Lithic Microwear Analysis Research Articles

Lithic microwear analysis

Lithic microwear analysis

Confirming a Cultural Association at the La Prele Mammoth Site (48CO1401), Converse County, Wyoming

Archaeologists have long subjected Clovis megafauna kill/scavenge sites to the highest level of scrutiny. In 1987, a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was found in spatial association with a small artifact assemblage in Converse County, Wyoming. However, due to the small tool assemblage, limited nature of the excavations, and questions about the security of the association between the artifacts and mammoth remains, the site was never included in summaries of human-killed/scavenged megafauna in North America. Here we present the results of four field seasons of new excavations at the La Prele Mammoth site that confirm the presence of an associated cultural occupation based on geologic context, artifact attributes, spatial distributions, protein residue analysis, and lithic microwear analysis. This new work identified a more extensive cultural occupation including the presence of multiple discrete artifact clusters in close proximity to the mammoth bone bed. This study confirms the presence of a second Clovis mammoth kill/scavenge site in Wyoming and shows the value in revisiting proposed terminal Pleistocene kill/scavenge sites.

Testing Area‐Scale Fractal Complexity (Asfc) and Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM) to Document and Discriminate Microwear on Experimental Quartzite Scrapers

Few microwear studies have been conducted on tools made from quartzite. Most rely on visual observation of microwear features using optical light microscopes and scanning electron microscopes. Quantification of microwear on quartzite tools is extremely rare, even though numerous methods to mathematically document surface roughness have been applied to other silicate tools. In this paper, laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) was used to document surface roughness on four experimental scrapers made from two different subtypes of Mistassini quartzite that were used on either fresh or dry deer hide. Surface roughness data were analysed using area‐scale fractal complexity (Asfc). The results of this test case indicate that Asfc can effectively discriminate between the unused and used regions on the quartzite tools based on surface roughness, and that it can also discriminate between surface roughness produced by working dry versus fresh hides. Differences in the subtypes of Mistassini quartzite did affect surface roughness, but not significantly enough to prevent discrimination of the dry and fresh hide‐working tools. Although the use of the Asfc parameter for lithic microwear analysis requires further testing, these first results suggest it could be a reliable technique to mathematically document and discriminate wear patterns on archaeological quartzite tools.

Cores, Core-scrapers, and Bladelet Production during the Lower Magdalenian Occupations of El Mirón Cave, Cantabrian Spain

Among the defining characteristics of the Cantabrian (Spain) Lower Magdalenian (19.2–17.5 cal kya), along with portable art works, are so-called “nucleiform endscrapers.” These small cores often display one or more regularized edges that could indicate a secondary function as scrapers. Although this has been demonstrated microscopically to be the case at some sites, it is generally not true in a large sample from Level 17, a massive Lower Magdalenian horizon in El Mirón Cave on the edge of the Cantabrian Cordillera. This study synthesizes lithic typology, technology, and microwear analysis of the Level 17 lithic sample. The results indicate that understanding the absolute versus relative abundance of core endscrapers is important to classifications of Lower Magdalenian lithic assemblages, particularly in terms of inter-site tool comparisons, understanding the relative abundance of tools in relation to debitage products, and the key role of bladelet production.

Smudge Pits and Stone “Drills”: The Use of Chipped Stone Tools at Burrell Orchard

Recent investigations by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) identified an extensive Late Archaic occupation at Burrell Orchard (33LN15), located on a promontory overlooking the Black River in northern Ohio. CMNH excavations have documented widespread midden deposits, prepared clay floors, post molds, and pit features including numerous smudge pits. The formal chipped stone tool assemblage is dominated by lanceolate projectile points and bifacial “drills.” High-powered lithic microwear analysis was performed on 28 formal chipped stone tools recovered from the 2008 and 2014 CMNH field seasons. Tool types examined included complete and fragmentary lanceolate points, drills, and other bifaces. The results indicate that many “drills” were actually used to perforate dry hide and, thus, may have held a unique place in the hide-processing activities conducted at the site.

