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Les industries de la Grotte Vaufrey: technologie du débitage, économie et circulation de la matière première

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... Raw-material procurement analysis revealed that the Middle Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers preferred local and semi-local lithic resources, which constituted at least 90% of the assemblages, although the exploitation of raw materials from sources located farther than 50 km away has been identified at several sites (e.g. Geneste, 1988;Roebroeks et al., 1988;Féblot-Augustins, 1993and 2009Chalard et al., 2007;Slimak and Giraud, 2007;Porraz, 2010). Since the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens experienced various strategies for the exploitation of environmental resources, as is attested by the increasing quantities of generally fine-grained and highly homogeneous raw materials originating from more distant sources (e.g. ...
... Evidence for procurement strategies and patterns of raw-material exploitation and transport were used to assess mobility (Thacker, 1996;Blades, 1999;Andrefsky, 2009;Delagnes and Rendu, 2011) and cognitive abilities Stiles, 1998) among Palaeolithic groups. Most artefacts made from exogenous resources were retouched tools and show signs of long-term use and re-sharpening (Geneste, 1988;Féblot-Augustins, 1993;Bourguignon et al., 2006;Delagnes et al., 2006). This observation fits with the idea of procurement strategies that involved preliminary planning and the transport of finished tools or of specific raw materials not available in the places in which they were needed (Kuhn, 1992(Kuhn, , 1995(Kuhn, and 2004. ...
... Furthermore we must consider that lithic technology, subsistence strategies, resource procurement, processing and transport efforts have a dynamic interaction within the environmental setting and the technical traditions of human groups (e.g. Binford, 1980;Shott, 1986;Geneste, 1988;Wilson, 2007;Romagnoli, 2015). Our hypothesis is that the selection of raw materials depended on numerous factors, such as the duration of occupation of the site, technical traditions, the presence of specialised craftsmen, the social organisation of the groups, expedient behaviours, and social networks. ...
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The analysis of geological patterns has become a focus of research in European Palaeolithic archaeology in order to identify strategies in raw-material procurement and to interpret past technical behaviour. The reconstruction of past geological landscapes enables the correlation of archaeological assemblages with raw-material provenance and large-scale transport patterns. The evidence for procurement strategies and the patterns of raw-material exploitation and transport have been used to assess mobility and cognitive abilities among Palaeolithic groups, revealing differing strategies between Middle and Upper Palaeolithic hunter gatherers. While Neanderthals seem to have organised their technology in a local or semi-local territory, modern humans have shown a more intense exploitation of distant sources. This scenario has been challenged over the last few years. Several studies have highlighted more complex environmental exploitation by Neanderthals through the catchment of distant lithic resources. The universities of Florence and Siena are engaged in a long-term project of geological survey that aims to identify lithic sources used during the Palaeolithic. Geological research has been carried out in parallel with technological analysis of archaeological lithic assemblages from the Mousterian layers of Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia, south-east Italy) and the Upper Palaeolithic layers of Grotta del Romito (Campania, south-west Italy). The project aims to answer specific questions regarding raw-material procurement: is it possible to predict human behaviour based on the distance between the settlement and the raw-material source? How did raw materials influence the variability of lithic assemblages? And, with regard to this latter question, which strategies were applied by hunter-gatherers regarding the use of the landscape and the available resources found within it? The integrated analysis of archaeological finds and ancient geological landscapes enables us to develop a complex scenario in which the rigid definition of the knapping concept and the economic strategies (e.g. curated and expedient behaviour) seems to be more strictly related to cultural constraints (shared knowledge, technical innovations and social and economic organisation) than to geophysical ones. We present here the methodology of geo-archaeological surveys and the preliminary results obtained for production sequences and procurement strategies at Grotta del Cavallo during the Middle Palaeolithic. At Grotta del Cavallo it could be evidenced that the human groups had great high mobility, which exceeded 50 km. Differences in techno-economy throughout the stratigraphical sequence of this site suggest that human strategies were influenced by several factors, including site use, demographic patterns and technical tradition, which generated various methods of adaptation to the available resources. The future implementation of this line of research, the integration of subsistence strategies and climate change analyses with that of stone tool assemblages and mobility, will make it possible to understand human behaviour and to explain the considerable variability of the archaeological record.
... At the site of Petit Bost layer 1, only two bifaces were found each with a different mode of production (Bourguignon et al., 2008, Fig. 12). In the later assemblage (layer Fa) from Payre no bifaces were found similar to other sites such as Vaufrey cave (Geneste, 1985(Geneste, , 1988Rigaud, 1988). At Baume Bonne, bifaces constitute 0.2% of the assemblage attributed to MIS 8. ...
... During MIS 7, some assemblages in the Mediterranean area contain Levallois reduction sequences, while in others, it does not exist and discoidal and coreon flake reduction sequences dominate. For example at the cave of Vaufrey (Geneste, 1985(Geneste, , 1988Rigaud, 1988;Fig. 18), in the assemblages from layers VIII and VI the Levallois reduction sequence is present, including refitted flakes into Levallois centripetal core in layer VIII (Geneste, 1988, Fig. 21) and a unidirectional core in layer VII (Geneste, 1988, Figs. 32 and 33). ...
... Examination of the retouched component within this time period of MIS 9e7 highlights three main issues. The most striking tendency is the typological homogeneity between MIS 9, MIS 8 and MIS 7 assemblages in both the biotidal as well as in Mediterranean zone (Fig. 17;Geneste, 1988;Roebroeks, 1988;Rigaud, 1988;Moncel and Combier, 1992;Tuffreau et al., 1997;Moncel, 1999;de Loecker, 2006;Monnier, 2006a,b;Lhomme, 2007;Mourre et al., 2007;Bourginoun et al., 2008;Tuffreau et al., 2008;H erisson, 2012;Brenet et al., 2014;Baena et al., in press). No new tool-type emerged. ...
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Over the last 150 years, the Paleolithic era was divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic. This scheme is an arbitrary research construct that confounds chronological, behavioral, and evolutionary meanings. Transitions between these discrete units, and in particular the Lower/Middle Paleolithic transition, received lesser attention. At present, the Lower/Middle Paleolithic transition is still depicted as a worldwide change from biface production to Levallois technology, similar to the way it has been perceived in the initial stages of research. Some key questions remain open for further inquiry: What changed technologically and typologically beyond those guide fossils? What is the geographical variation of this global change(s)? Did changes occur as a result of autochthonous developments in each region or by a diffusion wave (s)? What is the societal process(es) that promoted this evolutionary change? In this paper, I explore the techno-typological variations (reduction sequences and tool kits) in Europe north of the Pyrenees and how these traits pattern diachronically and spatially in the interval of MIS 9e7, the period during which the transition between Lower and Middle Paleolithic is suggested to occur. The first step will be to describe the range of behaviors that existed during each MIS. The presentation of those variants will track the decision-making processes within reduction sequences. The technotypological variants will be studied in relation to their relative abundance within each assemblage. Then, I will attempt to estimate if observed changes in those traits resulted from a continuous processes or whether the record constitutes of segmented local histories.
