Knapping Technology Research Articles

Results of Field Archaeological Research at the Razdelniy II Site (Central Kamchatka) in 2022

Purpose. This article presents results of the preliminary analysis of archaeological material obtained during the Kamchatka Paleolithic expedition of IAET SB RAS at the Razdelniy II site in Central Kamchatka.Results. It has been established that the earliest habitation episode of the Razdelniy II site is associated with the complex of the cultural horizon 2 dated 12,900–12,600 cal BP. Horizon’s industry is based on the micro-wedge knapping technology, the toolkit included small bifacial leaf-shaped points, transversal burins, high-shaped side-scrapers, and abrasives. The later stage of the site settlement is associated with the Early Holocene assemblage found at the cultural horizon 1, based on the utilization of prismatic cores for the production of blades, bladelets and microblades. The results of field studies indicate the existence of several vast archaeological sites in the interfluve of the Anavgay River and the Razdelniy Creek. On the Kamchatka Peninsula, the studied assemblages demonstrate full compliance with the materials of the Ushki sites, cultural layers IV and VI.Conclusion. The study made it possible to clarify the cultural and chronological sequence of the settlement of the Razdelniy II site in the late Pleistocene and Early Holocene.

Technological Lithic Production Variability of the Teshik-Tash Grotto Industry

Purpose. For the Central Asian territories, only the discovery of a burial from Teshik-Tash has an indisputable connection with the Neanderthal population confirmed by genetic studies. In this situation, it is important to fully characterize the technological repertoire of this hominin species through a detailed study of the lithic industry of TeshikTash. One of the parts of the Teshik-Tash collection, kept in the collections of the Kunstkamera (St. Petersburg, Russia), was previously analyzed. Observations regarding the operation of radial and disc-shaped cores at the late stages of utilization, as well as the identified features in the morphology of points, again identified the problem of the presence / absence of the Levallois component in the Teshik-Tash industry.Materials and Methods. Attributive analysis was chosen as a research tool, which was previously applied to the collection from the Kunstkamera. It allows reconstructing the entire “operational chain” of knapping lithic raw materials at the site and identifying the technological features of the production of different types of blanks.Results. The performed analysis allows identifying some features of the knapping technology in the Teshik-Tash industry, such as: the dominant knapping system is centripetal; the using of Levallois technology is recorded in the one core; a method of shaping the core front by creating a rib at the base and using lateral spalls; a case of the volumetric concept of knapping has been identified; the strategies used in the industry resulted in a low standardized product; the rare design of percussion platforms and their reduction. The tool kit is characterized by the using of cores as the tools; the presence of two groups of “special purpose” tools; the irregularly retouched flakes as a background tool category; the presence of truncated and truncated-faceted pieces.Discussion. The knapping approach was quite flexible, and this implies the possibility of switching from one model to another at different stages of core utilization. For this reason, some cores fall into the “grey zone” between radial, discoid, and Levallois types. At the same time, the Levallois technique occupies a clearly subordinate position in the industry, was extremely rarely used in the early stages of core utilization, and had almost no effect on the overall appearance of blanks. For this reason, we believe that Levallois technique should be considered as a one of the significant characteristics of the Teshik-Tash industry with great caution, as well as direct analogies with the new Middle Paleolithic complexes of the Tien Shan low mountains.Conclusion. The processing of the Teshik-Tash collection made it possible to fix the dominance of the centripetal model of lithic knapping, the use of which is imprinted in the morphology of products of all main categories. At the same time, a number of artifacts point to the existence of technological variability in lithic production in the industry, both at the stage of making blanks (the use of sub-wedge-shaped and volumetric cores) and at the stage of designing tools (truncated-faceted products). These circumstances expand our understanding of the behavioral characteristics of the Neanderthals who lived in the west of Central Asia.

