Technological responses to risk in Holocene Australia

Hiscock, Peter

doi:10.1007/bf02221051

Cited by 177 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…This is because assessments of relative curation are useful in testing models of changing mobility, land-use, economy, and technological organization, as well as in defining the relationships between tool design, labour investment and morphological standardization (for discussion of the value of the curation, tool design and use life concepts in addressing these questions see Ammerman & Feldman, 1974;Bamforth, 1986;Binford, 1979;Bleed, 1986;Close, 1991;Davis & Shea, 1998;Dibble, 1984Dibble, , 1995aDibble, , 1995bGordon, 1993;Hayden, Franco & Spafford, 1996;Hiscock, 1994Hiscock, , 1996Hiscock, , 1998Kelly, 1988;Kelly & Todd, 1988;Parry & Kelly, 1987;Holdaway, McPherron & Roth, 1996;Kuhn, 1990Kuhn, , 1992Kuhn, , 1995Nash, 1996;Neeley & Barton, 1994;Nelson, 1991;Odell, 1996;Shott, 1989Shott, , 1996Roland & Dibble, 1990;Torrence, 1983Torrence, , 1989.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Index of Invasiveness for the Measurement of Unifacial and Bifacial Retouch: A Theoretical, Experimental and Archaeological Verification

Clarkson

2002

Journal of Archaeological Science

158

101

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Index of Invasiveness for the Measurement of Unifacial and Bifacial Retouch: A Theoretical, Experimental and Archaeological Verification

Clarkson

2002

Journal of Archaeological Science

158

101

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“…The seemingly intentional optimisation and efficiency of blade blank consumption patterns lends support to this hypothesis. Additional confirmation of this hypothesis is provided by existing studies that identify backed blades as efficient, reliable and maintainable (Clarkson et al in press;Hiscock 1994;Hiscock et al 2011;Neeley 2002), as well as the subsequent chapter (Muller and Clarkson 2016a) which found small blades like those at Boncuklu to be remarkably efficient. In terms of this paper's broader archaeological utility, this new reduction intensity metric could be applied to any blade-based backed artefact tradition, including those appearing at various times from the Middle Stone Age to the Neolithic in Europe, the Near East, Africa, South Asia, and parts of Australia.…”

Section: Research Question 1: Archaeological Applications Of Experimementioning

confidence: 63%

“…The near complete utilisation of suitable blanks is not the only aspect of the microlith knapping schema that contributed to raw material conservation, with microliths being identified as inherently efficient. For example, they are viewed as durable, reliable and maintainable components of an efficient and portable toolkit that offset the risk from environmentally, demographically, economically or socially driven stress (Clarkson et al in press;Hiscock 1994;Hiscock et al 2011;Neeley 2002). Microliths are also made on very small blades, or bladelets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This hypothesis is based on the existing literature which views backed blades as a remarkably efficient, adaptable and maintainable technology (Clarkson et al in press;Hiscock 1994;Hiscock et al 2011;Neeley 2002). Additionally, the scarcity of raw material at the site, due in part to the distance from sources, would likely either have necessitated or be alleviated by strategies that efficiently consume raw material.…”

Section: Hypothesis Development: Chaptermentioning

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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“…Smith 2003) have identified a broad suite of raw materials in Holocene sites in the Moreton Region, and the definition of "high quality" is subjective; the putative changes from exotic to local raw materials (e.g. sourced from Point Lookout on the island), and changes in technology may be responses to reduced risk in the availability and exploitation of resources (Hiscock 1994 and terrestrial resources (pademelon, Thylogale sp., and carpet python, Morelia spilota) to an exclusively marine economy based around fish and molluscs. Neal and Stock (1986:621) concluded that the site must have been a "a marginal environment throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene, and the limited extent of the archaeological remains suggest that this location was a temporary transit camp located on an access route between major resource zones located on the coast to the east and the river valley and mountains to the west" (although see Chapter 9 discussion of long-term models of occupation).…”

Section: Establishing Chronologies and Site Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeological expressions of Holocene cultural and environmental change in coastal Southeast Queensland

Smith¹

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This thesis is concerned with the relationship between Holocene environmental changes and human behaviour in coastal southeast Queensland. The study region covers an area stretching from Fraser Island in the north to the border of northern New South Wales in the south, and possesses the best documented and intensively scrutinised coastal archaeological record in Australia. The archaeology of the area was a major focus from the late 1970s when the Moreton Regional Archaeological Project, a long-term multi-stage regional project, was established to coordinate archaeological investigations in southeast Queensland. The Cooloola Region Archaeological Project was established in the mid-1980s to explore the archaeology north of the Noosa River. These initial studies provided the basis for a regional chronology, as well as models of settlement and subsistence based on the exploitation of the area's rich marine resources.In the time since the original work was conducted the research foci for coastal archaeology, both in Australia and internationally, have moved toward more complex issues such as assessing the impact of humans on marine ecosystems, the identification of patterns in resource exploitation strategies, and the use of molluscs as proxy evidence in local and regional environmental reconstructions.Additionally, regionally-specific models of Holocene environmental change have been developed, in line with greater emphasis being placed on the ecology and biology of the constituent species in middens in addressing questions of spatial and chronological variations in site patterning.In view of these developments, midden deposits from five sites from differing locations in southeast Queensland were re-analysed, and a literature review of two further sites was also undertaken, with the aim of assessing human behavioural variability during the mid to late Holocene through the Publications during candidature No publications Publications included in this thesis No publications included. vi Contributions by others to the thesisNo contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degreeNone.vii Acknowledgements Researching and writing a PhD thesis is never a straightforward endeavour, although it seems to be a good idea at the time. The project has taken a long time to come to fruition, delayed by a combination of protracted and ultimately fruitless negotiations with stakeholders, illness, and bereavement. There are many people to thank for helping me to eventually get over the line. Chris was an undergraduate student in one of the University of Queensland Field Archaeology viii classes on Bribie Island in the early 1990s. Even then his knowledge of lithics was scary. Chris kindly stepped in as my principal advisor when Pat moved to Sydney. I must confess some disappointment that the artefact assemblages in my study were not more exciting for him but, as he does most things, he has calmly taken it in his stride.

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Technological responses to risk in Holocene Australia

Cited by 177 publications

References 47 publications

An Index of Invasiveness for the Measurement of Unifacial and Bifacial Retouch: A Theoretical, Experimental and Archaeological Verification

An Index of Invasiveness for the Measurement of Unifacial and Bifacial Retouch: A Theoretical, Experimental and Archaeological Verification

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

Archaeological expressions of Holocene cultural and environmental change in coastal Southeast Queensland

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