Handaxe reduction and its influence on shape: An experimental test and archaeological case study

Shipton, Ceri; Clarkson, Chris

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.06.029

Cited by 40 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Methodologically, one of the most successful has been the flip test developed by Hardaker and Dunn (Hardaker and Dunn, 2005), which has seen usage in a number of different contexts (Shipton and Clarkson, 2015;Underhill, 2007), and other techniques have also been promoted (Lycett, 2008). In addition, there have been a number of theoretical stances that have sought to extract behavioural meaning from Acheulean handaxes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

McNabb

Cole

Hoggard

2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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The Acheulean is defined by its iconic tool type, the handaxe, and a suite of other large cutting tools (LCTs). These tools retain information on technical and procedural practices concerned with the manufacture of these butchery tools and carcass processing knives. The Acheulean straddles the period in which more ancient hominin species (H. erectus and H. heidelbergensis) give way to archaic H. sapiens (sensu lato) amongst whom the ancestor of modern humans may be found. The roots of modern behaviour may be present in these handaxe making hominin species, and the handaxes themselves, through proxy data such as bilateral symmetry, may chart hominin cognitive evolution as researchers such as T. Wynn and F. Coolidge (2016), amongst others, have argued. But the search for the earliest consistent application of symmetry, and its persistence thereafter has been hampered by the lack of large datasets, spanning the temporal extent of the Acheulean, and analysed through a single consistent methodology.Our paper has two aims. The first, and in the absence of a large comparative data set of earlier Acheulean handaxes, is to assess the degree to which symmetry is consistently applied to the making of handaxes in the later Acheulean (=<0.5 mya), a time when bilateral planform symmetry should already be an integral component in handaxe making. The dataset we select is the British Acheulean from MIS 13 -MIS 3/4. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time handaxe symmetry has been assessed on a large body of British Acheulean handaxes. Our second aim is to present a relatively simple and low tech methodology for the analysis of handaxes

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

McNabb

Cole

Hoggard

2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…Additionally, digital recording methods like two-and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) photogrammetry have markedly improved our ability to morphometrically compare experimental lithic specimens (Eren et al 2008;Grosman 2016;Heighway 2011;Muller and Clarkson 2016a;Sumner and Riddle 2008). Finally, the application of 3D scanning to lithic technology and experimentation is a burgeoning technique which has improved our ability to accurately measure lithic attributes (Clarkson 2013;Clarkson and Hiscock 2011;Clarkson et al 2014;Grosman 2016;Grosman et al 2014;Lin et al 2010;Muller and Clarkson 2014;2016b;Richardson et al 2014;Sholts et al 2012;Shott and Trail 2010;Zaidner and Grosman 2015) and make comprehensive analyses of complex technologies (Archer and Braun 2010;Grosman et al 2011a;Grosman et al 2011b;Grosman et al 2008;Li et al 2015;Shipton 2016;Shipton and Clarkson 2015a;2015b). These methods, among others, contribute to increasing the precision and accuracy of lithic experimentation, in part addressing the concerns raised by critics.…”

Section: Addressing Criticisms: Hypothesis Testing and Recent Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While experimental knapping has revealed key information about the reduction sequences involved in entire assemblages (Callahan 1987;Reti 2016), these experiments are more often applied to specific technologies. For example, our understanding of bipolar knapping (Kuijt et al 1995), handaxes (Bradley and Sampson 1986;Shipton et al 2009;Stout et al 2014), other assorted bifaces (Amick et al 1988;Aubry et al 2008;), Levallois flaking (Tryon et al 2005), points (Akerman 2007), adzes 2015b;Shipton et al 2016) and daggers (Stafford 1998; have all been influenced by experimental knapping. These studies focus on the successive stages of lithic manufacture and at times highlight diagnostic debitage than can signal the presence of certain technologies even in the absence of end-products.…”

Section: Recent Applications Of Experimental Knappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As was discussed in Chapter 2, the use of 2D and 3D photogrammetry and geometric morphometrics have increasingly played a role in lithic experimentation (Archer and Braun 2010;Clarkson 2013;Clarkson and Hiscock 2011;Grosman 2016;Grosman et al 2011a;Grosman et al 2014;Grosman et al 2011b;Grosman et al 2008;Li et al 2015;Lin et al 2010;Muller and Clarkson 2014;2016b;Richardson et al 2014;Shipton 2016;Shipton and Clarkson 2015a;2015b;Sholts et al 2012;Shott and Trail 2010;Zaidner and Grosman 2015). Undoubtedly, these analyses will only grow more complex with the introduction of more refined 3D methods and the application of machine-learning algorithms to archaeology.…”