The stone industry transformations at the edge of Pleistocene and Holocene: Evidence from the north-western and north-central Caucasus

In this paper, the authors report results of a detailed technological and typological analysis of the Epipalaeolithic assemblages from three stratified sites in the North Caucasus that were excavated in recent years at a modern scientific level with application of sediment water screening, which allowed to obtain numerous microlithic artefacts. The lithic analysis of the assemblages indicates a gradual development in the knapping technology, which resulted in the first application of the pressure flaking technique in the final Epipalaeolithic, and innovations in the tool set, particularly in the assortment of geometric microliths. The authors consider the stone industry transformations at the edge of Pleistocene and Holocene in the context of cultural continuity during the final Epipalaeolithic and up to the beginning of the Holocene in the region.

Mechanical properties of lithic raw materials from Kazakhstan: Comparing chert, shale, and porphyry.

The study of lithic raw material quality has become one of the major interpretive tools to investigate the raw material selection behaviour and its influence to the knapping technology. In order to make objective assessments of raw material quality, we need to measure their mechanical properties (e.g., fracture resistance, hardness, modulus of elasticity). However, such comprehensive investigations are lacking for the Palaeolithic of Kazakhstan. In this work, we investigate geological and archaeological lithic raw material samples of chert, porphyry, and shale collected from the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (henceforth IAMC). Selected samples of aforementioned rocks were tested by means of Vickers and Knoop indentation methods to determine the main aspect of their mechanical properties: their indentation fracture resistance (a value closely related to fracture toughness). These tests were complemented by traditional petrographic studies to characterise the mineralogical composition and evaluate the level of impurities that could have potentially affected the mechanical properties. The results show that materials, such as porphyry possess fracture toughness values that can be compared to those of chert. Previously, porphyry was thought to be of lower quality due to the anisotropic composition and coarse feldspar and quartz phenocrysts embedded in a silica rich matrix. However, our analysis suggests that different raw materials are not different in terms of indentation fracture resistance. This work also offers first insight into the quality of archaeological porphyry that was utilised as a primary raw material at various Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor from 47-21 ka cal BP.

The Lower Palaeolithic assemblage of Medzhibozh 1 layer III (Ukraine) and its palaeoenvironmental context

The main focus of this paper is to present the stone assemblage of one of the Lower Palaeolithic layers of Medzhibozh 1. Detailed typological and technological characteristics of the stone industry of layer III of the locality Medzhibozh 1 are given against the background of geomorphological characteristics and features of the Quaternary structure of the area. Medzhibozh 1 represents one of several multi-layered sites of Lower Palaeolithic age on the Upper Bug, among which are also Medzhibozh A, Golovchintsy 1 and Golovchintsy 2. Two layers containing Lower Palaeolithic evidence are distinguished in the profile of Medzhibozh to date. Medzhibozh 1 layer III is more recent, the age of culture-bearing sediments is currently correlated to MIS 11. This dating is fundamentally consistent with diverse biostratigraphic indications as well as several pilot ESR dates ranging between 373– 399 thousand years. Geomorphological features of the structure of the Medzhibozh area allow for the age estimation of culture-bearing sediments as older and presumably attribute them to MIS 15– 13. Despite its relatively young age, the Medzhibozh 1 layer III industry demonstrates quite archaic technology and typology. The knapping technology is almost totally characterised by the application of the bipolar on anvil technique. The basic range of lithic products includes bipolar cores, segmented supports, choppers, segments, flakes, and debris. Despite the abundance of items with signs of utilisation, pieces with secondary worked edges are isolated and atypical. Well-defined types of flake tools are practically not present. There are no freehand cores. There is no indication of use of bifacial technology. Currently, there is absolutely no formal ground to attribute the industry to the Acheulean. Instead, the Medzhibozh 1 layer III industry can currently be compared to a “ core-and-flake” industry, what is traditionally defined as Oldowan or mode 1. Perhaps the reason for the observed archaism can to some extent be explained by the properties of the available raw materials (granitoides of crystalline shield and mostly small-sized siliceous supports of Upper Cretaceous age) and the economic profile of occupation or recovered area (recurrent butchering site).

