To be or not to be a lithic tool: analysing the limestone pieces of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain)

Bernal, Marcos Terradillos; Zorrilla‐Revilla, Guillermo; Rodrı́guez, Xosé Pedro

doi:10.1007/s12520-022-01643-x

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Given the number of recent scientific studies devoted to distinguishing sites with geofacts (here synonymous with pseudo‐artefacts) and artefacts that have appeared solely in this millennium, it can be concluded that the problem remains unresolved (Ellen, 2011; Ellen & Muthana, 2013; Lubinski et al, 2014; Sommer, 2004, 2011). Considerable interest in the identification of potential geofacts can be observed as it most often concerns sites that are presumed to yield the oldest traces of an early human occupation in a given region (Antoine et al, 2016; Chatters et al, 2022; Coutouly, 2022; French, 2021; Gillespie et al, 2004; Roebroeks et al, 2018; Shea, 2010; Terradillos‐Bernal et al, 2022; Tune et al, 2018; Vialet et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of a better method to distinguish artefacts from geofacts

2023

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Archaeologists use a method of evaluating the characteristics of flakes, called scoring, to distinguish geofacts (pseudo‐artefacts or eoliths) from artefacts. Lower total scores are considered indicative of a natural source of the finds, while higher ones support the opposite. However, this method has some limitations. The most important are the small quantity of assemblages subject to such an analysis and the unclear boundary drawn by a ranking within a point‐based score evaluation between collections with finds of cultural and anthropic origin. Here, we present a method that minimizes these limitations. It consists of a statistical approach using scoring percentages, a new method of visualizing them and the application of clustering. This way, we obtained clear differences between pseudo‐artefacts and artefacts by considering flakes from six flint assemblages from Central Europe as well as an experimental assemblage.

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