... Most of the recent petro-archaeological studies of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in Europe attest that Neanderthals gathered raw material for tool-making either locally or semi-locally (Geneste, 1988;Roebroeks, 1988;Mellars, 1996;Feblot-Augustins, 1999). This is in contrast to the activities known in the same area for Homo sapiens since the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic who exploited their resource environment in a different manner. ...
... At Maastricht (OIS 7) (Netherland) and Biache-Saint-Vaast (OIS 7) (North, France), flint is the dominant and primary local resource, in a geological context very rich in flint (Roebroeks, 1988;Tuffreau and Sommé , 1988). Similar situations exist for Suard shelter (OIS 6) (south-west France) and in unit VIII of Vaufrey Cave (OIS 6), despite the latter having a more diversified gathering zone of 10-20 km radius (semi-local) (Geneste, 1988). ...
... Exotic rocks are present at Baume-Bonne (40-60 km) from the Durance valley (Gagnepain and Gaillard, 2005), at Lazaret (25-60 km) from Ligurie and at Vaufrey (40-80 km) sourced from areas upstream or downstream along the Dordogne River (Geneste, 1988). From a technological point of view, these rocks arrived on-site as ready-made products and were thus issued from broken operative chains. ...
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During the Middle Palaeolithic in the south-eastern Massif central and the bordering Rhone Valley, humans collected almost all their raw materials from various secondary outcrop which can be distinguished by the inherent characteristics of the materials. Similar lithic facies are unlikely to be encountered on two or more different natural outcrops and every artefact shows a surface that is well enough preserved to be studied according to a morphoscopic analysis at various magnifications. For all sites, some more remote sources were exploited also. However, most of the supposed exogenous materials, such as some Cretaceous flints identified in the Velay assemblages of Sainte-Anne I and Baume-Vallée for example, come from the heart of the massif where they occur in secondary alluvial deposits. Nevertheless, the extent of the foraging territories as revealed by raw materials sourcing covers a large band of various relief between the western and southern Causses, the Rhône corridor and the northern Limagne and Forez plains and animal species hunted by these groups express an environmental mosaic which fits with the image of landscape given by the raw materials.
... Since then, many lithic assemblages have been studied within this framework, expanding our knowledge of the internal variability within each concept (Geneste 1988;Turq 1989;Boëda et al. 1990;Boëda 1991;Delagnes 1992;Jaubert 1993;Meignen 1993a;Locht and Swinnen 1994;Jaubert and Farizy 1995;Texier and Francisco-Ortega 1995;Delagnes and Ropars 1996;Geneste et al. 1997, among others). In fact, these lithic production systems are far from rigid and due to their inherent flexibility, the various flaking modalities recognized do not always match up to the limits of our conventional technological categories. ...
... However, between these two extremes, a whole series of productions developed with the less accentuated tendencies. Within unidirectional recurrent Levallois debitage, for example, the technical investment may relate according to lithic assemblages rather than to the debitage phases for obtaining relatively normalized blanks, as seen, amongst others, in the assemblages of Biache-St-Vaast IIA (Boëda 1988a) and Vaufrey, levels VII and VIII (Geneste 1988). In these cases, the Levallois products are either slightly retouched (a standard of retouch that strengthens the original morpho-functional attributes) or unretouched (and probably used as such). ...
... These various options fall under structured technoeconomic systems, revealing the methods of acquisition/resource management by Middle Paleolithic men, the organization of the territories, and the adopted patterns of mobility. In the field of lithic production, the pioneering work of Jean-Michel Geneste in the years 1985-90 and much research since then has made it possible to recognize real strategies of acquisition/management of lithic raw materials from the earliest Middle Paleolithic, not only in the nearby area most frequently traversed (0-5 km) but also in a wider area, with different behaviors recognized according to the zones, both distant (30-80, even 100 km) and intermediate (5-20 km) (Geneste 1985(Geneste , 1988Féblot-Augustins 1997, 1999Turq 2000). The technical forms in which these raw materials circulate vary according to the zones from which the materials were obtained. ...
... Since then, many lithic assemblages have been studied within this framework, expanding our knowledge of the internal variability within each concept (Geneste 1988;Turq 1989;Boëda et al. 1990;Boëda 1991;Delagnes 1992;Jaubert 1993;Meignen 1993a;Locht and Swinnen 1994;Jaubert and Farizy 1995;Texier and Francisco-Ortega 1995;Delagnes and Ropars 1996;Geneste et al. 1997, among others). In fact, these lithic production systems are far from rigid and due to their inherent flexibility, the various flaking modalities recognized do not always match up to the limits of our conventional technological categories. ...
... However, between these two extremes, a whole series of productions developed with the less accentuated tendencies. Within unidirectional recurrent Levallois debitage, for example, the technical investment may relate according to lithic assemblages rather than to the debitage phases for obtaining relatively normalized blanks, as seen, amongst others, in the assemblages of Biache-St-Vaast IIA (Boëda 1988a) and Vaufrey, levels VII and VIII (Geneste 1988). In these cases, the Levallois products are either slightly retouched (a standard of retouch that strengthens the original morpho-functional attributes) or unretouched (and probably used as such). ...
... These various options fall under structured technoeconomic systems, revealing the methods of acquisition/resource management by Middle Paleolithic men, the organization of the territories, and the adopted patterns of mobility. In the field of lithic production, the pioneering work of Jean-Michel Geneste in the years 1985-90 and much research since then has made it possible to recognize real strategies of acquisition/management of lithic raw materials from the earliest Middle Paleolithic, not only in the nearby area most frequently traversed (0-5 km) but also in a wider area, with different behaviors recognized according to the zones, both distant (30-80, even 100 km) and intermediate (5-20 km) (Geneste 1985(Geneste , 1988Féblot-Augustins 1997, 1999Turq 2000). The technical forms in which these raw materials circulate vary according to the zones from which the materials were obtained. ...
