Debitage variability among multiple flint knappers

Williams, Justin P.; Andrefsky, William

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.11.008

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The difference is driven by a shift in flake types among Bridger nodules in the production trajectory, such that debitage-only Bridger nodules tend to have a greater than expected amount of angular shatter and core-reduction debris, while all other raw materials tend to have more bifacial or indeterminate flakes, like those in the maintenance trajectory. While Tomka (1989) argues that angular shatter is a product of core reduction, some flint knappers make more angular shatter during early stage biface reduction than others who are reducing cores (Williams and Andrefsky, 2011), which suggests that angular shatter is more likely created during the earliest stages of reduction and not necessarily just during core reduction. Thus, while debitage-only nodules associated with the maintenance trajectory tend to reflect bifacial reduction, the debitage-only nodules associated with a production trajectory tends to exemplify a focus on the early stage reduction of Bridger chert nodules and the bifacial reduction of all other materials.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaic semisedentary foragers and analytical nodule analysis: The Aught-Six site of Northwestern Colorado

Landt¹,

Williams

2018

North American Archaeologist

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Nodule analysis is designed to highlight the ways in which different lithic sources were utilized and incorporated into the stone tool industries of past societies. In 2008 and 2009, excavations in the Piceance Basin of Northwestern Colorado, an area with local chert and quartzite quarries, provided an opportunity to use a nodule analyses for a Section 106-driven project. The Aught-Six site lithic assemblage suggests that Archaic tool kits in Northwestern Colorado are likely to be heavily reliant on a variety of raw materials found across the region, though Bridger chert nodules were the primary objective pieces for the new tools during the basin house occupation. The results of the analyses not only highlight specific areas of projectile point production, but they also indicate that nodule analysis remains a powerful analytical method for understanding how raw materials are incorporated into the technological systems of semisedentary Archaic foragers.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaic semisedentary foragers and analytical nodule analysis: The Aught-Six site of Northwestern Colorado

Landt¹,

Williams

2018

North American Archaeologist

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“…Through spatial isolation and/or limited diffusion opportunities between local groups, local solutions within social groups could be consolidated and subsequently developed into local traditions [104] , [107] , [108] .The development of local traditions based on movement pattern variability could have been supported through a stepping-stone model [109] – [111] as suggested by early Oldowan and Archeulean sites [50] , [111] . Therefore inter-individually movement variability could potentially be in parts responsible for artifact variability and variability in technological practices across sites [50] , [55] , [112] – [115] . For example, the two experienced knappers from MA3 (see Figure 8 ) grouped into Cluster 7 could have formed novel groups using different movements although stemming initially from group MA3.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement Pattern Variability in Stone Knapping: Implications for the Development of Percussive Traditions

Rein

Nonaka

Bril³

2014

PLoS ONE

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The earliest direct evidence for tool-use by our ancestors are 2.6 million year old stone tools from Africa. These earliest artifacts show that, already, early hominins had developed the required advanced movement skills and cognitive capacities to manufacture stone tools. Currently, it is not well understood, however, which specific movement skills are required for successful stone knapping and accordingly it is unknown how these skills emerged during early hominin evolution. In particular, it is not clear which striking movements are indicative of skilled performance, how striking movement patterns vary with task and environmental constraints, and how movement patterns are passed on within social groups. The present study addresses these questions by investigating striking movement patterns and striking variability in 18 modern stone knappers (nine experienced and nine novices). The results suggest that no single movement pattern characterizes successful stone knapping. Participants showed large inter-individual movement variability of the elementary knapping action irrespective of knapping experience and knapping performance. Changes in task- and environmental constraints led knappers to adapt their elementary striking actions using a combination of individual and common strategies. Investigation of striking pattern similarities within social groups showed only partial overlap of striking patterns across related individuals. The results therefore suggest that striking movement patterns in modern stone knappers are largely specific to the individual and movement variability is not indicative of knapping performance. The implications of these results for the development of percussive traditions are discussed.

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“…For instance, flake or blade mass may be predicted by the exterior striking platform angle, but this can vary depending on the force applied (Pelcin 1997) and the type of percussion used (hard or soft; Shott et al 2000). Other factors such as differences in raw material (Bradbury et al 2008) and in flinknapper production techniques have been shown to introduce significant differences in flake characteristics (Whittaker 1987; Williams and Andrefsky 2011). In an effort to reduce the blade character differences in our equation, we randomly selected an assemblage of blade blanks produced at the quarry area from Dhra’ to develop a measure of original blade length.…”

Section: The Pointed Tool Curation Index (Ptci)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithic Technological Organization and Hafting in Early Villages

Quinn

Goodale²,

Andrefsky³

et al. 2019

Am. Antiq.

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Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra’, Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra’. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages.

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Debitage variability among multiple flint knappers

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

Archaic semisedentary foragers and analytical nodule analysis: The Aught-Six site of Northwestern Colorado

Archaic semisedentary foragers and analytical nodule analysis: The Aught-Six site of Northwestern Colorado

Movement Pattern Variability in Stone Knapping: Implications for the Development of Percussive Traditions

Lithic Technological Organization and Hafting in Early Villages

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