scholarly journals Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Zupancich ◽  
Stella Nunziante-Cesaro ◽  
Ruth Blasco ◽  
Jordi Rosell ◽  
Emanuela Cristiani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Fallow Deer ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Early Stone Age ◽  
Lower Palaeolithic

Abstract For a long while, the controversy surrounding several bone tools coming from pre-Upper Palaeolithic contexts favoured the view of Homo sapiens as the only species of the genus Homo capable of modifying animal bones into specialised tools. However, evidence such as South African Early Stone Age modified bones, European Lower Palaeolithic flaked bone tools, along with Middle and Late Pleistocene bone retouchers, led to a re-evaluation of the conception of Homo sapiens as the exclusive manufacturer of specialised bone tools. The evidence presented herein include use wear and bone residues identified on two flint scrapers as well as a sawing mark on a fallow deer tibia, not associated with butchering activities. Dated to more than 300 kya, the evidence here presented is among the earliest related to tool-assisted bone working intended for non-dietary purposes, and contributes to the debate over the recognition of bone working as a much older behaviour than previously thought. The results of this study come from the application of a combined methodological approach, comprising use wear analysis, residue analysis, and taphonomy. This approach allowed for the retrieval of both direct and indirect evidence of tool-assisted bone working, at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave (Israel).

Mastodon butchery: microscopic evidence of carcass processing and bone tool use

Paleobiology ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Shipman ◽  
Daniel C. Fisher ◽  
Jennie J. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Natural Processes ◽  
Temporal Representation ◽  
Bone Modification ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Lake Site ◽  
Scanning Electron ◽  
Bone Tool

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination of bone surfaces from the Pleasant Lake mastodon, excavated in southern Michigan, documents features indicative of butchery. These features are identified by comparison with modern bones modified by human and natural processes. We report new studies of (1) marks made by bone tools during removal of meat from and disarticulation of carcasses and (2) use wear developed on bone tools. We also apply previously developed criteria for recognizing stone tool cutmarks and stages in the burning of bone. The Pleasant Lake site, dated to between 10,395 ± 100 and 12,845 ± 165 b.p., provides compelling evidence of mastodon butchery and bone tool use. Another site, near New Hudson, Michigan, provides replication of much of this evidence. Together these sites offer new examples of patterns of bone modification and extend the geographic and temporal representation of the much discussed, but still controversial, late Pleistocene bone technology.

scholarly journals Sandstone Ground Stone Technology: a Multi-level Use Wear and Residue Approach to Investigate the Function of Pounding and Grinding Tools

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Cristiani ◽  
A. Zupancich
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Plant Materials ◽  
Ground Stone ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Multi Level

Abstract Ground stone tool (GST) technology includes artefacts utilized in pounding or grinding activities and characterized by long life cycles and multiple uses. The introduction of such technology dates back to early prehistory, and for this reason, it is used as prime evidence for tackling a wide range of archaeological questions such as the origins of technology, patterns of daily subsistence and lifeways. In this paper, we contribute to the field of study of GSTs by discussing the application of a novel multi-level analytical approach combining use wear and residue observations at low and high magnification with residue spatial distribution investigated using GIS. We aim to assess the potential of a combined use wear and residue approach to (1) discriminate specific gestures and worked materials on sandstone GSTs and (2) understand the potential of residue distributions for reconstructing ancient GST functions and, more specifically, the role of GSTs recovered at Mesolithic sites of the Danube Gorges region in the Central Balkans. We identified diagnostic surface modifications associated with the use of GSTs in different activities involving both animal and plant materials. Morphological characteristics of residues have been described under reflected and transmitted light and characterized using biochemical staining. Finally, we mapped residues across the utilized surfaces of experimental tools to link patterns of residue spatial distribution to specific materials and gestures. We expect our methodological approach will be taken up by other researchers in order to produce comparable datasets on GSTs and improve our understanding of their ancient functional biographies.

scholarly journals Three-dimensional surface morphometry differentiates behaviour on primate percussive stone tools

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (184) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomos Proffitt ◽  
Jonathan S. Reeves ◽  
Alfonso Benito-Calvo ◽  
Laura Sánchez-Romero ◽  
Adrián Arroyo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Visual Identification ◽  
3D Surface ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Early Stone Age ◽  
Percussive Technology