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Analyses of Middle Paleolithic technological behaviors - and by extension of Neandertal cognitive capacities and mobility organization - have been revolutionized by theoretical perspectives devised from lithic technological and raw material investigations. Binary oppositions such as "Levallois/non-Levallois" are increasingly regarded as oversimplifications since differing reduction strategies are apparent in the same archaeological assemblages. Various factors including raw material quality and cyclical reduction are reflected in multiple lithic matrices. Detailed analyses of chaînes opératoires provided insights on the structures of lithic technological behaviors. The authors refer to extensive data from recent excavations in France and Belgium to argue that Middle Paleolithic tool provisioning and management strategies show clear organization and planning depth, even if those strategies differ from those of the Upper Paleolithic.
... Cada artefacto pode ser posicionado no processo de produção devido aos estigmas deixados pelas operações prévias que este preserva. Mais, esta abordagem permite a compreensão da organização geográfica de um processo técnico, uma vez que a identificação de cada etapa do processo pode ser identificada pela presença ou ausência dos sub-produtos num determinado sítio (Geneste, 1985(Geneste, , 1988). Consequentemente, pode ser observado um tratamento diferenciado das matérias-primas e dos suportes, o que nos pode auxiliar à compreensão da economia das matérias-primas e suportes no território explorado (Perlés, 1992). ...
... Each artifact can be positioned within the production process due to the knapping stigmata left by previous operations which are still preserved. In addition, this approach enables the understanding of the geographical arrangement of a technical process, since each phase of the process can be identified by the presence or absence of sub-products in a given area (Geneste, 1985(Geneste, , 1988(Geneste, , 1991a. Consequently, a different treatment of the raw materials can be observed, which may help us to understand the economics of raw materials within the area under study (Perlés, 1992). ...
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... As observed in several other European Middle Palaeolithic sites, in the considered lithic assemblage the use of local lithic resources is clearly dominant while allochthonous raw materials are attested in variable proportions in the different archaeological layers (Table 1) (Féblot-Augustins, 1997;Geneste, 1988;Roy Sunyer et al., 2017;Turq et al., 2017Turq et al., , 2013Wilson et al., 2018). Despite the abundance of local raw materials in Middle Palaeolithic sites, their characterization and sourcing are rarely completed even if the identification of the places where they were collected could be very informative about human behaviour (Roy Sunyer et al., 2017). ...
... The presence of allochthonous good-quality raw materials, represented at the Ciota Ciara cave by rhyolite and radiolarite, is another frequent characteristic of European Middle Palaeolithic sites: as well as in the considered lithic assemblage, they are present usually as finished tools with a high degree of edge rejuvenation (Bourguignon et al., 2004;Féblot-Augustins, 1999;Geneste, 1988;Jaubert and Delagnes, 2007;Kuhn, 1992;Meignen et al., 2009;Roy Sunyer et al., 2017;Turq et al., 2013;Wilson et al., 2018). According to the technological data (Daffara, 2017), the roles of rhyolite and radiolarite in the lithic assemblage of the Ciota Ciara cave is constant all along the sequence, testifying that the economic behaviour of these human groups did not undergo significant changes. ...
Article
The importance of the Ciota Ciara cave for the understanding of the Middle Palaeolithic peopling of Piedmont (north-western Italy) is known since the 60s but it is just since 2009 that systematic and multidisciplinary archaeological excavations are ongoing at the site. In this region, studies about Palaeolithic are quite underdeveloped and the proposed research represents the first attempt to understand Middle Palaeolithic land mobility in the region. The lithic assemblage found is composed by 7046 artefacts and different raw materials are involved in the production of lithic artefacts. Vein quartz is the main exploited raw material in all the archaeological layers followed by spongolite, a local variety of chert, and by a better-quality grey/black flint. For these rocks the reduction sequences are complete while other raw materials are sporadically attested all along the sequence (opal, jasper and milonite) and probably exploited out of the site. Rhyolite and radiolarite are present in different proportions in all the archaeological levels and are represented almost exclusively by re-touched tools and by small flakes belonging to the reshaping or re-sharpening of the tools' edges. The proposed research focuses on the identification of the supply areas of lithic raw materials in order to define the land mobility of the human groups that inhabited the cave during Middle Palaeolithic. The study involves both local and allochthonous raw materials to understand the mobility range on a local and sub-regional scale. Starting from the idea of evolutionary chain, a specific methodology has been developed for vein quartz, aimed at the identification of the most probable secondary sources exploited. For all the raw materials, field works and lab analysis (stereomicroscope observations, Scanning Electron Microscopy and μ-XRF analysis) have been set up. The results obtained show that several local primary and secondary deposits were exploited, located at few hundred meters from the site. Vein quartz was collected in secondary deposits at the base of the mount while rhyolite comes from secondary deposits located at about 2 km in a straight line from the site. Radiolarite was instead collected within deposits located at distance between 20 and 30 km from the Ciota Ciara cave giving the chance to formulate reliable hypothesis on the seasonal mobility of the Middle Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers of the Ciota Ciara cave.
... Flints from MIS 7-6 levels at Vaufrey and other sites in the Aquitaine Basin (France) suggest a territory of 13,000 km 2 for the Neandertals there. 13,14 In spite of the observation that the majority of flint at the MIS 3 Crimean site of Karabi Tamchin came from 25 km away, suggesting an approximate territory of only 1,962 km 2 , Burke 15 -nine percent of the lithics there were produced on local material procured within about 15 km, but exotic flints have been recovered from sources as far as 250 km to the north and 180 km to the south, effectively defining a catchment that encompasses much of central France. 16 Fitting a simple ellipse to the distribution of quarry sources for the exotic flint at Champ Grand produces a territory estimate of 54,000 km 2 . ...
... While the predictions generated from the wolf data are largely concordant with estimates based on lithic transport, in no cases did the model predict home ranges of the sizes estimated from flint movement in the Aquitaine basin during MIS 7-6 (13,000 km 2 ), 13 north central Europe during MIS 4-3 (10,000 km 2 ), 14 or central France during MIS 3 (54,000 km 2 ). 16 This raises the possibility that the wolf-based estimates are too small. ...
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Adult human foragers expend roughly 30–60 kcal per km in unburdened walking at optimal speeds.1,2 In the context of foraging rounds and residential moves, they may routinely travel distances of 50–70 km per week, often while carrying loads.3 Movement on the landscape, then, is arguably the single most expensive item in the activity budgets of hunter-gatherers. Mobility costs may have been greater still for Neandertals. They had stocky, short-limbed physiques that were energetically costly to move4 and lived in relatively unproductive Pleistocene environments5 that may have required greater movement to deal with problems of biodepletion and resource patchiness.6 But just how mobile were the Neandertals?.
