually ‘representational’; closer association of sex with the ‘visual’ and the ‘representational’; increasing domination of the virtual as the mode(l) for non-virtual, proximate sociality, and possible impacts of the virtual on increased non-virtual, proximate sociality, even greater possibilities for ‘pure relationships’; shifts in sexual space and sexual place; development of new forms of transnational sexual citizenship, within shifting transpatriarchies. Contradictions between the scale of global material sex economies and the representation and reproduction of the sexual through ICTs appear to be increasing.     

New technologies in cultural institutions: theory,evidence and policy implications

Publicly-funded cultural institutions such as theatre companies, symphony orchestras, museums, libraries and so on are increasingly engaging with new technologies as a means of improving their operational efficiency and extending the range of ways in which they pursue their cultural missions. For example, opera companies are broadcasting performances by satellite to cinemas, and art museums are using the Internet to show virtual exhibitions. These developments have implications for funding authorities who need to update their policy approaches to encompass a range of new technological phenomena. This paper provides a framework for assessing technological innovation in cultural institutions, and discusses the ramifications of such a framework for cultural policy. The paper is illustrated using the results of a recent research project that evaluated the UK National Theatre’s NT Live experiment and the Tate Gallery’s use of a web-based exhibition as strategies to expand their audience reach.     

Particle size distribution of lithic assemblages and taphonomy of Palaeolithic sites

Lithic debris derived from knapping and used tools can be assimilated to simple sedimentary particles that may undergo size sorting when exposed to geomorphic processes such as streamflow or overland flow. Sorting can be identified by comparing the size distribution of archaeological assemblages to that of experimental core reduction sequences. A new database including different types of raw material (mainly flint and quartzite) and Palaeolithic debitage (blade, Levallois, discoid, on anvil, and shaping) has been built for this purpose. Palaeoeskimo data have also been added to illustrate microlithic industries. For all the debitages and raw materials, the particle size of knapping products >2 mm in width fits with a power-law distribution and shows only minor fluctuations, the range of which is always <15% between experiments (all steps of the chaîne opératoire included up to the final tool). A lithic assemblage derived from block/core knapping or blank/preform production will display a particle size distribution close to the experimental distributions if not subsequently modified. Modifications may originate either from sedimentary processes or from anthropogenic factors. To help distinguishing amongst these, data on the impact of both water flows on sedimentary particles or experimental assemblages, and anthropogenic processes such as importation-exportation (of core, preforms or finished tools) or uneven spatial distribution of the different steps in core reduction and tool production within a site, are reviewed. By contrast to anthropogenic modifications, sedimentary processes are generally typified by strong impoverishment in or selective accumulation of fine-grained (<10 mm) artefacts together with a low intra-site variability (spatial homogenization) or a downslope size trend. Archaeological case studies taken from French Palaeolithic site are then detailed. Evidence for lithic redistribution implies that care should be taken in archaeological site analysis since sorting may impact significantly the initial techno-typological balance of the assemblage.     

Organising regional production networks in Southeast Asia: implications for production fragmentation, trade, and rules of origin

The globalisation of economic activities has fundamentally reshapedthe relationships between production and trade. The cross-borderproduction activities of transnational corporations (TNCs) havenot only deepened spatial divisions of labour, but also complicatedour understanding of international trade patterns. The developmentof intricate regional production networks by global corporationshas major implications for production fragmentation, internationaltrade, and rules of origin in the global economy. Empiricallygrounded in a study of regional production networks controlledby Singapore-based TNCs, this paper aims to make a modest contributionto the emerging literature on production fragmentation and rulesof origin. Based on an analysis of empirical data from a surveyof 63 parent Singapore-based manufacturing TNCs that have cross-borderoperations in Southeast Asia, I found that their spatial productionfragmentation is rather limited. Most of their Southeast Asiansubsidiaries cater to local markets, or manufacture components/partsfor the regional production facilities of their major globalcorporation customers. I also consider the implications forbusiness strategies and public policies in relation to productionfragmentation and rules of origin in Southeast Asia.     

