Lithic bipolar methods as an adaptive strategy through space and time

Horta, Pedro; Bicho, Nuno; Cascalheira, João

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103263

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 173 publications

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“…To what extent the use of the bipolar technique reflects choices and/or technical constraints cannot be precisely established. However, we assume that size constraints played a key role in the use of this technique, following a pattern which is recurrent in all contexts and all periods of prehistory [ 29 , 59 ]. These constraints might have outweighed the disadvantages of this technique, notably a reduced efficiency for the production of cutting edges and a significant loss of mass, as shown by our experimental data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diminutive size of the Shungura assemblages is clearly related to the small size of the available pebbles in the Lower Omo Valley, which, combined with the variable quality of the pebbles, required adaptive solutions from the toolmakers. One of the most common solutions is the use of bipolar percussion, extensively documented in quartz assemblages around the world and from all periods of prehistory [ 29 ]. However, its role in the Shungura assemblages remains to be determined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This technical choice was interpreted by the same author as the only possible choice available to knappers in order to split the water-rounded quartz pebbles available in the Lower Omo Valley. Bipolar flaking is strongly linked to the exploitation of quartz at a number of African ESA sites [27][28][29][30][31][32]. Experimental studies repeatedly highlight the benefits of this technique when applied to quartz, such as facilitating core reduction [28,33], reducing fragmentation [34], or efficiently producing cutting edges [28,35,36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the relative influence of raw materials, percussion techniques, and hominin skill levels on the diversity of the early Oldowan assemblages: Insights from the Shungura Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

et al. 2023

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The eastern African Oldowan has been documented in multiple raw material contexts and physical environments and displays considerable differences in terms of technological complexity. The relative influence of percussion techniques and raw material quality are central to debates concerning hominin skill levels as a potential driver of change during the period between 2.6 and 2 million-years (Ma). The early Oldowan assemblages from the Shugura Formation play a key role in these debates due to a number of distinctive features, including the small size of the artefacts and poorly controlled flaking. Here we mobilize quantified and replicable experimental data in order to (a) assess the significance of the bipolar technique in the Omo archaeological assemblages and (b) discriminate the respective impact of raw materials, technical choices and knapper skill levels on the unique character of these assemblages. By combining descriptive statistics with regression tree models, our analysis demonstrates knapper skill level to be of minimal importance in this context for the production of sharp-edged flakes. The absence of a link between skill and knapping success reflects the combined effect of raw material constraints, the frequent use of the bipolar technique, and relatively simple technical objectives. Our analysis confirms the key role played by local environmental conditions in the unique appearance of the Shungura assemblages, a relationship which has been frequently suggested but never demonstrated. Beyond the operational and sensorimotor skills considered in most studies, we suggest that the diversity of early Oldowan assemblages should be better sought in the cognitive abilities developed by early toolmakers as a response to landscape learning and use, two elements of early human evolution that remain largely unexplored.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the relative influence of raw materials, percussion techniques, and hominin skill levels on the diversity of the early Oldowan assemblages: Insights from the Shungura Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

et al. 2023

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“…In our own study, with neither social nor physical guidance regarding knapping know-how (or restrictions on the expression of this know-how), participants were free to express, and promptly expressed, a wider range of techniques. In addition, there were many individuals in our study that switched between techniques, but these were likely a response to the dynamically changing form of the core (e.g., switching from freehand or passive hammer to bipolar when cores are more reduced and have fewer workable angles) ( 26 , 51 ). With regard to the subsequent tool use, it is worth pointing out that our protocol theoretically enabled, and to some degree, possibly even channeled the participants toward, a perceived need to use cutting tools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early knapping techniques do not necessitate cultural transmission

2022

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Early stone tool production, or knapping, techniques are claimed to be the earliest evidence for cultural transmission in the human lineage. Previous experimental studies have trained human participants to knap in conditions involving opportunities for cultural transmission. Subsequent knapping was then interpreted as evidence for a necessity of the provided cultural transmission opportunities for these techniques. However, a valid necessity claim requires showing that individual learning alone cannot lead to early knapping techniques. Here, we tested human participants ( N = 28) in cultural isolation for the individual learning of early knapping techniques by providing them with relevant raw materials and a puzzle task as motivation. Twenty-five participants were technique naïve according to posttest questionnaires, yet they individually learned early knapping techniques, therewith producing and using core and flake tools. Early knapping techniques thus do not necessitate cultural transmission of know-how and could likewise have been individually derived among premodern hominins.

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“…The other interesting issue is the suggested dominance of the bipolar-on-anvil knapping mode in Tunel Wielki Cave. This knapping mode is the simplest one, recognized already in the Oldowan assemblages, and is traditionally ascribed to Mode 1 technology [101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109] . In European sites, the bipolar-on-anvil technique prevails at the earliest Lower Palaeolithic sites, e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontiers of the Lower Palaeolithic expansion in Europe: Tunel Wielki Cave (Poland)

Kot

Berto

Krajcarz

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Peopling of Central Europe by Middle Pleistocene hominids is highly debatable, mainly due to the relatively harsh climatic and environmental conditions that require cultural and anatomical adjustments. At least several archaeological sites certify human occupation in the region dated back to MIS 13-11, but they represent open-air settlements. Based on the new fieldwork conducted in Tunel Wielki Cave, we can date the human occupation traces in the cave to MIS 14-12. Bipolar-on-anvil knapping technique prevails in the lithic assemblage, made exclusively in flint. The obtained results have given ground for studying the frontiers of human oikumene and the required cultural adaptive abilities.

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Lithic bipolar methods as an adaptive strategy through space and time

Cited by 6 publications

References 173 publications

Exploring the relative influence of raw materials, percussion techniques, and hominin skill levels on the diversity of the early Oldowan assemblages: Insights from the Shungura Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

Exploring the relative influence of raw materials, percussion techniques, and hominin skill levels on the diversity of the early Oldowan assemblages: Insights from the Shungura Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

Early knapping techniques do not necessitate cultural transmission

Frontiers of the Lower Palaeolithic expansion in Europe: Tunel Wielki Cave (Poland)

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