Metalwork wear analysis: The loss of innocence

Metalwork wear-analysis has now been practised for over two decades. In this paper the authors present the achievements of the discipline and critically assess the methodologies currently applied by practitioners. Whilst the achievements and contributions of the discipline to the wider study of archaeology, and to European prehistory in particular, are numerous, it is argued that an increase in scientific rigour and a focus on addressing limitations and open problems is required if metalwork wear-analysis is to flourish as a scientific field of research. Experimentation with higher magnifications and novel microscopic techniques is encouraged, alongside more standardised and explicit analytical protocols for analysis. More details and targeted descriptions of analytical protocols for experimental work are required: experiments must be designed to answer specific questions and address lacunas in knowledge. While at present the majority of practitioners focus their analyses on copper alloys from European prehistory, and most specifically from the Bronze Age, the authors suggest that a far wider range of materials are suitable for analysis including copper alloys from the Americas and iron alloys from historic and ethnographic collections. Expanding the range of materials studied would open the field up and give it far wider relevance to archaeology and material culture studies. Finally, it is argued that the discipline will advance more quickly if practitioners share their reference collections and databases of experimental marks digitally. The authors suggest that the creation of digital reference collections, open to all, would provide metalwork analysts with the opportunity to lead related fields of research such as lithic microwear and residue analysis, where individual reference collections are the norm and cross-comparability of analysis is therefore hindered.

Technological organization and lithic microwear analysis: An alternative methodology

The paper investigates Binford’s concept of “organization of technology” in the context of lithic microwear analysis. A theoretical approach to technological organization will alleviate the current focus of use-wear analyses upon reconstruction of individual activities. Use-wear traces must be recognized as palimpsests, rather than traces from separate episodes, to address changes in cultural systems. When conventional methods of use-wear analysis are combined with spatial analysis of “living floors” (e.g., French “Paleo-ethnology”) the data tend to orient toward spatial goals, making it difficult to evaluate organizational aspects of lithic utilization. An alternative strategy based on Binford’s organizational approach is proposed. Microwear analysis on artifacts from the Paleoindian Mill Iron site in Montana, and case studies from Japanese prehistory, examine methods to evaluate lithic organization from use-wear data. These include curation versus expediency, local versus nonlocal dichotomy of raw materials, “multiple stage surface alteration,” “multiple stage edge rounding,” and accumulation of use-wear traces upon stone surface. The organizational approach to microwear also addresses the gap between wear patterns observed experimentally versus those observed on archaeological tools.

Lithic microwear analysis as a means to infer production of perishable technology: a case from the Great Lakes

Perishable technologies form a major portion of hunter–gatherer toolkits across the globe. Due to preservation issues, however, these artifacts are often not recovered in the archaeological record. Thus it is necessary to look for evidence of perishable technologies in novel ways. This is especially true for Late Pleistocene sites in North America which are typically dominated by chipped stone artifacts. While other perishable technologies—i.e. bone and wood—from these sites have received some attention, fiber technologies remain under examined due to their near complete absence in the archaeological record, especially in eastern North America. Lithic microwear analysis on a sample of artifacts from the Clovis affiliated Paleo Crossing site in the Great Lakes region of North America indicates that numerous artifacts were used for plant processing. I present the results of analysis here with particular emphasis on artifacts used to process plant material. Through comparison with experimentally produced wear patterns, I argue that much of the plant processing at Paleo Crossing was geared toward plant fiber production. These findings provide further evidence that fiber technologies were important elements of the Clovis toolkit. Additionally, it demonstrates that evidence of perishable technologies can be recovered from lithic assemblages.

