Differentiating bamboo from stone tool cut marks in the zooarchaeological record, with a discussion on the use of bamboo knives

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolee A. West ◽  
Julien Louys
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cut Marks

Identifying stone tool cut marks and the pre-Clovis occupation of the Paisley Caves

2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 762-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Hockett ◽  
Dennis Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cut Marks

scholarly journals Using 3D Microscopy to Analyze Experimental Cut Marks on Animal Bones Produced with Different Stone Tools

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Moretti ◽  
Simona Arrighi ◽  
Francesco Boschin ◽  
Jacopo Crezzini ◽  
Daniele Aureli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microscopic Analysis ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Profile Data ◽  
Mechanical Motion ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
3D Microscopy ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Digital Microscope ◽  
The Moment

This study uses a combination of digital microscopic analysis and experimental archaeology to assess stone tool cut marks on animal bones. We used two un-retouched flint flakes and two burins to inflict cut marks on fresh, boiled, and dry ungulate  bones. The experiment produced three series of three engravings on each bone with each of the experimental tools. The first series involved one single stroke; the second, two strokes in the same direction; and the third, multiple strokes using a to-and-fro movement. We analyzed the striations using a Hirox 3D digital microscope (KH-7700) and collected metric and profile data on the morphology of the cut marks. In order to describe the shape of each cross section, we calculated the ratio between the breadth at the top and the breadth at the floor of cut marks. Preliminary results show that both the tool type and the method of creating the cut mark influence the shape of the resulting groove. In our experiment, morphological parameters can be used to differentiate between marks produced using un-retouched flint flakes and those produced using burins. However, neither morphological nor morphometric analysis allows us to identify the mechanical motion used to produce the cuts, nor the state of the bone (fresh, boiled, or dry) at the moment of marking. 

The Early Oldowan Stone-Tool Assemblage from Fejej FJ-1A, Ethiopia

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Barsky ◽  
Cécile Chapon-Sao ◽  
Jean-Jacques Bahain ◽  
Yonas Beyene ◽  
Dominique Cauche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tool

scholarly journals Prey Size Decline as a Unifying Ecological Selecting Agent in Pleistocene Human Evolution

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Miki Ben-Dor ◽  
Ran Barkai
Keyword(s):  
Prey Size ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Biomass Density ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Progressive Decline ◽  
Brain Expansion

We hypothesize that megafauna extinctions throughout the Pleistocene, that led to a progressive decline in large prey availability, were a primary selecting agent in key evolutionary and cultural changes in human prehistory. The Pleistocene human past is characterized by a series of transformations that include the evolution of new physiological traits and the adoption, assimilation, and replacement of cultural and behavioral patterns. Some changes, such as brain expansion, use of fire, developments in stone-tool technologies, or the scale of resource intensification, were uncharacteristically progressive. We previously hypothesized that humans specialized in acquiring large prey because of their higher foraging efficiency, high biomass density, higher fat content, and the use of less complex tools for their acquisition. Here, we argue that the need to mitigate the additional energetic cost of acquiring progressively smaller prey may have been an ecological selecting agent in fundamental adaptive modes demonstrated in the Paleolithic archaeological record. We describe several potential associations between prey size decline and specific evolutionary and cultural changes that might have been driven by the need to adapt to increased energetic demands while hunting and processing smaller and smaller game.

scholarly journals Insights to enhance the examination of tool marks in human cartilage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Weber ◽  
Anja Niehoff ◽  
Markus A. Rothschild
Keyword(s):  
Light Microscope ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Costal Cartilage ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Human Cartilage ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Tool Marks ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Cleaning Methods ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThis work deals with the examination of tool marks in human cartilage. We compared the effectiveness of several cleaning methods on cut marks in porcine cartilage. The method cleaning by multiple casts achieved the significantly highest scores (P = 0.02). Furthermore, we examined the grain-like elevations (dots) located on casts of cut cartilage. The results of this study suggest that the casting material forms these dots when penetrating cartilage cavities, which are areas where the strong collagen fibres leave space for the chondrocytes. We performed fixation experiments to avoid this, without success. In addition, 31 casting materials were compared regarding contrast under light-microscope and 3D tool marks scanner. Under the light-microscope, brown materials achieved significantly higher values than grey (P = 0.02) or black (P = 0.00) whereas under the 3D scanner, black materials reached higher contrast values than grey (P = 0.04) or brown (P = 0.047). To compare the accuracy and reproducibility of 6 test materials for cartilage, we used 10 knives to create cut marks that were subsequently scanned. During the alignment of the individual signals of each mark, the cross-correlation coefficients (Xmax) and lags (LXmax) were calculated. The signals of the marks in agarose were aligned with significantly fewer lags and achieved significantly higher cross-correlation coefficients compared to all tested materials (both P = 0.00). Moreover, we determined the cross-correlation coefficients (XC) for known-matches (KM) per material. Agarose achieved significantly higher values than AccuTrans®, Clear Ballistics™, and gelatine (all P = 0.00). The results of this work provide valuable insights for the forensic investigation of marks in human costal cartilage.

The Palaeolithic of Klithi in its wider context

1992 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tool ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Late Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Village ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
Palaeolithic Archaeology

Klithi is a rockshelter in the lower reaches of the Voidomatis gorge, near the village of Klithonia in Epirus. Excavations in progress since 1983 have revealed evidence of a late Upper Palaeolithic occupation dated between 16,000 BP and 10,000 BP, with rich microlithic stone tool industries and faunal assemblages dominated by chamois and ibex. The excavations have been accompanied by wider investigations of the local and regional palaeoenvironment and reexamination of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites excavated by Eric Higgs in the 1960s, notably Kokkinopilos, Asprochaliko, and Kastritsa. This paper presents some of the detailed results of the Klithi excavations and sets the results within the wider context of the global issues which inform the study of Palaeolithic archaeology, the Palaeolithic of Greece as a whole, and the regional picture of Palaeolithic settlement in Epirus.

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