Raw material procurement as a crucial factor determining knapping technology in the Katta Sai complex of Middle Palaeolithic sites in the western Tian Shan piedmonts of Uzbekistan

This paper presents the results of the study of raw material procurement on two late Middle Paleolithic sites, Katta Sai 1 and Katta Sai 2, located in the western Tian Shan piedmont. The previous studies allowed to identify an unknown Levallois variant of human cultural adaptation in the regional Middle Paleolithic. Predetermined flake technology focused on obtaining the thin triangular flakes or even blades. At the same time, the river pebbles of effusive rocks brought from the nearby river gorges were used for knapping. The paper analyses the sources of the raw material collected, and its knapping quality together with the technological features indicating how the manufacturing scheme was adjusted to the quality of used raw material.

Нижний палеолит Казахстана: морфо-технологический и типологический аспект изучения двусторонне обработанных изделий на примере бифасов Приаралья и Мугалжарских гор

Situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, actual Kazakhstan represents a strong scientific interest in understanding of the early human migrations “Out-of-Africa” to the Far East. During the whole Pleistocene, the arid conditions of this geographic area hindered the sediment accumulative deposits and the formation of stratified Paleolithic sites. Only studies of lithic industries from the sites with a surface cultural horizon seem possible. These analyses are based on a deflation degree of artefacts and on their technological and typological study followed by a comparison with other lithic collections from stratified and dated sites from surrounding grounds. This paper presents the morphological, technological and typological study of handaxes from the surface sites discovered in the Mugalzhar mountains and in the Aral Sea region. The goal of the study is to reconstitute the operational procedure (chaîne opératoire) in handaxe manufacture with the following comparison study between the handaxe samples. The lithic collection (20 artifacts) is housed at the A. Kh. Margulan Institute of Archaeology (Almaty, Kazakhstan). The analysis of data allows seeing the stark technological difference in the handaxe manufacture from the Mugalzhary mountains and from the Aral Sea region sites. As regards the typological analysis, the great majority of these handaxes from the Mugalzhary sites are characterized by fairly elongated and massive forms. Only on is of discoidal morphology and rather thin in thickness. The other are represented by one amygdaloidal, seven ovate, two lanceolate and two naviform (spear-shaped) handaxes. Any cordiform or triangular handanxes are not determined. Between the handaxes from the Aral Sea region sites, the majority is caracterised by elongated and rather thickened forms. Only one cordiform handaxe from the sample is thin. The elongated handaxes are represented by one amygdaloidal and by three lanceolate objects. It is expected that the handaxes from the Mugalzhary sites belong to more ancient period than the collection from the Aral Sea region sites. The predominance of both lanceolate handaxes and limandes is a typical dance of the Acheulean period, in particular, of its middle phase. The knapping technology used for handaxe manufacturing processes from the Aral Sea region sites and their typology (cordiform handaxes) are representative of the Middle Paleolithic.

The Epigravettian of Kůlna Cave?

Several archaeological artefacts from Kůlna Cave (Blansko disctrict, Czech Republic) date its settlement to the last 250 thousand years. The stratigraphy both inside the cave and at the entrance was complicated, so that macroscopically similar sediments may have comprised of Magdalenian, Gravettian, and Micoquian industries. The first radiocarbon dates surprisingly showed one Epigravettian date, obtained from an animal bone from layer 5, supposedly belonging to the Magdalenian. Also, a further series of dates from strictly controlled contexts (i.e., those definitely correlated with a single layer) showed interstratification of finds between layers. The question of whether there was indeed an Epigravettian settlement phase of the cave was tested with the analysis of butts of debitage, and preserved cores from layers 5 and 6, to specify the used knapping technology. It became clear that the used technology was uniform throughout Magdalenian layers 5 and 6, but spatial analysis of hearths and heated artefacts indicate these were likely to have been disturbed and may also include older material.