Section: Avenues For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beyond estimating reduction intensity, 3D scanning approaches to lithic analysis are becoming more common, and powerful conclusions have been drawn using such technology including morphology (Bretzke and Conard 2012), reduction sequences 2015b;GorenInbar et al 2011), typology (Grosman et al 2008), cortex ratios (Lin et al 2010) and taphonomy (Grosman et al 2011b). However, such 3D scanning approaches remain costly and time consuming, thus measuring platform area with 3D scans is rarely feasible, especially in field archaeology scenarios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of experimental knapping in empirically testing key themes in the evolution of lithic technology: reduction intensity, efficiency and behavioural complexity

Muller¹

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Experimental knapping has complimented and stimulated lithic analyses for over a century.Throughout this period, the discipline has witnessed an increase in the scientific rigour and theoretical grounding with which these studies are conducted. This thesis charts these key trends and in doing so establishes a best-practice model of experimental knapping, the veracity of which is in turn tested using four new lithic experiments. These case-studies employ experimental knapping to advance our understanding of flake platform measurement, reduction intensity, technological efficiency, and behavioural complexity.The first case-study, Chapter 3, offers a more accurate and precise calliper-based method of flake platform measurement that relies on simple geometric approximations of platform shape rather than the inflexible and unreliable existing method of multiplying platform width by thickness. In Chapter 4, a new reduction intensity metric for backed blades, a hitherto overlooked tool-type, is developed and tested on the backed blades from an early Neolithic site in Turkey. This new metric allows a reconstruction of the raw material consumption patterns at the site, finding that the backed blades These four case-studies, coupled with a consideration of existing knapping experiments, allow an understanding of how experimental knapping is embedded in the broader archaeological research process, and ultimately tests the efficacy of a best-practice model of experimental knapping. This model identifies the initial scope, methodological control, and breadth of interpretations as the key variables dictating the validity of an experiment. While knapping experiments may differ markedly in their scope and control, they do not necessarily vary in their validity. Instead, it is the interplay of these variables that dictates the validity of experimentation. Within this best-practice model, lithic experiments are most robust when the scale of the initial scope, methodological control and ensuing interpretations are congruent, and when they involve explicit and falsifiable hypothesis testing.iii

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Not a matter of shape: The influence of tool characteristics on electrodermal activity in response to haptic exploration of Lower Palaeolithic tools

et al. 2021

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Objectives Haptics involves somatosensory perception through the skin surface and dynamic touch based on the proprioceptive response of the whole body. Handling Palaeolithic stone tools influences the arousal and attentional engagement, which can be detected and measured through electrodermal activity. Although tool shape has generally been studied to consider tool functions or tool making, it is also a major factor in tool sensing and haptic perception. The purpose of this survey is to analyze whether the electrodermal reactions are influenced by stone tool morphology. Methods We first quantify the morphological variability of 72 stone tools through geometric morphometrics. Then, 12 stone tools from the previous sample were randomly selected to perform the electrodermal analysis in a sample of 46 right‐handed adults. Results Elongation is the main factor involved in Lower Palaeolithic shape variation, followed by the position of the maximum thickness. Attention and manipulation time are mainly influenced by tool size, while arousal mostly correlates with tool weight. Electrodermal activity is apparently not influenced by the overall tool shape. Tool size, weight, and base morphology are the variables that mainly trigger an electrodermal reaction. Conclusions Electrophysiological reaction is more sensitive to specific physical features of the tool than to its general outline. These features are not particularly different in worked pebbles and handaxes in terms of grasping, but underwent remarkable changes in other technological traditions. That changes associated with behavioral performances can be employed in cognitive archaeology to investigate the relationships between tool sensing and tool use.

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Handaxe reduction and its influence on shape: An experimental test and archaeological case study

Cited by 40 publications

References 18 publications

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

The role of experimental knapping in empirically testing key themes in the evolution of lithic technology: reduction intensity, efficiency and behavioural complexity

Not a matter of shape: The influence of tool characteristics on electrodermal activity in response to haptic exploration of Lower Palaeolithic tools

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