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Solutrean laurel leaf production at Maîtreaux: An experimental approach guided by techno-economic analysis
Abstract
Large-sized Solutrean laurel leaf typology has been defined on the basis of the exceptional pieces found at Volgu, France, in 1874. The geographical distribution of this rare type of large bifacial piece is limited to the border of the French Massif Central. Located at the northern limit of this distribution area, the Maîtreaux site provides new data on the reduction schemes of these pieces. Refitted sequences indicate that the Solutrean presence was motivated by the exploitation of local flint resources to produce reserves of lithic tools and/or blanks, elements for composite projectiles and preforms for exportation and later finishing and use/retouch elsewhere. Results of techno-economic and spatial analyses are compared with those of an experimental project, mostly centred on laurel leaf techno-economy. This integrated experimental approach strongly contributes to the on-going social interpretation of the Maîtreaux group, allowing us better to characterize and quantify the remains of laurel leaf reduction processes. Also produced were in situ‘undisturbed’ knapping features for taphonomic reference and interpretation. At the site scale, experimental work coupled with spatial and techno-economic analysis is relevant for the interpretation of different geoarchaeological, technical and social aspects of the archaeological record. At a regional scale, experimental work on the available raw materials in each geographic zone is required to clarify issues related to raw-material procurement, exploitation and circulation, such as regional lithic resource exploitation strategies and inter-site discontinuities of production.
... As skill is largely acquired through experience, it stands to reason that Middle Pleistocene hominins were not inherently endowed with the savoir-faire to shape later Acheulian handaxes, and that they rather gained such competencies through socially-structured learning (Bosch et al., 2018;Hiscock, 2014;Pargeter et al., 2019Pargeter et al., , 2020Shipton, 2020;Shipton & Nielsen, 2018;Stout, 2005;Stout & Khreisheh, 2015;Stout et al., 2011;Torres & Preysler, 2020). Over the last decade, studies examining knapping errors in lithic production have attempted to fill in knowledge gaps concerning skill acquisition through associating mishap types and frequencies with differing levels of technological competency (Assaf, 2021;Assaf et al., 2016;Aubry et al., 2008;Buonsanto & Peretto, 2012;Caruana & Herries, 2021;Gómez Coutouly et al., 2021;Herzlinger et al., 2017;Hovers, 2009). This research raises the possibility that our perspective of later Acheulean handaxes is perhaps distorted by a focus on the most well-made specimens in archaeological reports. ...
... Experimental research has provided a comprehensive record of what technical errors are common to knappers at differing skill levels (e.g. Aubry et al., 2008;Callahan, 1979;Edwards, 2001;Geribàs et al., 2010;Shelley, 1990;Torres & Preysler, 2020;Winton, 2005). As knapping errors present significant challenges, learning how to mitigate them through adjusting flaking strategies is a critical aspect of skill acquisition (Assaf, 2021;Assaf et al., 2016;Aubry et al., 2018;Buonsanto & Peretto, 2012;Caruana & Herries, 2021;Edwards, 2001;Gómez Coutouly et al., 2021;Hiscock, 2014;Hovers, 2009;Torres & Preysler, 2020;Winton, 2005). ...
... As knapping errors present significant challenges, learning how to mitigate them through adjusting flaking strategies is a critical aspect of skill acquisition (Assaf, 2021;Assaf et al., 2016;Aubry et al., 2018;Buonsanto & Peretto, 2012;Caruana & Herries, 2021;Edwards, 2001;Gómez Coutouly et al., 2021;Hiscock, 2014;Hovers, 2009;Torres & Preysler, 2020;Winton, 2005). Diacritical analyses of knapping mistakes in archaeological contexts have provided insight into the technical sequences that caused errors to occur, as well as how they were either perpetuated or corrected (Assaf, 2021;Assaf et al., 2016;Aubry et al., 2008;Gómez Coutouly et al., 2021). Reduction sequences that demonstrate attempts to rectify errors are indicative of higher levels of knapping technique and knowledge (Assaf, 2021;Assaf et al., 2016;Torres & Preysler, 2020). ...
Tracing the acquisition of knapping skill in the Acheulian technocomplex is complicated by incomplete records of lithic production. Some studies have turned attention to examining knapping errors as a means of identifying signatures of toolmaking expertise in the deep past. Such insights have recently been applied to handaxes from the Area 1 spring eye at Amanzi Springs, which have suggested this locality functioned as a Large Cutting Tool workshop. Here we extend our analysis to handaxes from the Surfaces 2/3 (∼530–480 ka), Surface 1, and Cutting 5 (<480–408 ka) excavation areas within the Area 2 spring eye, which focuses on the development and frequency of step and hinge fractures and the management of cross-sectional shape. We identify differences in both the flaking strategies and the mitigation of knapping errors that demonstrate a gradual adaptation to local quartzite raw material and the acquisition of technological skill through time.