... Cada artefacto pode ser posicionado no processo de produção devido aos estigmas deixados pelas operações prévias que este preserva. Mais, esta abor- dagem permite a compreensão da organização geográfica de um processo técnico, uma vez que a identificação de cada etapa do processo pode ser identificada pela presença ou ausência dos sub-produtos num determinado sítio (Geneste, 1985(Geneste, , 1988). Consequentemente, pode ser observado um tratamento diferen- ciado das matérias-primas e dos suportes, o que nos pode auxiliar à compreensão da economia das matérias-primas e suportes no território explorado (Perlés, 1992). ...
... Each artifact can be positioned within the production process due to the knap- ping stigmata left by previous operations which are still preserved. In addition, this approach enables the understanding of the geographical arrangement of a technical process, since each phase of the process can be identified by the pres- ence or absence of sub-products in a given area (Geneste, 1985(Geneste, , 1988(Geneste, , 1991a. Consequently, a different treatment of the raw materials can be observed, which may help us to understand the economics of raw materials within the area under study (Perlés, 1992). ...
... The latter strategy aims at the production of bifaces with different roles: depending on the assemblages, the bifaces have been used as long use-life tools, as "cores" (Soressi 2002), or as tool-blanks (Boëda et al. , 1996. Since the mid-1980s, many lithic assemblages have been studied within this conceptual framework, which has helped to expand our knowledge of the internal variability within each system (Geneste 1988;Turq 1989;Boëda et al. 1990;Boëda 1991;Delagnes 1992;Jaubert 1993;Meignen 1993;Locht and Swinnen 1994;Jaubert and Farizy 1995;Texier and Francisco-Ortega 1995;Delagnes and Ropars 1995;Geneste et al. 1997, among others). In fact, these lithic production systems are far from rigid, and due to their inherent flexibility, the various flaking modalities recognized do not always match up to the limits of our conventional technological categories (see below). ...
... In some assemblages, the Levallois flakes are produced in order to closely fit the planned morphology of the final tools, especially in the case of preferential or recurrent uni/bidirectional flaking methods described, for instance, in the assemblages of Biache-St-Vaast IIA (Boëda 1988a) and Vaufrey, levels VII and VIII (Geneste 1988). In these cases, the Levallois products are either lightly retouched (a type of retouch that enhances the original morpho-functional attributes) or left unretouched (and probably used as such). ...
... The latter strategy aims at the production of bifaces with different roles: depending on the assemblages, the bifaces have been used as long use-life tools, as "cores" (Soressi 2002), or as tool-blanks (Boëda et al. , 1996. Since the mid-1980s, many lithic assemblages have been studied within this conceptual framework, which has helped to expand our knowledge of the internal variability within each system (Geneste 1988;Turq 1989;Boëda et al. 1990;Boëda 1991;Delagnes 1992;Jaubert 1993;Meignen 1993;Locht and Swinnen 1994;Jaubert and Farizy 1995;Texier and Francisco-Ortega 1995;Delagnes and Ropars 1995;Geneste et al. 1997, among others). In fact, these lithic production systems are far from rigid, and due to their inherent flexibility, the various flaking modalities recognized do not always match up to the limits of our conventional technological categories (see below). ...
... In some assemblages, the Levallois flakes are produced in order to closely fit the planned morphology of the final tools, especially in the case of preferential or recurrent uni/bidirectional flaking methods described, for instance, in the assemblages of Biache-St-Vaast IIA (Boëda 1988a) and Vaufrey, levels VII and VIII (Geneste 1988). In these cases, the Levallois products are either lightly retouched (a type of retouch that enhances the original morpho-functional attributes) or left unretouched (and probably used as such). ...
Chapter
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The technological approaches developed in Western Europe during the last two decades aim to define different systems of debitage (used here as a noun to denote the process of producing blanks). For the Middle Paleolithic, the best documented are the Levallois debitage system, the laminar production system, the discoidal debitage system, and the Quina debitage system. Their geographical and chronological distributions show some general trends: a greater diversity of the production systems coexisting within the same region (especially in Southwestern France) at the end of the Middle Paleolithic; an increased use of the systems characterized by a low degree of blank predetermination (Quina and discoidal systems, Levallois recurrent centripetal method), and the emergence of a flexible, multifunctional toolkit with a high curation potential. These changes can be attributed to groups with different technical traditions who kept their own fundamental technical identity but who also adopted similar mobility patterns during the unstable climatic period at the end of the Middle Paleolithic, resulting in shared forms of socioeconomic behavior (frequent population moves and increased residential mobility).
... Exception made for three cores, in the Middle Palaeolithic assemblage, chert is a secondary raw material, 917 present just in the form of retouched tools and flakes. These observations, make us suppose a sub-local 918 origin for radiolarite and an allochthonous provenience for chert, that was probably collected in a range of 919 some kilometres from the Trino hill (Geneste, 1988 morphologies that are often discarded before exhaustion. The cores show a preferential unipolar 924 exploitation that starts from a natural surface: a limited number of products is produced, and the core is 925 abandoned. ...
... In the Middle Palaeolithic assemblage, chert is a secondary raw material, mainly represented by retouched tools and flakes. This observation suggests a sub-local source for the radiolarite and an allochthonous provenience for chert (Geneste, 1988;Kuhn, 1992;Féblot-Augustins, 1999;Bourguignon et al., 2004;Jaubert & Delagnes, 2007;Meignen et al., 2009;Turq et al., 2013;Wilson et al., 2018), that was probably collected in a range of some kilometres from the Trino hill. According to available gological data and preliminary results of the ongoing study of supply areas, we can assume distances between 30 and 60 km. ...
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The Trino hill is an isolated relief located in north-western Italy, close to Trino municipality. The hill was subject of multidisciplinary studies during the 1970s, when, because of quarrying and agricultural activities, five concentrations of lithic artefacts were recognized and referred to a Palaeolithic occupation of the area. During the 1980s and the 1990s, surface collections continued, but the lithic finds have never been subject of specific studies. Even if most of the lithic assemblages count a few lithic implements, four collection areas (3, 13 E, 13 W and 14) have significative lithic assemblages, representing the most important evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in north-western Italy. The present work, in the limits imposed by a surface and not systematic collection, propose a technological study of the lithic artefacts from the Trino hill, with the aim to define the main features of the technological behaviour of the human groups that occupied the area. The results obtained allow to clearly identify a Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the Trino hill, characterized by the exploitation of vein quartz and other local raw materials; allochthonous varieties of chert were used in the next frequentation phases to produce blades and bladelets. Even if part of the laminar production can be referred to Neolithic, most of that remains of indeterminate chronology and could be the result of both an Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic human presence. The systematic and inclusive approach to the study of the Paleolithic of the Piedmont region proposed here has made it possible to obtain a first and realistic overview of the Paleolithic of the region. The methods used for the technological study are similar to those used for other sites in the region and have made it possible to link Trino's surface collections with data from sites systematically investigated in recent years.
