Lithic Artefacts as a Source of Cultural,Social and Economic Information: the evidence from Aksum,Ethiopia

Extended research covering an area of approximately 300 sq km centered on the ancient metropolis of Aksum has revealed a coherent sequence of development in stone tool production and use spanning most of the last millennium BC and the first millennium AD. It has provided new evidence of the presence of multiple independent lithic traditions in the Pre-Aksumite period, and of Aksumite social and economic organization. This paper summarizes the results of the detailed study of a large corpus of excavated and surface-collected lithics, emphasizing their functional characteristics.

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Résumé  De vastes recherches couvrant sur une superficie d’environ 300 kilomètres carrés et concentrées sur l’ancienne métropole d’Aksoum ont mis à jour une série cohérente de développements dans la production et l’utilisation d’outils de pierre au cours du dernier millénaire avant J.C. et du premier millénaire après J.C. Ces recherches ont fourni de nouvelles informations sur la présence de multiples traditions lithiques indépendantes durant la période pré-aksoumite, et sur l’organisation sociale et économique des Aksoumites. Cet article présente les résultats d’une étude détailée portant sur un large répertoire de vestiges lithiques recueillis au cours de fouilles et collectes de surface, et met en exergue leurs caractéristiques fonctionnelles.

     

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.     

Taphonomic identification of cut marks made with lithic handaxes: an experimental study

Recent experimental studies have developed new diagnostic criteria to differentiate between trampling and cut marks. Within cut marks, these diagnostic criteria have been useful to differentiate between marks made with simple and retouched flakes. The present study expands the application of these criteria using a multivariate analysis to discriminate marks created with handaxes from those made with stone tool flakes. A discriminant analysis resulted in a selection of specific variables, which can successfully differentiate cut marks made with handaxes from those created with retouched flakes in more than 80% of occasions. The utility of this analogical taphonomic signature created by handaxes is discussed in the light of their potential value as butchering tools.     

The examination of a pre-hispanic gold chisel from Colombia

A Pre-hispanic gold chisel from Colombia was examined by metallography, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, electron probe microanalysis, and microhardness methods. The chisel was found to be worked to shape with a ground cutting edge, and made in a gold-copper (tumbaga) alloy. Silver was present in the gold used to make the alloy. The results of the examination are discussed with a brief resumé of what is known about the composition and manufacture of these small tools in ancient Colombia.     

从随葬工具的性别关联探讨中国新石器时代的性别分工

本文利用二项式分布假设检验方法对黄河流域从裴李岗到大汶口晚期和马厂期男女墓葬中随葬工具的种类和数量的变化进行了统计分析,以揭示劳动按性别分工的问题。这些墓葬的年代范围大致为公元前7000年至2000年之间,正是处于农业生产出现不久后的发展期。根据统计分析,可将随葬工具分为3类:(1)主要由男性使用的工具,(2)主要由女性使用的工具,(3)男女共同使用的工具,其中前两类可视为与性别相关的工具,并计算了每种性别关联型工具在各自遗址或墓地中所占的比例。结果表明,在这一时期中(1)社会劳动中性别分工的增强和细化(性别关联型劳动工具比例的增大和早期一些男女共用型工具晚期转化为主要系男性使用)和(2)男性在社会劳动中优势地位的完全确立(于大汶口晚期在性别关联型工具种类中,主要为男性使用的工具占绝大多数,而主要为女性使用的工具仅留下纺轮一种)。根据这一结果,简单讨论了母系氏族向父系氏族过渡的时间问题。     

Late Pleistocene protein residues from the Mahaffy cache,Colorado

This paper reports the analysis of protein residues from tools recovered in a cache within the city limits of Boulder, Colorado, USA. This cache included a total of 83 artifacts, all of which we subjected to cross-over immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP). Four of the 83 produced results, with residues from each of these reacting with antigens from a different taxon: one tool shows evidence of use on sheep, one on bear, one on horse, and one on camel. Varieties of sheep and bear have been present in Colorado throughout human history, but horses and camelids have been in the state either during the Pleistocene or the last 200 years. Several lines of evidence indicate that the cache cannot be recent, and our CIEP results therefore imply that the cache date to the late Pleistocene. Typological aspects of the artifacts in the cache are consistent with artifacts known to be Clovis, and the combination of CIEP and typological data thus indicate that the cache is Clovis as well. These data contribute to an increasing dataset documenting the broad range of animals other than elephants hunted by Clovis groups in North America.     

Functional insights into the innovative Early Howiesons Poort technology at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape,South Africa)

The Howiesons Poort (‘HP’) is characterized by a set of technological innovations that mark a rupture in the Southern African Middle Stone Age. However perspectives regarding its origin and emergence remain speculative. The recent identification of an Early HP phase at Diepkloof Rock Shelter provides the opportunity to characterize the initial stage of this technology and to discuss various mechanisms behind its innovative characteristics.     

New datings of Amudian layers at Qesem Cave (Israel): results of TL applied to burnt flints and ESR/U-series to teeth

Because only a few radiometric data are actually available, the chronology of the Amudian – a blade-dominated industry of the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC) of the late Lower Paleolithic in the Levant – is still not well constrained. Qesem Cave offers the opportunity to enhance our knowledge of the chronological position of this industry which is unique to the Levant. The Qesem Amudian bearing layers yielded also human remains showing affinities with those of modern populations recovered in the Middle Paleolithic sites of Skhul and Qafzeh. The results presented here are the first attempt to apply the TL and ESR/U-series dating methods at this site and these methods yielded results which are generally in agreement. They support a time interval of hominid-bearing occupation of the areas of the cave where Amudian lithic artifacts were recovered during MIS 8 and likely 9 for the Deep Pit Area, and during MIS 8 and possibly 7 for the Upper part of the sequence (Square K/10 and the Eastern Microfauna-Bearing Area). An older occupation of the cave is also conceivable on the base of two dating results (MIS 11).     

Organized waste disposal in the Pottery Neolithic: A bifacial workshop refuse pit at Ein Zippori,Israel

A unique Pottery Neolithic context corresponding to the Wadi Rabah culture was found at the multi-layered site of Ein Zippori, Israel. Given the significant amount of flakes, cortical flakes, thinning flakes, and bifacial tool rejects, it was classified as a refuse pit in which bifacial knapping waste from a nearby workshop was disposed. In this paper we present the assemblage of Locus 8071, focusing on the by-products of bifacial tool manufacture and maintenance as well as bifacial tool rejects. We reconstruct the bifacial knapping and maintenance procedures and suggest that Locus 8071 was a disposal area for by-products from a knapping workshop of bifacial tools—an aspect of spatial organization related to possible specialized lithic production at Ein Zippori during the Neolithic period.     

Preventive Intervention for a Group of Buildings in the Historic Centre of Manresa (Barcelona)

The preservation of old downtowns has become a necessity of growing interest. New urban policies have been approved in different countries in order to revive the old city centers and make them economically sustainable. In this global trend, the municipality of Manresa (Barcelona) developed an important urban planning operation in the old district that included the demolition of a group of existing buildings and the construction of a new modern one in close proximity to a group of old residential buildings which are cultural heritage of the city. As a consequence, specific areas of risk were generated which lead to the adoption of precautionary measures to ensure safety. This article presents the preliminary analysis, diagnostics and monitoring carried out on this group of heterogeneous old buildings, as well as the results and precautionary measures taken to ensure their safety. The article also provides a translatable methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative aspects.