... Experiments in lithic technology are a common and sometimes fundamental means of replicating and understanding the factors generating certain lithic forms, creating patterning in lithic assemblages and testing certain hypotheses (Carr & Bradbury 2010). Indeed, controlled replicative flintknapping is reemerging as one of the key means of determining past reduction techniques, rediscovering important and even counterintuitive steps and techniques in producing certain forms, and in answering a host of questions associated with efficiency, raw materials, skill, cognition, and the distinctive products and debitage created using various reduction strategies (Stafford 2003;Aubry et al. 2008;Eren et al. 2008Eren et al. , 2011Marwick 2008;Stout et al. 2008;Bradley et al. 2010). Your research might benefit from performing some focused and controlled experiments in lithic technology that test aspects of your methods such as experiments that test indices of reduction tailored to your assemblages (Eren et al. 2005(Eren et al. , 2008Clarkson & Hiscock 2008Eren 2009), test aspects of performance and efficiency (Mathieu & Meyer 1997;Eren et al. 2008;Sisk & Shea 2009; in press), examine taphonomic processes (McBrearty et al. 1998;Eren et al. 2010b), explore the experiential or even musical qualities of flintknapping (Cross et al. 2002), explore cognition and skill (Stafford 2003;Stout 2005;Stout et al. 2008;Eren et al. 2011), or replicate objects, processes, or debitage (Aubry et al. 2008;Marwick 2008;Mercieca & Hiscock 2008;Adams 2010;Bradley et al. 2010;Jeske et al. 2010), to name but a few potential uses for experimentation. ...
... Indeed, controlled replicative flintknapping is reemerging as one of the key means of determining past reduction techniques, rediscovering important and even counterintuitive steps and techniques in producing certain forms, and in answering a host of questions associated with efficiency, raw materials, skill, cognition, and the distinctive products and debitage created using various reduction strategies (Stafford 2003;Aubry et al. 2008;Eren et al. 2008Eren et al. , 2011Marwick 2008;Stout et al. 2008;Bradley et al. 2010). Your research might benefit from performing some focused and controlled experiments in lithic technology that test aspects of your methods such as experiments that test indices of reduction tailored to your assemblages (Eren et al. 2005(Eren et al. , 2008Clarkson & Hiscock 2008Eren 2009), test aspects of performance and efficiency (Mathieu & Meyer 1997;Eren et al. 2008;Sisk & Shea 2009; in press), examine taphonomic processes (McBrearty et al. 1998;Eren et al. 2010b), explore the experiential or even musical qualities of flintknapping (Cross et al. 2002), explore cognition and skill (Stafford 2003;Stout 2005;Stout et al. 2008;Eren et al. 2011), or replicate objects, processes, or debitage (Aubry et al. 2008;Marwick 2008;Mercieca & Hiscock 2008;Adams 2010;Bradley et al. 2010;Jeske et al. 2010), to name but a few potential uses for experimentation. ...
... Relevant metric data on archaeological wooden spears are provided here with previous publications providing some of these data already (Leder et al., 2024;Milks, 2018). Metric data on lithic points can be found in (Abadi et al., 2020;Aubry et al., 2008;Eren et al., 2020;Hallinan & Shaw, 2020;Leder, 2014;Milks et al., 2016b;Newman & Moore, 2013;Shott & Otárola-Castillo, 2022;Taylor, 2022) of 14 cm, Sahle et al., 2013, and15 cm Lombard, 2022a;Sahle et al., 2023). For iron-tipped thrusting spears, existing data provide a range of 5 to 80 cm (median of 23 cm, Lombard, 2022a). ...