... Exception made for three cores, in the Middle Palaeolithic assemblage, chert is a secondary raw material, present just in the form of retouched tools and akes. These observations, make us suppose a sub-local origin for radiolarite and an allochthonous provenience for chert, that was probably collected in a range of some kilometres from the Trino hill (Geneste, 1988;Kuhn, 1992;Féblot-Augustins, 1999;Bourguignon et al., 2004;Jaubert & Delagnes, 2007;Meignen et al., 2009;Turq et al., 2013;Wilson et al., 2018). In the considered Middle Palaeolithic assemblages, opportunistic reduction strategies are very well documented by cores and akes: they are applied on pebbles and polygonal blocks of various sizes and morphologies that are often discarded before exhaustion. ...
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The Trino hill is an isolated relief located in north-western Italy, close to Trino municipality. The hill was subject of multidisciplinary studies during the 70s, when, because of quarry activities and agricultural arrangements, five concentrations of lithic artefacts were recognized and referred to a Palaeolithic frequentation of the area. During the 80s and the 90s, surface collections continued, but the lithic finds have never been subject of specific studies. Even if most of the lithic assemblages count a few lithic implements, four collection areas (3, 13 E, 13 W and 14) have significative lithic assemblages, representing the most important evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in north-western Italy. The present work, in the limits imposed by a surface and not systematic collection, propose a technological study of the lithic artefacts from the Trino hill, with the aim to define the main features of the technological behaviour of the human groups that inhabited the area. The results obtained allow to clearly identify a Middle Palaeolithic frequentation of the Trino hill, characterized by the exploitation of vein quartz and other local raw materials; allochthonous varieties of chert were used in the next frequentation phases to produce blades and bladelets. Even if part of the laminar production can be referred to Neolithic, most of that remains of indeterminate chronology and could be the result of both an Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic human presence.
... In Middle Palaeolithic contexts, blanks issued from the exploitation of non-local raw materials have been usually interpreted as part of mobile toolkits (Féblot-Augustins, 1997;Geneste, 1988;Picin et al., 2020;Porraz, 2009;Turq et al., 2013) as well as the intensity of retouch has been considered as an indicator of transport through the landscape (Andrefsky Jr., 2006;Dibble, 1995Dibble, , 1987. Technological analysis led to the identification of mobile toolkits in several Palaeolithic contexts (Kuhn, 1992;Machado et al., 2017;Moncel et al., 2009;Picin et al., 2020;Porraz, 2009;Vaquero et al., 2019) but, as already pointed out by Martín-Viveros et al. (2020), a multidisciplinary approach to the study of this component is essential to go deep in the understanding and interpretation of mobility patterns and land-use of prehistoric groups. ...
... The distance between them was less than 5 km and around 10 km from the primary outcrop. Following the main definitions proposed for the catchment radius (Feblot-Augustins, 1999;Geneste, 1988;Mellars, 1996;Roebroeks, 1988), we could consider that the use of this chert type by Neanderthal populations was local and within an environment not particularly mountainous and in which the movement of human groups was not complicated. At these sites, the averages of this type were around 50% of the record, indicating that it was the most used chert in these places (Bel and Eixea, 2015) (Table 7). ...
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This paper presents the geochemical and petrographic characterization, along with the macroscopic observations, of several cherts from the central region of the Mediterranean Iberia. To determine the microfacies and microtextural features, thin-section samples were analyzed using polarizing light microscopy (PLM) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM/EDX). Geochemical analyses were performed using instrumental neutron activation analyses (INAA). With the data, multivariate statistical analysis by means of hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to the chemical variables to identify clusters among the chert samples. The results showed different geochemical features between cherts concerning major, minor, and trace elements. Archaeological samples from different sites demonstrated lithic raw material circulation and, thus, human mobility in the central region of Mediterranean Iberia during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.
... In Middle Palaeolithic contexts, blanks issued from the exploitation of non-local raw materials have been usually interpreted as part of mobile toolkits (Geneste 1988 (Dibble 1987(Dibble , 1995Andrefsky Jr. 2006). Technological analysis led to the identi cation of mobile toolkits in several Palaeolithic contexts (Kuhn 1992 Another debate is that opposing expedient and curated behaviour (Binford 1977(Binford , 1979. ...
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A technological and functional approach has been used to face the study of the lithic artefacts made in allochthonous raw materials from level 14 of the Ciota Ciara cave. The site it is the only reliable source of information about the Middle Palaeolithic peopling of north-western Italy. According to the results coming from different studies, the level 14 attests the phases of most intense frequentation of the cave, and it is the layer where allochthonous lithic raw materials are better represented. In a technological context already described as markedly opportunistic, where reduction sequences are strongly adapted to the characteristics of the local rocks available in the surrounding of the site, some tools and unretouched flake, made in raw materials collected at a distance between 2 and 30 km, have been introduced in the site. The present work is aimed to the understanding of the role of these artefacts within the technological organization of the Neanderthal groups that inhabited the cave. The obtained results indicate that these “exotic” artefacts were part of the mobile toolkit of the human groups of the Ciota Ciara cave and that they were multifunctional tools extensively used for different activities (mainly butchering activities). The obtained data led also to some observations about the technology of these Neanderthal groups and on their capability in terms of planning and forecasting during land mobility.
... The most common flint types recorded in the assemblage are identified as Cretaceous Senonian (grey and light brown) and Eocene (white-ish) flint. The sources of this flint can be considered 'local' according to the criteria devised by Geneste (1988): local being within a radius of 5 km, regional from 5 to 20 km and exotic found up to 80 km away. In this instance, good quality raw materials are available in the Segui Formation (Cretaceous origin with Late Miocene alteration) that outcrops in relative abundance in drainage systems within 5 km of Oued el Akarit. ...