On the importance of blind testing in archaeological science: the example from lithic functional studies

Blind-testing is an important tool that should be used by all analytical fields as an approach for validating method. Several fields do this well outside of archaeological science. It is unfortunate that many applied methods do not have a strong underpinning built on, what should be considered necessary, blind-testing. Historically lithic microwear analysis has been subjected to such testing, the results of which stirred considerable debate. However, putting this aside, it is argued here that the tests have not been adequately exploited. Too much attention has been focused on basic results and the implications of those rather than using the tests as a powerful tool to improve the method. Here the tests are revisited and reviewed in a new light. This approach is used to highlight specific areas of methodological weakness that can be targeted by developmental research. It illustrates the value in having a large dataset of consistently designed blind-tests in method evaluation and suggests that fields such as lithic microwear analysis would greatly benefit from such testing. Opportunity is also taken to discuss recent developments in quantitative methods within lithic functional studies and how such techniques might integrate with current practices.

Hunting camps and nucleiform endscrapers in the Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian: A lithic microwear analysis

This paper presents a study that includes the factor analysis of some classic deposits from the Cantabrian Middle and Lower Magdalenian and the functional analysis of Rascaño nucleiform endscrapers. Three categories of enclaves are distinguished, based on their main industrial features (two functional: aggregation sites and hunting camps; and one chronological: late Lower or Middle Magdalenian occupations). Finally, the functional analysis relates the abundance of nucleiform endscrapers in Rascaño cave, a hunting camp, to the maintenance or fabrication of bone points.

Functional variability in the Magdalenian of north-western Europe: A lithic microwear analysis of the Gönnersdorf K-II assemblage

The great amounts of finds comprising lithic artefacts, faunal remains, figurative arts and architectural remains from Gönnersdorf suggest this site was repeatedly occupied as a base camp over a period of many years. This study examines activities performed at Gönnersdorf K-II based on traceological analysis. The intensive, diverse usewear traces observed on the lithic assemblage indicate that a series of activities including hunting, butchery, processing of carcass remains, and stone-working was conducted at Gönnersdorf. This result contrasts with scarcity of usewear traces on flint artefacts at Eyserheide and also with the evidence of the specific function as a hunting camp at Bois Laiterie cave, which are both reconstructed on the basis of traceological investigations. Thus, this study shows completely different aspects of Magdalenian sites represented by traces on the lithic assemblages. The functional variability reflects a glimpse of the complementary site functions within the Magdalenian settlement-subsistence system in north-western Europe.

Laser scanning confocal microscopy: a potential technique for the study of lithic microwear

The key problem restricting lithic microwear analysis is the lack of quantitative analysis to support qualitative assessments of different wear traces. This paper presents the reflective laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) as a new technique for the study of lithic microwear that has the potential to resolve this problem. Firstly, an example is presented that shows how the LSCM compares with conventional reflected light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This shows that images, rivalling that of the SEM, can be produced in similar timescales to conventional photomicrography and with no need for casting or sample preparation. The LSCM is also used to measure surface roughness of use-wear produced from working hide (dry, fresh and greasy), woodworking and antler working. This analysis demonstrates clear differences between the different wear polishes and the potential of the LSCM as a quantitative approach in lithic microwear research.

Lithic Microwear Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artifacts from White Paintings Rock Shelter, Botswana

Excavations conducted at the White Paintings rock shelter in the NW Kalahari Desert have uncovered seven meters of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits. Lithic microwear evidence was found on 15 artifacts representing five of the major archaeological subdivisions in the sequence and revealed work in wood, hide, and bone, as well as butchering and impact damage. Middle Stone Age points found in deposits bracketed by TL dates to between approximately 66,400 ± 6500 and 94,300 ± 9400 B.P. were of special interest because of the possible association of the Middle Stone Age with the origin of anatomically modern humans and because little, if any, micro-wear evidence has been published on Middle Stone Age points. Five out of 10 points examined revealed impact damage consistent with their use as projectiles, most likely as spear points. We present a model of the use of such points for hunting medium-sized mammals with spears, an interpretation that is largely consistent with faunal remains observed in South African cave sites.