The origins of weapons, and subsequent innovations, constitute a significant focus of archaeological research, particularly for the Pleistocene period. Due to preservation challenges, inorganic components of early weapons, such as lithic points, are often the only artefacts to survive. As a result, archaeologists rely on proxies for understanding performance and function of these lasting components including experimental research and ethnographic comparison. Within these analogical frameworks, and alongside use-wear and fracture analysis, morphometrics constitute a key method in assessing whether a point is a weapon component. Early attempts to use the cross-sectional geometries of weapon points (or tips), making use of complete archaeological specimens and ethnographic weapons as reference datasets, suggested clear demarcations between different delivery modes. Yet, subsequent studies have shown that there are considerable overlaps. Recently, it was proposed that on the basis of tip geometries, the earliest complete weapons, Pleistocene wooden spears, are best matched to thrusting spear use. Here we demonstrate that there are measurement errors involved in this classification, and that furthermore there are overlaps between thrusting spears and javelins (throwing spears) that undermine the use of tip geometries to define spear delivery mode. If the correct methods are applied, archaeological wooden spear tip geometries would fit within both thrusting and javelin categories, meaning this is not methodologically useful at this time. We overview the available archaeological, experimental, and ethnographic evidence and propose that these currently support a hypothesis that the technological capacity for use of distance hunting weapons was in place from at least 300,000 years ago.
... 5a), cuyos tamaños y sofisticación técnica han concitado el interés de investigadores por más de un siglo (p. e., Aubry et al., 2008). Se ha propuesto que estos objetos habrían sido producidos para probar la destreza de los propios talladores, lo que los convirtió en el signo de una técnica especializada y dotó de una fuerte carga simbólica (Pelegrin, 2013). ...
Uno de los objetos más emblemáticos de la cultura material de los antiguos habitantes de la costa del desierto de Atacama son las delgadas hojas de piedra talladas de manera bifacial denominadas «taltaloides». Sin embargo, hasta ahora no existen estudios arqueológicos dedicados a estos artefactos, y se sabe muy poco sobre su función, diseño, tecnología y contextos de origen. En este artículo presentamos una primera aproximación al tema a partir del análisis de 56 ejemplares depositados en el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Santiago, Chile), procedentes
de las colecciones de Augusto Capdeville Rojas y Melquiades Díaz Casanova. Como
conclusión, proponemos una primera definición de la categoría de «taltaloide» y reflexionamos acerca del valor que estos objetos pudieron tener para las antiguas comunidades de la región.
... Their initial implementation dates back to the Lower Paleolithic (Stout et al., 2014;van Kolfschoten, 2015), where soft hammers were used to form bifacial tools. The development of the technique made it possible to form perfect Solutrean leaf points (Aubry et al., 2008). In turn, in the Upper Paleolithic, organic hammers were used for the precise detachment of flint blades (Pelegrin, 1991;Averbouh, 1999). ...
This article presents the results of a multifaceted study of a Palaeolithic hammer made of antler, found in Biśnik Cave in southern Poland. It is the only tool of this type known from this period in Polish prehistory. The results of the 14C dating on the object verifies previous assumptions relating to its chronology and cultural affiliation. The results of Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) analysis allow us to provide further details in relation to the raw material used in the production of the artefact. This article also presents the results of a detailed traceological study which allow us to interpret the production and function of the tool. This analysis was conducted using Micro CT, alongside varying types of microscopy. The results of all these analyses are then compared and contrasted according to the current knowledge regarding these tool types to provide a broader context for the interpretation of this important artefact.
Edición de las actas de las XI Jornadas de Jóvenes en Investigación Arqueológica (JIA), que tuvieron lugar en Tarragona del 9 al 12 de mayo de 2018 y que reunieron a más de 200 colegas de profesión. El volumen contiene 72 trabajos publicados tras un proceso de revisión ciega de los manuscritos presentados en el congreso. La edición incluye trabajos en castellano y catalán. La publicación ha sido posible gracias al Programa d’Integració de Centres CERCA (SUMA 2016), en el que participan el Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica (ICAC), el Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES) y el Institut Català de Recerca del Patrimoni Cultural (ICRPC).
The Battle of Mantzikert had profound consequences for both Byzantine and Turkish history, yet the historical sources for this campaign contain significant gaps. This book presents the results of a project that seeks to demonstrate the important role computer simulation can play in the analysis of pre-modern military logistics.
In AD 1071, the Byzantine Emperor, Romanos IV Diogenes, set out from Constantinople for the eastern borders of his Empire with an army described as “more numerous than the sands of the sea”. His military campaign culminated in defeat by the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan at the Battle of Mantzikert. This defeat was to have profound consequences for both Byzantine and Turkish history and is still commemorated in the modern state of Turkey. Yet the historical sources for this campaign contain significant gaps and we know more about the political intrigues surrounding the emperor than we do about how the army moved and fed itself.
The ‘Medieval Warfare on the Grid’ project (2007-2011) was funded by an AHRC-EPSRC-Jisc e-Science grant and set out to use computer simulation to shed new light on the Mantzikert campaign. In this book we present the results of the project and demonstrate that computer simulation has an important role to play in the analysis of pre-modern military logistics. It can give new context to historical sources, present new options for the interpretation of past events and enable questions of greater complexity to be asked of historical military campaigns. It can also highlight the similarities that exist across time and space when armies need to be mobilised, moved and fed.
