Mode 1 or mode 2? “Small tools” in the technical variability of the European Lower Palaeolithic: The site of Ficoncella (Tarquinia, Lazio, central Italy)

Aureli, Daniele; Rocca, Roxane; Lemorini, Cristina; Modesti, Valerio; Scaramucci, Sem; Milli, Salvatore; Giaccio, Biagio; Marano, Federica; Palombo, Maria Rita; Contardi, Antonio

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.07.055

Cited by 44 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…The production and use of small flakes and the presence of butchered animal remains, unearthed together at several Lower Paleolithic sites in Africa, Asia and Europe 6,12,13,42,43 , suggest an intriguing relationship. The archaeological record provides ample evidence that carnivory based on hunting was one of the greatest driving forces in human biological and cultural evolution, starting as early as 2 million years ago 44,45 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The persistence of LCTs through time and space has been interpreted by some scholars as a technological stasis reflecting lack of creativity 5 . However, the discovery of flakes and flake tools smaller than 2–3 cm at Acheulian sites gives us reason to reconsider Lower Paleolithic lithic traditions and variability 6–9 . We show how these tiny tools, discovered at the Revadim site alongside larger flakes and large cutting tools (for details see supplementary materials), are part of a varied and pre-planned tool-kit produced for specific stages of the animal butchery process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The discovery of these varied tool-kits consisting of large and small flakes 6,12 (while handaxes were not always present 6,13 ) has led to recent attempts to technologically reconstruct small flake production to better understand the role of these tiny tools 6–9 . In this context, the late Lower Paleolithic Acheulian site of Revadim provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore for the first time the production and use of small flake tool-kits produced by means of lithic recycling 14 (for details see Supplementary materials).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Animal residues found on tiny Lower Paleolithic tools reveal their use in butchery

Venditti

Cristiani

Nunziante-Cesaro

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Stone tools provide a unique window into the mode of adaptation and cognitive abilities of Lower Paleolithic early humans. The persistently produced large cutting tools (bifaces/handaxes) have long been an appealing focus of research in the reconstruction of Lower Paleolithic survival strategies, at the expenses of the small flake tools considered by-products of the stone production process rather than desired end products. Here, we use use-wear, residues and technological analyses to show direct and very early evidence of the deliberate production and use of small flakes for targeted stages of the prey butchery process at the late Lower Paleolithic Acheulian site of Revadim, Israel. We highlight the significant role of small flakes in Lower Paleolithic adaptation alongside the canonical large handaxes. Our results demonstrate the technological and cognitive flexibility of early human groups in the Levant and beyond at the threshold of the departure from Lower Paleolithic lifeways.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Animal residues found on tiny Lower Paleolithic tools reveal their use in butchery

Venditti

Cristiani

Nunziante-Cesaro

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…As UTFt the trihedron is a punctual UTF, which means that it does not have an extension. In order to define the trihedron we consider its location, surface relations, angles, that is the angle made by the surfaces (section plan between ventral and dorsal surface of the item) and the openness angles which is the angle made by the two lateral sides (left and right side of the items) (Aureli et al, 2016;Rocca, 2013) ( Figure 6). If there is more than one UTFt on the same blank we register which kind of relation exists between them: contiguous if the two (or more UTF) are in an adjacent position and in contact between them, and opposed if the two (or more UTF) are in front of each other.…”

Section: Defining Transformative Parts (Utft)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Palaeolithic lithic tools: Techno-functional and use-wear analysis of target objects from SU 13 at the Oscurusciuto rock shelter, Southern Italy

Marciani¹,

Arrighi²,

Aureli³

et al. 2018

JLS

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The Oscurusciuto rock shelter (Ginosa, Puglia, southern Italy) is a Middle Palaeolithic site characterized by a significant stratigraphy made up by several anthropic levels. The stratigraphic unit 13, consisting of a sandy compact deposit mixed with pyroclastic sediment, is a short palimpsest situated on a layer of tephra, identified as Mt. Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar ~ 55 ka BP). From a technological point of view, the aims of the production were backed flakes, convergent flakes, and other flakes obtained by means of a Levallois debitage, plus (less represented) bladelets produced by an additional volumetric reduction system. Our aim in this research was to examine a selection of the above-mentioned target objects produced by debitage in order to understand the manufacture and life-cycle of each single tool from a dynamic perspective. We integrated techno-functional and use-wear analyses: the first was implemented to globally comprehend each tool, identifying each single techno-functional unity (prehensile and transformative portions), whereas the second revealed the way in which these tools had been used, proceeding to identify the activity involved (e.g., piercing, cutting and/or scraping), and the type of material (vegetable/animal, soft/hard) on which these activities had been carried out. The combined use of these two approaches allows us to ascertain the intention of the prehistoric craftsmen, the gestures and procedures involved in making the tools, and the way they had been used. From one single object we are thus able to reconstruct a series of complex behaviours, encompassing the creation, the life-cycle and finally the ‘death’ or repurposing of the tool in question.

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“…Del mismo modo, en las Islas Británicas se produce la coexistencia durante el Pleistoceno Medio de conjuntos achelenses y clactonienses (Ashton et al 1994), así como industrias sin bifaces (Fluck 2011). También Isernia La Pineta y La Ficoncella (Italia) (0,6 Ma) presentan un conjunto sin bifaces, caracterizado por la presencia de utillaje de reducido tamaño (Gallotti y Peretto 2015;Aureli et al 2016). En Centroeuropa, con cronologías de 0,4 -0,3 Ma, las industrias líticas se caracterizan por una producción (débitage) de pequeñas herramientas, con ausencia de bifaces (Bilzingsleben y Schöningen en Alemania, Vértesszölös en Hungría, etc.)…”

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La tradición tecnológica achelense en la cuenca media del río Tajo = The Acheulian Technological Tradition in the Middle Basin of the Tagus River

Recio

Preysler

Barroso

2018

ETFI

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The first Acheulean evidences in the Iberian Peninsula are date approximately 1 Ma before present, although up to MIS 15-13 its presence in the middle basin of the Tagus river does not extend significantly. In this contribution, we present the relevant results of the technological study of the lithic series from Pinedo, Cien Fanegas and Tafesa sites located in the middle basin of the Tagus. This study together with the IRSL (post-Infrared Stimulated Luminiscence) and ESR dates of the terrace 14 MARIO LÓPEz RECIO, JAVIER BAENA PREySLER & PABLO SILVA BARROSO deposits at + 25-30m of the Tagus (Pinedo and Cien Fanegas in the vicinity of Toledo) indicate the perdurance of the Acheulian technological schemes during the late Middle Pleistocene . This circumstance is similar to other places of the Iberian Central Plateau and south-western France. The technological characteristics of these lithic series (composite of pebble tools, bifaces, trihedrals pieces, picks and cleavers) together with a non-standardized flaking systems (centripetal and multipolar) does not have a chronological meaning, but probably responds to technological traditions that can be dated in the final part of the Middle Pleistocene for the inner area of the Iberian Peninsula.

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Mode 1 or mode 2? “Small tools” in the technical variability of the European Lower Palaeolithic: The site of Ficoncella (Tarquinia, Lazio, central Italy)

Cited by 44 publications

References 28 publications

Animal residues found on tiny Lower Paleolithic tools reveal their use in butchery

Animal residues found on tiny Lower Paleolithic tools reveal their use in butchery

Middle Palaeolithic lithic tools: Techno-functional and use-wear analysis of target objects from SU 13 at the Oscurusciuto rock shelter, Southern Italy

La tradición tecnológica achelense en la cuenca media del río Tajo = The Acheulian Technological Tradition in the Middle Basin of the Tagus River

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