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This article reports on a new project to investigate the activities of early Homo sapiens in the area of the Chotts ‘megalake’ in southern Tunisia. Excavations in 2015 and 2019 at Oued el Akarit revealed one of a number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) horizons near the top of a long sequence of Upper Pleistocene deposits. The site identified as Oued el Akarit ( Sondage 8 ) consists of lithic artefacts, bone fragments of large ungulates and pieces of ostrich eggshell. Many of the objects are burnt. Excavation of about nine square metres revealed that these were associated with a lightly trampled and combusted occupation surface. Amongst the identified artefacts were Levallois flakes some of which could be refitted, thereby indicating the generally undisturbed nature of the occupation. The lithic finds also included side scrapers and other tools diagnostic of the MSA but significantly no bifacial or tanged tools. OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) dating of the sediments and AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) radiocarbon dating of ostrich eggshell have produced uncalibrated age determinations in the range 37,000–40,000 years ago, one of the youngest ages for MSA sites in the region. This is the first example of a securely dated later MSA occupation in a riparian environment in south-eastern Tunisia.
... These referred to Flysch flint varieties in that area, in the Chalosse area in the southern part of The Landes, and the Aquitaine group, where systematic research had been carried out since the late 1980s. These describe both the main outcrops from a geological perspective (Bon et al. 1996;Normand 1987Normand , 1993Seronie-Vivien et al. 1987) and their application to the knowledge of prehistoric societies (Demars 1982;Foucher 2015;Geneste 1985Geneste , 1988Geneste & Rigaud 1989;Morala 1984;Simonnet 1981;Turq 1989). ...
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This paper is divided into three sections. The first section describes the historiographic evolution of the study of prehistoric lithic raw materials in the Basque Crossroads (in the north of the Iberian Peninsula) during the last three decades. The second section explains the currently available information about geological outcrops of flint in the eastern end of the Cantabrian Mountain range (the Basque-Cantabrian Basin), the upper Ebro valley and both sides of the western Pyrenees, in the central part of the northern Iberian Peninsula, as that was the main raw material used by hunter-gatherer groups in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. Finally, the last section describes the way in which progress in both aspects of research have enabled the introduction of new concepts and perspectives in the reconstruction of the social and economic dynamics of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. This has given rise to an innovative methodology that is able to address and solve important issues, particularly regarding mobility and territoriality patterns of those human groups, allowing the proposal of mobility and territoriality models that, while they will not match exactly the systems used by Upper Palaeolithic communities, represent significant progress in understanding the social and economic dynamics of hunter-gatherer groups.
... , " " 。 [ 26] 。 , [ 36] 、Turq ( Quina Mousterian) [ 37] 、Milliken " " [ 38] 、Fontana Bel Poggio [ 39] 、Kempacke Jerxen-Orbke [ 40] , Chaîne Opératoire , [ 45] 。 " " [ 46 -47] , " " , 。Schiffer " " : ...
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作为旧石器研究中十分重要的研究概念之一, 本文对“ 操作链” 的发展史、理论内涵、实践方法等方面进行讨论, 认为“ 操作链” 概念是一种动态的、综合的理论视角和研究体系, 强调了石器技术系统的两个行为过程(技术表现与思维运作)和一个互动关系(操作序列)。实践应用和术语对比, 为更好地运用“ 操作链” 研究石器并复原史前技术体系提供了参考。文章还提出了“ 操作链” 概念本身存在的问题, 希望能在今后的工作中得到完善。
... In some cases, the distance between the site and the raw materials can be high, like at la Baume-Bonne (France), for example, where the distance covered can be up to 60 km (Gagnepain and Gaillard, 2005). For other sites, the distance is much shorter, like at Vaufrey (France), for example, were the distance corresponds to a maximum of 20 km (Geneste, 1988). Specialists often estimate pre-Neanderthal procurement territories from the end of the Lower Palaeolithic and the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic in the South of France to correspond to about a 50-kmradius (Geneste, 1991;Bourguignon et al., 2006;Delagnes et al., 2006;Chalard et al., 2007). ...
Article
In this paper, we consider human mobility through their herbivore prey. Human mobility and territorial management are driven by many factors, including the specific acquisition of targeted resources, depending on their behaviour and their availability in the nearby environment. Animal acquisition for subsistence requires specific Human group organization. The observation of micro-wear on herbivore teeth can provide information about the relative duration of human occupation in a given stratigraphic level. The comparison of duration accumulation patterns from archaeological and paleontological sequences contributes to identifying specifically human behaviours. For this preliminary study, we focus on Equus and Bos from the South of France between the Lower Palaeolithic and the Middle Palaeolithic, as the first taxon is often well represented in Palaeolithic sites while the second is less common. We worked on 17 fossil populations from archaeological and paleontological sites. This study shows different patterns for human and hyena acquisition of horses. The pluri-seasonal pattern for this species suggests selective acquisition of horses by human groups and more opportunistic procurement for Bos. This refines the hypothesis of analogous hyena and pre-Neanderthal behaviour and underlines the importance of paleontological sites for defining human-specific behavioural traits.
... The richness of stone material types e.g. igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, in an archaeological assemblage, the geographic distances over which those materials were transported, and the technological forms in which they were transported have provided empirical benchmarks (Feblot-Augustins 1993, 1997a, 1997bGamble 1986Gamble , 1999Geneste 1988Geneste , 1989 for inferring the organization of hominin behavioural strategies. ...
Thesis
The aim of this study is to identify whether technological aspects related to the ‘African pattern’ of the Acheulean bifaces were interconnected with the use of certain raw materials. A total sample from Pniel 6 and Cave of Hearths, South Africa, and Tabun Cave, Israel comprising 313 handaxes, (63 made of quartzite, 87 made of andesite, 160 made of flint and 18 made of hornfels) and 204 cleavers, (118 made of andesite and 88 made of quartzite) were subjected to detailed technological study. The study revealed that handaxes of lava and metamorphic rocks are mainly made on flake blanks, whilst handaxes made of sedimentrary rock are mainly made on cobbles. This could reflect behavioural preferences, or be the result of specific techniques or shape and size of raw material. Furthermore, raw materials associated with high percentages of flake blanks are also associated with high percentages of cleavers. Cleavers are almost exclusively made on flake blanks. This could reflect conservatism, concerning the blank type of cleavers. Cleavers made of lava are more elongated. This could be related to Victoria West Core method, which was the preferred technique for lava LCTs. Handaxes made on flakes are not different in size than those made on cobbles, and this applies to all materials. Handaxes’ size is not affected by use of different types of rocks. Finally, the plan-form of handaxes and cleavers is almost the same for different blank types and raw materials used. The flint bifaces of Tabun are different regarding almost all the technological studied aspects: they are mainly made on cobbles, smaller, slightly broader and present greater bifacial modification. This could be a result of size and shape of raw material selected, which reflects behavioural preferences. Due to those differences ‘african affinities’ cannot be attributed.