Middle and Upper Paleolithic Levallois technology in eastern Central Asia

Situated on the eastern periphery of Central Asia, Mongolia was a potentially important pathway for the migration of paleopopulations from the west to the east (and/or vice versa). Possible scenarios for the dispersal of ancient human populations in Mongolia are much more complicated than we initially supposed, due to the limited number of corridors penetrating natural barriers like the mountains of southern Siberia in the north and the arid mountain systems of the Mongolian and Gobi Altai ranges in the south. Nevertheless, we can detect several episodes during which those barriers were crossed by human migrants in the Upper Pleistocene based upon the geographic distribution of various species of Homo. These migration events can be detected by analyzing variability in lithic knapping technology and stone tool assemblages in Mongolia. The earliest two dispersal events we can identify – the Terminal Middle Paleolithic (TMP) and Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) are associated with an extremely complex and enigmatic question: who were the bearers of those cultural traits and did they successively replace one another, or did they co-exist, overlapping culturally? Both the TMP and IUP are associated with the Levallois reduction technology. Here, we attempt to analyze and interpret the entire spectrum of Levallois methods from chronological and technological perspectives, identified in Terminal Middle Paleolithic and Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblages from Mongolia. We identify four principal Levallois methods. The reduction strategies associated with them share features in common with lithic industries from the Russian Altai district in southern Siberia as well as northwestern and north-central China.

Intentional fragmentation of blades in the initial upper Paleolithic industries of the Kara-Bom site (Altai, Russia)

Recent investigations have highlighted an Asian variant of the so-called Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) broadly comparable in age and material culture to techno-complexes further to the west, but also showing distinct derived features. Here, we describe and provide corroborating evidence for another distinct technology employed in the Initial Upper Paleolithic of Kara-Bom site, Russian Altai, − intentional fragmentation (IF). The most effective means of understanding knapping technology are refitting studies of archaeological collections. This article examines several examples of refitted fragmented cores and blades, as well as debitage as the by-product of blank breakage. On the basis of refitting analysis, the morphological attributes of fragmentation and its by-product intermediate flakes are defined. This intentional approach was used to segment large blades partially transported to the site. IF produced large blade fragments representing multi-functional tool blanks and burin-cores for bladelet production.

The Decline and Disappearance of Chipped-Stone Tools: New Insights From Qubur el-Walaydah, a Late Bronze/Iron Age Site in Israel

ABSTRACTTechnological analyses of the lithic assemblage recovered from the excavations at Qubur el-Walaydah offer new insights into the nature of the specialized production system of sickle blades during the Late Bronze-Iron Age, and provide new data sets concerning the decline of chipped-stone technologies. Although the knapping technology used for the production of flint sickle segments was relatively simple, the spatial distribution of this system, the hafting procedures, and other technological considerations suggest that the specialists were no longer solely flint knappers, but had become sickle artisans. They produced the complete sickles that the farmers, who in turn lost their role in the manufacturing process, used. This specialized system can be characterized as a kind of vertical production integration. The organization of the production of flint sickles, moreover, may offer insights on the last stage of the stone-metal replacement process. If the intrinsic properties of iron and its availability must have played an important role, the flint-iron substitution might be facilitated by the fact that the production system was already characterized by a form of specialization where the users of these objects were no longer the producers. In this regard, the simultaneous fall of ad hoc flint tools represent another facet of the same phenomenon. If within the lithic production system the manufacture of sickles and ad hoc tools represent two distinct sub-systems, the large-scale adoption of iron implements suggests the emergence of a single specialized system producing different types of cutting tools, then used for different tasks. Thus, the end of chipped stone tools is related not only to the efficiency of iron implements, but also to a structural change in the relationship between tool consumers and producers.

Преднамеренная фрагментация пластин как специфический прием в технологии начального верхнего палеолита стоянки Кара-бом (Горный Алтай, Россия)