The Early Stone Age record preserves a rich behavioural signature of hominin stone tool making and use. The role of percussive technology in the daily subsistence strategies of our earliest ancestors has seen renewed focus recently. Studies of modern primate tool use highlight the diverse range of behaviours potentially associated with percussive technology. This has prompted significant methodological developments to characterize the associated damage marks (use-wear) on hammerstones and anvils. Little focus has, however, been paid to identifying whether these techniques can successfully differentiate between the damage patterns produced by specific and differing percussive behaviours. Here, we present a novel workflow drawing on the strengths of visual identification and three-dimensional (3D) surface quantification of use-wear. We apply this methodology firstly to characterize macaque percussive use-wear and test the efficacy of 3D surface quantification techniques in differentiating between percussive damage and natural surface topography. Secondly, we use this method to differentiate between use-wear associated with various wild macaque percussive behaviours. By combining analyst-directed, 3D surface analysis and use-wear dimensional analysis, we show that macaque percussive behaviours create specific diagnostic signatures and highlight a means of quantifiably recording such behavioural signatures in both primate and hominin contexts.

The contribution of use -wear for stone tool identification at the Upper Paleolithic site Shuidonggou Locality 2, North China

2020 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peiqi Zhang ◽  
Xiaoling Zhang ◽  
Nicolas Zwyns ◽  
Fei Peng ◽  
Jialong Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North China ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Use Wear

scholarly journals Elephant bones for the Middle Pleistocene toolmaker

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256090
Author(s):  
Paola Villa ◽  
Giovanni Boschian ◽  
Luca Pollarolo ◽  
Daniela Saccà ◽  
Fabrizio Marra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Lithic Industry ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

The use of bone as raw material for implements is documented since the Early Pleistocene. Throughout the Early and Middle Pleistocene bone tool shaping was done by percussion flaking, the same technique used for knapping stone artifacts, although bone shaping was rare compared to stone tool flaking. Until recently the generally accepted idea was that early bone technology was essentially immediate and expedient, based on single-stage operations, using available bone fragments of large to medium size animals. Only Upper Paleolithic bone tools would involve several stages of manufacture with clear evidence of primary flaking or breaking of bone to produce the kind of fragments required for different kinds of tools. Our technological and taphonomic analysis of the bone assemblage of Castel di Guido, a Middle Pleistocene site in Italy, now dated by 40Ar/39Ar to about 400 ka, shows that this general idea is inexact. In spite of the fact that the number of bone bifaces at the site had been largely overestimated in previous publications, the number of verified, human-made bone tools is 98. This is the highest number of flaked bone tools made by pre-modern hominids published so far. Moreover the Castel di Guido bone assemblage is characterized by systematic production of standardized blanks (elephant diaphysis fragments) and clear diversity of tool types. Bone smoothers and intermediate pieces prove that some features of Aurignacian technology have roots that go beyond the late Mousterian, back to the Middle Pleistocene. Clearly the Castel di Guido hominids had done the first step in the process of increasing complexity of bone technology. We discuss the reasons why this innovation was not developed. The analysis of the lithic industry is done for comparison with the bone industry.

Use-Wear Analysis of the Lithic Industry of the Lower Palaeolithic Site of Guado San Nicola (Isernia, Central Italy)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Luigi Francesco Berruti ◽  
Marta Arzarello ◽  
Allison Ceresa ◽  
Brunella Muttillo ◽  
Carlo Peretto
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Lithic Industry ◽  
Lower Palaeolithic

scholarly journals Raw material optimization and stone tool engineering in the Early Stone Age of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (162) ◽  
pp. 20190377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alastair Key ◽  
Tomos Proffitt ◽  
Ignacio de la Torre
Keyword(s):  
Functional Performance ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Cutting Tools ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Material Optimization ◽  
Early Stone Age

For more than 1.8 million years hominins at Olduvai Gorge were faced with a choice: whether to use lavas, quartzite or chert to produce stone tools. All are available locally and all are suitable for stone tool production. Using controlled cutting tests and fracture mechanics theory we examine raw material selection decisions throughout Olduvai's Early Stone Age. We quantify the force, work and material deformation required by each stone type when cutting, before using these data to compare edge sharpness and durability. Significant differences are identified, confirming performance to depend on raw material choice. When combined with artefact data, we demonstrate that Early Stone Age hominins optimized raw material choices based on functional performance characteristics. Doing so flexibly: choosing raw materials dependent on their sharpness and durability, alongside a tool's loading potential and anticipated use-life. In this way, we demonstrate that early lithic artefacts at Olduvai Gorge were engineered to be functionally optimized cutting tools.

Stone Tool Use at Cerros: The Ethnoarchaeological and Use-Wear Evidence

Ethnohistory ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Johan Kamminga ◽  
Suzanne M. Lewenstein
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Use Wear
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