... Most case studies and compilations of data on lithic raw material procurement during the Middle Palaeolithic suggest that sources are generally located within 5 km, and only occasionally within 20-30 km from sites (cf. Geneste, 1988;Féblot-Augustins, 1993, 1997Wilson, 2007;Fernandes et al., 2008;Neruda, 2012;Spinapolice, 2012;Wilson and Browne, 2014). Only small numbers of Levallois flakes and retouched tools could travel up to 300 km. ...
Article
Lumps of mineral pigments are the more widespread archaeological remains found at Mousterian sites that may have been used by Neanderthals for symbolic activities. The characterisation of their chemical composition is essential to identify behavioural consistencies in their selection, transformation, and use, reconstruct changes through time in Neanderthals cultural practices, and discuss the emergence of symbolic cultures. In the Dordogne department of France, hundreds of black lumps, often bearing traces of intentional modification, were recovered at Middle (MP) and Upper Palaeolithic (UP) sites. In this paper we apply particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) to a representative sample of black lumps recovered at three MP and four UP sites as well as eight geological outcrops from this region with the aim of using major, minor, and trace elements content to identify potential sources and explore intra- and inter-site variability in the use of black colouring matter. Results suggest that MP and UP communities systematically searched for and surveyed Mn-rich formations to collect Mnrich lumps. Differences in composition indicate that archaeological lumps were collected at a number of different outcrops, not sampled in the present study. A higher compositional variability is observed at UP compared to MP sites with single cultural layers. This suggests that UP modern humans may have, in some cases, exploited a wider range of Mn-rich sources than Mousterian Neanderthals.
... A partir de los años 60 hubo un cambio en los planteamientos científicos de la Arqueología Experimental al incorporar el concepto de cadena operativa (Mauss, 1947, Leroi-Gourham, 1964, Pelegrin et al., 1988), por el que los objetos arqueológicos se analizan y reproducen a partir de una serie de procesos técnicos y tecnológicos que van desde la elección de la materia prima hasta el abandono del elemento realizado, pasando por su producción y utilización. De esta forma, la Arqueología Experimental ha aportado una mayor objetividad global en el análisis de los elementos culturales (Semenov, 1957; Geneste, 1988; Karlin, 1991) fundamentándose en el establecimiento de las relaciones existentes entre un sistema técnico y la organización socioeconómica que las ha producido (Lemonnier, 1976; Carbonell et al., 1983; Kelly, 1983; Pelegrin, 1990; Ramos, 1999). En la actualidad, la experimentación se ha mostrado como una excelente metodología en la verificación de hipótesis al introducir nuevos parámetros de análisis como los gestos, secuencias, cualidades de los materiales, tiempos de elaboración, así como, aprendizaje y capacidades (Boëda et al., 1990; Ploux, 1994; Baena, 1998; Terradillos y Alonso, 2008 inter alia)., 2001). ...
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Resumen: La Arqueología Experimental es una disciplina científica en auge que facilita la comprensión de las diferentes actividades desarrolladas por el ser humano a lo largo de la Prehistoria. Su dinamismo y visualidad la han convertido en una excelente herramienta de transmisión de conocimientos tanto en la divulgación como en la didáctica. En los últimos años la Arqueología Experimental está llegando a las aulas universitarias aportando un nuevo enfoque a la interpretación de los modos de vida del pasado prehistórico, al presentar con una gran interactividad los diferentes procesos de producción de instrumentos. En este artículo se presenta un estado de la cuestión y un ejemplo práctico de la aplicación de la Arqueología Experimental como herramienta didáctica en la Universidad de Burgos. Palabras clave: Arqueología Experimental, Didáctica, Prehistoria, Procesos de aprendizaje Abstract: Experimental Archaeology is a growing scientific discipline, which makes easier to comprehend the different activities developed by human beings along Prehistory. Its visual and dynamic nature has converted it into an excellent tool of knowledge transmission, in didactics as well divulgations programs. In the last years, Experimental Archaeology has been present in university studies, contributing with a new focus on how to interpretate prehistoric ways of life, showing the processes of tool production in clear and interactive way. In this article, we express its current state and a practical example on how to apply the Experimental Archaeology as an educational method in the University of Burgos.
... frequented Vaufrey encompassed a 50 km radius around the site. While more detailed analyses of raw material exploitation patterns revealed clear evidence for particular provisioning strategies (Rigaud, 1982;Geneste, 1988), subsistence behaviours inferred from the faunal remains of layer VIII have been the subject of some debate. Binford (1988) argued that the Middle Palaeolithic occupants of the cave, as well as contemporary groups in southwestern France, were more scavengers than active hunters. ...
Article
Grotte Vaufrey, located in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, is well known for its substantial archaeological sequence containing a succession of Acheulean and Mousterian occupations. While over the last thirty years numerous studies have attempted to outline a detailed chronostratigraphy for this important sequence, the failure to employ a common chronological framework has complicated its interpretation. Here, we aim to resolve these inconsistencies by providing a new chronology for the site based on luminescence dating. To this end, thermally-transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) dates were obtained from eight sediment samples distributed throughout the sequence, which, when combined with already available chronological information, produce a new chronostratigraphic model for the site. Our results demonstrate that the Typical Mousterian extends from MIS 7 to MIS 5, while the earliest Acheulean occupation could be associated with MIS 8 and may date to as early as MIS 10. When compared with other regional sequences, the Acheulean levels from the Grotte Vaufrey provide evidence for one of the earliest hominin occupations in southwestern France.
... Similarly, at the nearby MIS 3 site of Le Rond de Saint-Arcons, raw materials were imported from up to 40 km away, indicating a potential maximum territory area of 5,024 km 2 (Fernandes et al. 2008). A larger territory-13,000 km 2 -has been suggested for Neandertals of the Aquitaine Basin (south-western France) based on raw materials in MIS 7-6 levels at Vaufrey and other sites (Geneste 1988;Féblot-Augustins 1993). At the (likely MIS 3) eastern European site of Karabi Tamchin in Crimea, the majority of flint was harvested from 25 km away, implying an approximate territory of only 1,962 km 2 (Burke 2006). ...
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Inferences about Neandertal home range sizes have historically been reconstructed with reference to lithic raw material transport distances. Here we use data on northern latitude social carnivores to predict home range sizes for Neandertal groups. Given that Neandertals must have relied heavily on animal protein and fat in the plant food-poor environments of Pleistocene Europe, their home range sizes and levels of logistical mobility were likely largely determined by prey abundance and distribution. We use the gray wolf (Canis lupus) to develop a model that relates climatic variables and predator group aggregate mass to home range size. Pack size data were combined with average wolf mass values to produce mass-specific terri-tory sizes (in km 2 kg −1), which in turn allowed for the prediction of home range areas for Neandertal groups of varying sizes. Results indicate that even at fairly small social group sizes (less than 33 individuals) Neandertals likely required and maintained large territories (≈1,400–5,400 km 2), which is consistent with results of studies of lithic raw material procurement patterns. The concordance between these two types of estimates lends support to the idea that lithic raw material procurement was embedded in subsistence mobility in the European Mousterian.
