Sickle blade life-history and the transition to agriculture: an early Neolithic case study from Southwest Asia |
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Authors: | Nathan Goodale Heather Otis William Andrefsky Jr Ian Kuijt Bill Finlayson Ken Bart |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Anthropology Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY, USA;2. Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA;3. Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA;4. Council for British Research in the Levant, Amman, Jordan;5. Department of Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, USA |
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Abstract: | In Southwest Asia, sickle blades first appear early in the sequence of the transition to agriculture. In the past, detailed qualitative research on silica bearing blade stone tools focus on the characterization of use-wear traces such as polish types and accrual rates. In this paper we approach the study of sickle blades slightly different, choosing to examine tool life-history by developing a method to quantitatively estimate harvesting intensity. The method centers on an experiment of cutting cereal stalks and measuring stone blade edge thickness under a scanning electron microscope as a proxy for cutting time. We end with regressing the experimental results to provide an estimation of how intensively archaeological sickle blades recovered from the site of Dhra’, Jordan were used for harvesting. The results, while preliminary, enable an initial interpretation of sickle blades as important tools with long use-life histories during the early Neolithic in the Southern Levant. |
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Keywords: | Neolithic Lithics Use-wear Curation Sickle blades Scanning electron microscope analysis Southwest Asia |
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