Abstract
Stone cleavers are one of the most distinctive components of the Acheulian toolkit. These tools were produced as part of a long and complex reduction sequence and they provide indications for planning and remarkable knapping skill. These aspects hold implications regarding the cognitive complexity and abilities of their makers and users. In this study we have analyzed a cleaver assemblage originating from the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel, to provide a reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire which structured their production. This reduction sequence was taken as the basis for a cognitive analysis which allowed us to draw conclusion regarding numerous behavioral and cognitive aspects of the GBY hominins. The results indicate that the cleavers production incorporated a highly specific sequence of decisions and actions which resulted in three distinct modes of cleavers modification. Furthermore, the decision to produce a cleaver must have been taken very early in the sequence, thus differentiating its production from that of handaxes. The substantial predetermination and the specific reduction sequence provide evidence that the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov hominins had a number of cognitive categories such as a general ‘tool concept’ and a more specific ‘cleaver concept’, setting them apart from earlier tool-producing hominins and extant tool-using non-human primates. Furthermore, it appears that the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov lithic technology was governed by expert cognition, which is the kind of thinking typical of modern human experts in their various domains. Thus, the results provide direct indications that important components of modern cognition have been well established in the minds of the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov hominins.
Highlights
Cleavers are a morpho-techno-typological group within the wider family of bifacial tools, and are one of the most distinctive components of the Acheulian Technocomplex
It should be noted that while this definition is widely accepted, other definitions for this type do exist. In light of this strict definition, especially regarding the blank type, cleavers usually appear in assemblages assigned to the large flake Acheulian (LFA) technological tradition
In the attempt to gain better insight into the technological characteristics of cleaver production we have examined in detail the modification modes of the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) cleavers
Summary
Cleavers are a morpho-techno-typological group within the wider family of bifacial tools, and are one of the most distinctive components of the Acheulian Technocomplex It should be noted that while this definition is widely accepted, other definitions for this type do exist (for details see [2]) In light of this strict definition, especially regarding the blank type, cleavers usually appear in assemblages assigned to the large flake Acheulian (LFA) technological tradition. As such, they are found mainly in Acheulian assemblages from Africa, and they appear in other parts of the Old World, they have a somewhat more restricted distribution than other components of the Acheulian bifacial toolkit such as the handaxe
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