Lithic Microwear Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artifacts from White Paintings Rock Shelter, Botswana

Lithic Microwear Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artifacts from White Paintings Rock Shelter, Botswana

Prehistoric cultural ecology and evolution: insights from Southern Jordan

Introduction and Overview. Late Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of the Area in the Vicinity of Ras en Naqb F.A. Hassan. Culturalhistoric Framework. The Lower Paleolithic Site of Wadi Qalkha. The Middle Paleolithic Sites. Lithic Microwear Analysis of the Tor Faraj Rockshelter J.J. Shea. Late Levantine Mousterian Patterns of Adaptation and Cognition. The Upper Paleolithic Sites N.R. Coinman, D.O. Henry. The Qalkhan Occupations. The Hamran Sites. The Madamaghan Sites D.O. Henry, C. Shen. The Natufian Sites and the Emergence of Complex Foraging. Cultural Evolution and Interaction during the Epipaleolithic. An Early Neolithic Hunting Camp: Jebel Queisa. The Timnian and Pastoral Nomadism in the Chalcolithic. Pollen Analysis: Environmental and Climatic Implications A. Emery-Barbier. Shells from the Wadi Hisma Sites D.S. Reese. Cementum Increment Analysis of Teeth from Wadi Judayid (J2) and Tor Hamar (J431): Estimations of Site Seasonality D.E. Liberman. Analysis of Phytoliths: Seasonal, Economic, and Environmental Evidence A.M. Rosen. The Tor Hamar Fauna R.G. Klein. Adaptive Behaviors, Evolution, and Ethnicity. Index.

Is there a future for the past? An overview of archaeology in western Russia and Ukraine

The current political and economic situation in Russia and Ukraine poses grave dangers for the archaeological and museum professionals who guard these nations' legacies. At the moment that political barriers to Western collaboration were removed, new problems have crippled the post-Soviet archaeological community. Concurrently, Westerners tend to misunderstand Soviet and post-Soviet archaeological theory, forgetting that techniques such as lithic microwear and taphonomic analysis were introduced by Soviet scholars. New discoveries are described in three general categories: the origins of food-producing economies in western Russia and Ukraine, the evolution of surprisingly large towns in Copper Age Ukraine, and the origins of pastoralism in the Russian and Ukrainian steppes.

Recent developments in the analysis of lithic artifacts

A review of recent research on lithic technology and functional analysis is presented. Our perception of the state of the art is based on a review of the literature published during the past three years and on the topics that were covered at conferences and workshops on lithic analysis. While the goals have essentially remained the same since the turn of the century, concerns with chronology and the classification of lithic artifacts have given way to studies that treat stone implements as products of a dynamic system of human behavior. In order to understand stone artifacts and the people that made and used them, archaeologists must understand theprocesses involved in the acquisition, production, exchange, and consumption of lithic artifacts. In the past ten years, experimental studies involving the manufacturing and use of stone tools have been integrated with studies of refitted or conjoined lithic artifacts and microwear analysis. The result is a much more dynamic view of the variability in assemblages of lithic artifacts. In this review, we focus on replication and technological analysis of chipped stone artifacts and microwear analysis, and consider the implications of this research.

An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Trampling on the Results of Lithic Microwear Analysis

Trampling has long been recognized as a potential obstacle to lithic microwear analysis, but the magnitude of its effects have not yet been objectively evaluated. A blind test was conducted in which the effects of trampling on the preservation of use-wear traces were measured. The results of this test suggest that even moderate amounts of human trampling may significantly alter the appearance of lithic microwear traces.

Lithic microwear analysis in archeology

AbstractStone tools are the most durable and ubiquitous residue of prehistoric hominid activity. For this reason, archeologists attempt to learn as much as possible about hominid behavior from the analysis of lithic artifacts. Lithic microwear analysis reconstructs aspects of stone‐tool use from patterned variation in the traces of microscopic wear on those tools. The analysis of lithic microwear traces has increased our understanding of how stone tools were used in contexts ranging from the early Pleistocene to the ethnographic present.