The application and misapplication of mass analysis in lithic debitage studies

The technique of debitage mass analysis based upon size grades of debitage populations is shown to be prone to errors when making interpretations about the kind of tool produced or the kind of lithic reduction technology used. Significant sources of error may originate from differences in individual flintknapping styles and techniques, raw material size and shape variants, and mixing of debitage from more than one reduction episode. These sources of error render debitage Mass Analysis ineffective for determining the kind of stone tool reduction activities practiced at excavated sites. Mass Analysis may be effective for determining artifact reduction sequences if it is used on debitage from a single reduction episode or part of a reduction episode. However, it is shown that Mass Analysis when used for assessing reduction sequence information, must also control for the effects of raw material variability, assemblage mixing, and flintknapping styles.     

Experimental investigations into edge performance and its implications for stone artefact reduction modelling

This paper details an experimental investigation into stone artefact performance and use, and examines the implications for maintenance and rejuvenation activities. Controlled experiments testing the performance of differently shaped working edges reveal that rates of use attrition are not constant; they are dependent upon the blank morphology's suitability to particular tasks. The evidence contributes to a broader understanding of the principles of reduction analyses by showing that morphological differences in blanks are accompanied by differences in the artefacts’ functional capacity. These differences in turn affect the rate at which maintenance and rejuvenation activities will be required and therefore the extent of reduction exhibited at discard.     

Experimental studies of daytime LF radio propagation and their implications for D-region electron densities

Measurements are presented of interference phenomena in amplitude and phase of VLF and LF signals along propagation paths from central England to the Norwegian Sea. The data are interpreted by means of the ‘wave-hop’ propagation theory, incorporating full wave evaluation of ionospheric reflection coefficients with realistic D-region models. No published electron density profiles are found which completely satisfy the experimental data, but modified profiles are presented which provide a better fit to the observations.     

On the application of 3-D scanning technology for the documentation and typology of lithic artifacts

A 3-D optical scanner was used to obtain precise and complete representations of lithic artifacts. A computer algorithm, which was specially developed for the purpose, was used to position the artifacts in a way which enables the extraction of the standard metric parameters (length, width, width at 1/2 length, etc.). In this way, the ambiguities which affect the traditional manual measurements were eliminated. This new methodology creates accurate and objective databases. Several other parameters (center of mass position, volume, surface area) were also computed. The advantages of our method are illustrated by the analysis of 90 scanned Lower Paleolithic handaxes.     

Laser scanning confocal microscopy: a potential technique for the study of lithic microwear

The key problem restricting lithic microwear analysis is the lack of quantitative analysis to support qualitative assessments of different wear traces. This paper presents the reflective laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) as a new technique for the study of lithic microwear that has the potential to resolve this problem. Firstly, an example is presented that shows how the LSCM compares with conventional reflected light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This shows that images, rivalling that of the SEM, can be produced in similar timescales to conventional photomicrography and with no need for casting or sample preparation. The LSCM is also used to measure surface roughness of use-wear produced from working hide (dry, fresh and greasy), woodworking and antler working. This analysis demonstrates clear differences between the different wear polishes and the potential of the LSCM as a quantitative approach in lithic microwear research.     

Different glassmaking technologies in the production of Iron Age black glass from Italy and Slovakia

This study presents the results of an archaeometrical investigation performed on 75 black glass beads dated to the ninth–fifth century BC coming from Bologna, Cumae, and Pozzuoli (Italy), and Chotin (Slovakia). The analyses of the major, minor, and trace elements—as well as that of Sr and Nd isotopes performed on a selection of samples coming from Bologna—provided evidence for two different production technologies in Iron Age black glass found in Italy (natron glass, probably produced in Egypt) and Slovakia (wood ash glass, probably produced in Europe). In both cases, the glasses derive their black colouration from the high presence of iron (around 12 % FeO), introduced into the glass batches through the intentional choice of dark sands. The production model appears to be small-scale and experimental, characterised by the use of non-sorted raw materials and poorly defined formulae, producing glass with a high chemical variability. The wood ash technology appears to have dropped out of use in Europe until the Medieval period, while natron production spread quickly, becoming predominant throughout the Mediterranean.     

Human population groups and the distribution of lithic arrowheads in the Arabian Gulf

The distribution of lithic implements in the Arabian Gulf suggests two regions, each using a specific set of tools. It is argued here that this distinct pattern is the result of relations on various levels between several human population groups and not solely of ecological adaptions. Consequently, these contacts between indigenous groups might be held responsible, among others, for distributing goods, like'Ubaid pottery, initially brought along by Mesopotamian visitors from the Central Gulf down to the Lower Gulf.