Purpose. Recent investigations have highlighted an Asian variant of the so-called Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) broadly comparable in age and material culture to techno-complexes further to the west, but also showing distinct derived features. Several principal common technological features characterize the IUP in East Asia. The main targeted products of flaking were medium or large blades, the latter sometimes of very significant size, and the number of bladelets is also large. Primary flaking is characterized by alternate bidirectional reduction of cores in which spalls, alternately detached from opposing platforms along the long axis of the core, determined the shape of targeted blank: pointed blades. Reduced cores were prismatic, sub-prismatic and flat. Burin-core reduction for bladelet and small blade production was the specific knapping technology employed in the IUP of southern Siberia and Central Asia. Here, we describe and provide corroborating evidence for another distinct technological method employed in the Initial Upper Paleolithic – intentional fragmentation (IF). The most effective means of understanding knapping technology are refitting studies of archaeological collections. This article examines several examples of refitted fragmented cores and blades, as well as debitage as the by-product of blank breakage. Results. Our refitting study includes assemblages from all excavation units and partially divided, relatively homogenous raw material types, representing a diachronic assemblage of Middle and Upper Paleolithic materials, even in very disturbed excavation areas. The present study illustrates the best examples of directional reduction associated with core preparation and tool blank production because of the lack of statistical information for some Upper Paleolithic assemblages from this site. We reconstructed the process of intentional fragmentation for burin-cores and a few large and medium blades. Often, blank breakage produced butterfly-like debitage. Pieces of fragmented blades could have been used as tools. Typical attributes of IF consistently appearing on two transverse edges of blanks and present in the assemblage of artifacts prove the anthropogenic character of these flaking traces. Conclusions. It is probable that intentional fragmentation was used in the Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblage at Kara-Bom because of the influences of mobility and transportation of stone raw material by local settlers. They transported a significant proportion of raw material from primary chert outcrops situated 4–5 km from the Kara-Bom site.

Эксплуатация осадочных пород в верхнепалеолитических технологиях расщепления камня Центральной Азии – Южной Сибири

Эксплуатация осадочных пород в верхнепалеолитических технологиях расщепления камня Центральной Азии – Южной Сибири

Mechanical characterization of raw material quality and its implication for Early Upper Palaeolithic Moravia

Abstract Raw material mechanical tests were conducted to answer the question whether differences in raw material procurement among Early Upper Palaeolithic populations in Moravia (Czech Republic) may have been driven by different mechanical properties of those materials. Characterization of mechanical properties of erratic flints and Krumlovský les I type chert show that the relatively finer-grained erratic flints, preferred by local Aurignacian populations, are more easily and probably also predictably knapped at higher speeds, such as reached with soft (antler, wood) percussors, whereas cherts of Krumlovský les I type, exploited by both Szeletian and Aurignacian populations, are more resistant to fracture propagation. This implies the suitability of the former material for fine blade and bladelet production, and of the latter to projectile (e.g. Szeletian leaf points) manufacture, and possibly explains the export of leaf points from Szeletian areas (the Krumlov Forest) to Bohunician and Aurignacian sites within Moravia. Exploitation of erratic flints was easier as regards Aurignacian, and probably entire Upper Palaeolithic knapping technology. Certain tasks, however, were better met with other raw materials, thus reflecting the relativity of chipped stone raw material quality perception in the Palaeolithic.

Paleoenvironment and peculiarities of stone industry development on Barun-Alan-1 site (Western Transbaikal)

Paleolithic material culture and environments were studied at the multi-layered archeological locality Barun-Alan-1. The entire sequence of deposits includes archeological materials spanning the time interval from the Early Zyryanka glacial time (early Würmian, according to the European system of continental glaciations) to the late Holocene. Palynological and paleofaunistic data provided basis for reconstruction of paleoclimatic conditions of the sediment accumulation and the ancient technology development. The Early Zyryanka period was noted for cold and dry conditions in the entire region with open landscapes prevalent, while the site itself was rather wet. The lowest layers of the Barun-Alan-1 are dated to this period. The archeological materials extracted from those layers display the appearance of the Upper Paleolithic tools and stone knapping technology, while the Middle Paleolithic technologies were still in use. The coexistence of prismatic and Levallois knapping technologies in the lower horizons and an appearance of developed micro-industry towards the end of the Early Zyryanka time make the stone industry of the lower horizons essentially different from the materials of other sites in Western Transbaikalia dated to the same period. The subsequent development of the archeological culture identified in the lower layers of Barun-Alan-1 proceeded in the Early Karginsky period (layer 7) under conditions of a milder climate as compared with the previous stage, though still cool enough.A dramatic change in the archeological culture occurred at the Barun-Alan-1 between 40 and 30 ka. The Khengerekte culture represents the most ancient (in Western Transbaikalia) variant of archeological culture with a well pronounced bifacial technique of stone implement modeling. Chronologically, it may be dated to the final Karginsky (30–25 ka) and to the first half of the Sartan cold epoch (25–20 ka). The paleoclimates of the Sartan period are described as cold and dry.Comparison with data obtained from other localities in Western Transbaikalia makes it possible to conclude on the multicultural development of the region in the Paleolithic epoch. At least two variants of the Upper Paleolithic industries may be distinguished, both practicing blade production and developing in similar natural environments.