... Además, pudo demostrar que las industrias líticas de Bárenhóhle pertenecían a diversas ocupaciones. En la Grotte Vaufrey (Dordogne) (Geneste, 1988) se utilizaron los mismos criterios, llegando a unas conclusiones similares. ...
Article
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This article summarises the Middle Palaeolithic of Central Europe, reflecting our present state of knowledge and current questions En este artículo el autor presenta un estado de la cuestión sobre los estudios llevados a cabo en el Centro de Europa el Paleolítico medio. Paleólitico Medio, Centro de Europa, Cronología del Pleistoceno Medio y Superior.
... El concepto de cadena operativa creado y desarrollado tras la II Guerra Mundial (Pelegrin et alii., 1988) unido al estudio de colecciones arqueológicas y experimentales permitieron ver desde otra perspectiva la industria lítica. Ello permitió reconocer técnicas de talla a través de productos que hasta entonces eran poco o nada diagnósticos de las mismas (Geneste, 1988). Este hecho ha permitido reelaborar el concepto de talla levallois. ...
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In the last 20-30 years, numerous advances have been made in the knowledge of the societies of end of Middle Pleistocene. The result has been the abandonment of the positions that dominated the investigation in good part of second half of century XX. On the other hand, in this stage they continue being used the concepts of Middle and Lower Palaeolithic. In this article we will try to show as it has been the evolution of these concepts in the last 20 or 30 years. Also, we will see which are the problems which the investigation in the study of the industries of end Middle Pleistocene. Finally, we will be centered in the paper of the Iberian Peninsula through the analysis of the most significant archeological sites.
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It is widely believed that the design of transported artifacts and toolkits employed by mobile populations is influenced by two main factors, portability and potential utility. Choices about the kinds of artifacts to carry around can be modeled as an optimization problem, in which it is beneficial to obtain the greatest potential utility for the minimum total weight. This study approaches the problem analytically, making a few simple assumptions about artifact geometry and the relations between utility and artifact size. If artifact utility is calculated as a function of potential for renewal, transported toolkits should consist entirely of relatively small finished tools. Moreover, most gains in durability or multifunctionality that require increases in overall size are outweighed by increased transport cost. Inconsistencies between these expectations and ethnographic and archaeological observations point to situations in which artifact functionality is more closely constrained by overall size or mass.
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Mobility plays a large role in generating the patterns of stone rawmaterial usage seen in forager archaeological sites, but how best to translate these patterns into a complete quantitative characterization of the organization of forager mobility remains a difficult problem. The number of potential variables involved, including rawmaterial quality and abundance as well as individual movement and technological decisions, makes it extremely difficult to analyze mobility independent of all other influences. This papers develops a formal model of forager mobility based on a wellknown stochastic process termed a Lvy random walk. When combined with neutral assumptions about how stone is procured and used, the model may be used to recover detailed quantitative information about the organization of forager mobility from rawmaterial transport distances. The model has clear behavioral interpretations in terms of levels of planning, risk sensitivity, and timeenergy optimization and thus provides several potential currencies for comparative studies of prehistoric mobility strategies. How other behavioral decisions such as rawmaterial selectivity and even social exchange of raw material might influence patterns of stone rawmaterial transport is also explored.
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In this paper, the craftsmanship of the Late Neolithic flint daggers in Scandianvia is investigated. The purpose of the investigation is to map the degree of skill invested in each production stage of the daggers and then relate the degree of craftsmanship to social factors. This is achieved by applying an operational-chain approach to the dagger production system, and by comparison with anthropologically and historically documented crafts in traditional societies. It is concluded that the daggers required knowledge of complicated recipes of action as well as a well-developed muscle memory that can only be acquired through practice. Thus, the craft is interpreted as demanding some form of an institutionalised apprenticeship system that could guarantee that it could be reproduced for at least 24 generations. It is further suggested that the flint dagger technology was consciously organised to keep the recipes of action of the technology exclusive to certain segments of the society.
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Recent research has characterized the procurement of lithic raw materials for flaked stone technology as embedded in food procurement activities, and constrained by logistical factors such as mass, time, and energy. Many have assumed that these variables reflect the need for humans to both move themselves to resources, and carry materials with them. This paper explores the implication of these ideas through the development of particular research project in the Maritime Peninsula, in the Northeast of North America. Through this research process, I explore the complex interplay among raw materials, bulk procurement, water transportation, and regional patterning of archaeological lithic assemblages. I initially consider the role of embedded procurement as a structuring mechanism for the relationship between lithic raw-material diversity and catchment, but through a exploration of intersite and inter-feature variability, I consider the role of bulk procurement in this patterning. I conclude that canoes may significantly influence hunter–gatherer lithic procurement, in terms of the extraction of resources, and their reduction and use.
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The extent to which lithic artifacts are consumed or reduced can be attributed to a number of factors, including raw material accessibility, differential transport, patterns of site use, and tool function. In order to isolate the influence of any single factor, independent data must be used to control for variation caused by the other factors. Variation in the reduction of cores and retouched tools in eight Mousterian assemblages from west-central Italy reflects the effects of several processes and contingencies. The availability of lithic raw materials strongly affects the extent of core exploitation but not the intensity of tool retouch or reduction. Evidence for differential transport accounts for some but not all of the remaining contrasts in tool reduction. Information derived from associated faunas suggests that contrasts in the duration or stability of cave-use events as well as activity variation stand behind some of the most pronounced differences in the intensity of reduction among the lithic assemblages.
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This paper describes the excavation, stratigraphy, and lithic assemblages of Middle Stone Age sites from the Omo Kibish Formation (Lower Omo Valley, southwestern Ethiopia). Three sites were excavated, two in Kibish Member I (KHS and AHS) and one at the base of Member III (BNS). The assemblages are dominated by relatively high-quality raw materials procured as pebbles from local gravels. The principal modes of core preparation are radial/centripetal Levallois and discoidal. Retouched tools are rare. Foliate bifaces are present, as are larger tools, such as handaxes, picks, and lanceolates, but these are more common among surface finds than among excavated assemblages. Middle Stone Age assemblages shed light on the adaptations of the earliest-known Homo sapiens populations in Africa.
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