Abstract
AbstractRiver processes are widely assumed to have impacted the integrity of lithic assemblages when artifacts are found in fluvial sediments, but the specifics of these influences remain largely unknown. We conducted a real‐world experiment to determine how the initial stages of fluvial entrainment affected lithic artifact assemblages. We inserted replica artifacts with radio frequency identification tags into a gravel‐bedded river in Wales (UK) for seven months and related their transport distances to their morphology and the recorded streamflow. In addition, nine artifacts were recovered at the end of the experiment and analyzed for microwear traces. In sum, our results show that in a gravel‐bedded river with a mean discharge of 5.1 m3/s, artifact length and width were the main variables influencing artifact transport distances. The experiment also resulted in characteristic microwear traces developing on the artifacts over distances of 485 m or less. These results emphasize the multifaceted nature of alluvial site formation processes in a repeatable experiment and highlight new ways to identify the transport of replica Paleolithic material.
Highlights
Field experiments were carried out on a 1.14 km section of the River Ystwyth in Llanafan, County Ceredigion, UK between 52.3313°N, −3.8959°W and 52.3288°N, −3.9093°W, 14 km upstream from the Pont Llolwyn gauging station (Figure 1)
The experiment resulted in characteristic microwear traces developing on the artifacts over distances of 485 m or less. These results emphasize the multifaceted nature of alluvial site formation processes in a repeatable experiment and highlight new ways to identify the transport of replica Paleolithic material
We present an experiment using radio frequency identification (RFID) tagged replica lithic artifacts inserted into a gravel‐bedded, meandering river in a temperate, and mid‐latitude environment
Summary
Archaeology is a valuable instrument in the researcher's investigatory toolkit (Eren et al, 2016; Lin, Rezek, & Dibble, 2018) and has been. At another gravel‐bedded river, Chu (2016) found that artifact length, width, and depositional locations were significantly correlated to transport distances This past research, in addition to a number of laboratory experiments (see Chu, 2016 for extensive review), has highlighted that local fluvial environments, river velocity, artifact size, and shape all influence initial artifact entrainment and deposition that can, in turn, obscure original artifact discard locations, modify morphology, alter assemblage composition, and bias artifacts' final orientations (Bertran, Bordes, Todisco, & Vallin, 2017; Bunn et al, 1980; Byers, Hargiss, & Finley, 2015; Ditchfield, 2016; Hosfield, 2011; Hosfield & Chambers, 2004a; Petraglia & Nash, 1987; Schick, 1987). It allows artifact positional changes to be monitored over time, and for potential distinctions between use‐wear/retouch and river modifications to be explored
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