The Surface Alteration Features of Flint Artefacts as a Record of Environmental Processes |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, U.K.;2. Dipartimento di Scienze dell''Antichitá, Universitá di Roma, Via Palestro 63, Roma, Italy;1. Department of Geography, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 35390 Giessen, Germany;2. Section 5.1 Geomorphology, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany;3. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Yarmouk University, 21163 Irbid, Jordan;1. Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, SJA3 – CEPAM – UMR 7264 CNRS, Nice, France;2. University of Basel, IPAS, Basel, Switzerland;1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;3. Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100710, China;1. Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel;2. Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;1. Prehistory Research Group, Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;2. Pore-scale Processes in Geomaterials Research Group (PProGRess)/UGCT, Department of Geology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S8 Building, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;3. Environmental Hydrogeology, Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands;1. University of Rennes 1, UMR 6566, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, UMR 7264, Campus de Beaulieu, Bâtiments 24-25, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France;2. University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, UMR 7264 CNRS CEPAM, Campus Saint-Jean-d''Angely, 24, avenue des Diables Bleus, 06357 Nice Cedex, France;3. Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, USA |
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| Abstract: | This paper introduces a method to study the degree of change that affected a prehistoric context as the result of environmental processes. It is based on the direct examination of a representative sample of stone tool by-products, and on the identification of all surface alteration features. We summarize the theoretical bases for the formation of some wear features and the main results of a number of experiments involving interaction between chert flakes and sediments. Experimental results include: (1) the wear rate of flakes is not constant; (2) the wear rate increases as the size of the grains that compose the matrix increases; (3) fine grained chert resists wear better then coarse grained chert; and (4) the presence of moisture will trigger some chemical reactions that promote wear and the formation of films on chert surfaces. We apply these findings to the cave site of Grotta di Pozzo, Italy, and conclude that, strictly within the area sampled, there is low degree of disturbance and low intensity of chemical processes that may, however, confound the reconstruction of human activities in this part of the cave. |
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