El impacto de los conjuntos de trilleros en el registro paleolítico de la Meseta. Una aproximación etnoarqueológica

En el siguiente artículo se plantea la problemática que conlleva para el estudio del Paleolítico muchos depósitos líticos de carácter etnográfico y época histórica que se confunden con el registro arqueológico más antiguo. La principal aportación de este trabajo es la sistematización del proceso de elaboración de piedras de trillo en cuarcitas, y la caracterización geológica y arqueológica de estos conjuntos líticos en el territorio de Segovia.

The Theatrics of Technology: Consuming Obsidian in the Early Cycladic Burial Arena

Fine pressure‐flaked obsidian blades are a regular feature of burial assemblages from the Early Bronze I Cyclades. While they tend to be complete and unused, they are essentially the same products as those from contemporary settlements. This changed over time, with the development of a highly skilled knapping technology dedicated to the manufacture of long blades for consumption in funerary ritual. While some of these blades were employed as grave goods, others were withheld for distribution among the living participants of the ceremony. The cores remained in circulation prior to their reuse as pestles for preparing body paints. This chapter investigates this flamboyant technique through the metaphor of theater, offering a reconstruction as to how these episodes of production, distribution, and discard might have been staged and considers the ramifications of the performance, its actors, audience, and directors in the construction and maintenance of social relations among these small island communities.

The Lower Palaeolithic Site at Red Barns, Portchester, Hampshire: Bifacial Technology, Raw Material Quality, and the Organisation of Archaic Behaviour

The site at Red Barns was excavated in 1975, but the large lithic collection remained unstudied following preliminary examination. This paper reports on further analysis of the lithic material from the site, together with a reappraisal of the faunal remains and original mineralogical analyses, and the results of processing sediment samples from the 1975 excavation. An abundant molluscan assemblage was recovered from the deposits covering the main archaeological horizon, allowing climatic/environmental reconstruction and amino acid dating. The synthesis of these data indicates the site to be older than previously thought, dating to between 425,000 and 200,000 BP.Analysis of the lithic material has suggested that the site is an undisturbed palimpsest of flint tools and debitage. The poor, severely frost-fractured nature of the raw material used for knapping, together with the location of the site on a Chalk outcrop, have enabled investigation of some assumptions about the influences upon knapping technology of i) poor quality raw material and ii) local availability of flint fresh from Chalk bedrock. The persistent manufacture of finely worked plano-convex handaxes suggests that, even in an area where fresh Chalk flint must have been abundant, the immediately available poor quality flint source was not a bar to formation of an assemblage dominated by handaxe production. Secondly, the emphasis on carefully shaped pointed plano-convex handaxes suggests that this shape was both deliberately imposed and not dictated by a lack of local availability of flint fresh from the Chalk. Behaviour at the site was investigated by analysis of the organisation of the lithic production and it was demonstrated that, while some handaxes and flake-tools were abandoned at the site and some flake core reduction also took place there, the dominant pattern was for handaxes to be made at the site and then removed and abandoned elsewhere.

Athkiajas: A Cypriot Flintknapper and the Threshing Sledge Industry

ABSTRACTThe Cypriot threshing sledge supported one of the last flintknapping Industries around the Mediteranean. Interviews with a former athkiajas (knapper) and others depict a simple, efficient, and highly specialized knapping technology, which was part of a complex of traditional agricultural practices. Within this Industry can be seen temporal, regional, and individual Variation, which is now difficult to document. The knapping and other crafts involved were also performed at several levels of specialization.