The Iberian Peninsula is a key region for unraveling human settlement histories of Eurasia during the period spanning the decline of Neandertals and the emergence of anatomically modern humans (AMH). There is no evidence of human occupation in central Iberia after the disappearance of Neandertals ~42,000 years ago until approximately 26,000 years ago, rendering the region “nobody’s land” during the Aurignacian period. The Abrigo de la Malia provides irrefutable evidence of human settlements dating back to 36,200 to 31,760 calibrated years before the present (cal B.P.) This site also records additional levels of occupation around 32,420 to 26,260 cal B.P., suggesting repeated settlement of this territory. Our multiproxy examination identifies a change in climate trending toward colder and more arid conditions. However, this climatic deterioration does not appear to have affected AMH subsistence strategies or their capacity to inhabit this region. These findings reveal the ability of AMH groups to colonize regions hitherto considered uninhabitable, reopening the debate on early Upper Paleolithic population dynamics of southwestern Europe.
For many years, the existence of ancient human settlements in the Amazon was deemed impossible, particularly those as old as 12,000 BP as found in Pedra Pintada Cave in Monte Alegre, in the state of Pará, by Anna Roosevelt and colleagues in the 1990s and by Edithe Pereira's team in 2014. In this article, we present the results of the technological analyses of the bifacial tools found in the cave, focusing on raw materials, techniques, shaping and retouching methods, and technical procedures. The analyses indicate careful knapping, with no mistakes, in hundreds of flakes in the shaping and retouching phases, as well as fragmented tools with flaws. Whenever possible, we compare the results to the data published by Roosevelt and colleagues in 1996 from the same site.
The comparison between an experimental framework and the spatial analysis and technological reconstruction of the lithic production at the site of Les Maîtreaux suggests that no major post-depositional process affected the site since its prehistoric abandonment. Systematic refitting allowed for the definition of spatial units resulting from at least 10 successive passages on the site, characterized by constant technical procedures. Such homogeneity, besides revealing a complex technical expertise and knowledge, can be interpreted as an argument for a set of behaviours taking part on a same cultural tradition. An attempt to evaluate the time between each occupation and its relations to sedimentary and pedological rhythms on the basis of a geoarchaeological approach can elucidate us on the limits of the applied methods for studying time and taphonomy in Les Maîtreaux and other comparable sites. Keywords: Solutrean, Lithic Tools, Spatial Analysis, Geoarchaeolgy, Time
The early peopling of the New World has been a topic of intense research since the early twentieth century. We contend that the exclusive focus of research on a Beringian entry point has not been productive. Evidence has accumulated over the past two decades indicating that the earliest origin of people in North America may have been from south-western Europe during the last glacial maximum. In this summary we outline a theory of a Solutrean origin for Clovis culture and briefly present the archaeological data supporting this assertion.
Les resultats obtenus depuis 1994 sur le site des Maitreaux, localise a proximite d'une source de silex d'excellente aptitude a la taille et disponible en abondance, ont permis de dissocier plusieurs niveaux d'occupations attribuables au Solutreen. La repartition spatiale des vestiges est exceptionnellement bien preservee dans des limons argileux. L'etude technologique des series des deux niveaux montre que le premier est constitue par des concentrations lithiques associees au debitage laminaire de supports de pointes a cran dont les exemplaires laisses sur place portent des stigmates de fracture a la fabrication. Le second contient des fragments et les dechets obtenus lors du faconnage de feuilles de laurier de module compris entre 25 et 35 cm. L'interpretation du site comme atelier, basee sur le deficit de certains produits, est nuancee par l'abandon de rares autres types d'outils, dont l'analyse traceologique montre qu'ils ont ete utilises.
Premiè re approche a` l'interpre´ palethnologique du groupe solutreé des Maıˆ : perspectives sur la technologie et re´ spatiale des vestiges lithiques et ses implications pour l'interpre´ du registre archeó. Master's thesis
- M Almeida
Almeida, M. 2005.Premiè re approche a` l'interpre´ palethnologique du groupe solutreé des Maıˆ : perspectives sur la technologie et re´ spatiale des vestiges lithiques et ses implications pour l'interpre´ du registre archeó. Master's thesis, Universite´ Paris I – Pantheó – Sorbonne, U.F.R. d'Histoire de l'Art et d'Archeó.
Le Solutréen en France, 449Bordeaux: Imprimeries Delmas. Mémoire no
- P Smith