Lithic Procurement Research Articles

Virtual Trip to the Abric Romaní site and its lithic procurement areas

This paper introduces the virtual field trip organised on the occasion of the 13th International Symposium on Knappable Materials in Tarragona from 4th to 6th October 2021, showing the Abric Romaní site (NE Iberian Peninsula) and the chert procurement areas located within a 30 km radius.
 The Abric Romaní section consists of a general presentation of the Middle Palaeolithic site, including a brief description of its 50 m stratigraphic sequence, where more than 20 archaeological levels have been identified dating from 110 to 39 ka BP, and some of the main traits of the archaeological assemblages have been recovered. This was followed by an introduction of the siliceous outcrops of the Panadella cherts approximately 24 km from the Abric Romaní; the Sant Martí de Tous chert outcrops 16 km away and the Valldeperes and Ca l’Alemany chert outcrops at distances of 24 and 25 km, respectively. In all cases, the geological formations, as well as the main chert macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, are described. 
 This paper yields the most relevant aspects of a field trip that had to be recorded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but which brought us back together and facilitated the presentation of the main source areas frequented by the Neanderthals groups of this referential site.

A game of two halves: Looking for evidence for both embedded and direct procurement in a simulated dataset

The concepts of embedded and direct procurement have become weighted with extra baggage over the years. In embedded procurement, lithics are obtained along with other resources, while direct procurement involves a deliberate trip to the source for the sole purpose of obtaining that raw material. Lewis Binford suggested that direct procurement means something went wrong (a sign of poor planning), and that embedded procurement is the norm. Other authors found valid reasons why direct procurement could be deliberate, planned, and beneficial. Regardless, the two have often been seen as diametrically opposed, and applied to interpretations of mobility and lithic procurement as if they are mutually exclusive of one another. They have also been variously conflated with expedient and curated technology, the use of local vs. exotic raw materials, and so on. The often site-centric vision of archaeologists (we find it hard to see that people may have been passing through a site, not based there and going out and coming back), can further confuse the issue. The most important problem, however, is: how can we tell the difference between embedded and direct procurement from the stone tools collected at an archaeological site? We created the scenario of a site with various proportions of stone tools from different sources. In order to not influence the site characteristics through a priori expectations, we randomly assigned source qualities and percentages in the assemblage, along with the distances and directions of each source relative to the site. Then each author analysed those data from one of two points of view: LW convinced in advance that the evidence supported embedded lithic procurement, and PM equally certain that a direct strategy was apparent. In both cases, the authors felt they had sufficient “justification” to bolster their point of view and build a strong case for their raw material procurement strategy. This exercise gave some insight into the usefulness and limitations of these two concepts as heuristic devices, as they continue to be a major influence on anyone trying to interpret lithic procurement.

Anthropic modifications on megafauna bones in the paleontological collections of the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle de Paris: Historical aspects and implications for the Pampean Pleistocene peopling

The most abundant evidence of Pampean Pleistocene human presence are modified bones, as lithic procurement sites located farther than 300km away. Therefore, we focused on the study of bone modifications, in particular cut and percussion marks. We studied Pampean paleontological collections of Argentine and European museums as an alternative resource of previously unnoticed human modification evidences. We compared marks characteristics with those of archaeological collections from diverse climatic and cultural adaptations, from middle Pleistocene sites (Vallonet, Atapuerca, Lazaret, Arago and Terra Amata) to terminal Pleistocene ones (Abri Pataud, Isturiz and La Vache). Marks typologies were defined, leading to the identification of a particular cutmark that we named double parallel considered as highly diagnostic of anthropic use of lithic artifacts. We also propose that hafted artifacts were used on carcass processing. Perimortem bone modifications are classified in relation with mark morphology (e.g., percussion striae), inferred gesture or action (e.g., breakage of diaphysis), and inferred objective of that action (e.g., marrow extraction). The megafauna specimens analyzed from the historical collections (d’Angelis-Vilardebó, 1847, Muñiz-Dupotet, 1842 and Breton-Bonnement, 1881) present modifications compatible with dismemberment, defleshing, tongue and masseter extraction, and utilization as anvils. The lack of contextual data (location, stratigraphy) and the loss due to museum selection/collecting of accompanying material prevent paleoenvironmental and paleoecological inferences. Regional geology indicates that most of the historical collections were exhumed in riverbank cuts with ages between 70 and 13 ky BP. Preliminary direct dating presents evidence of a Pampean human occupation, at least, since OIS 2.

Low‐cost technologies in a rich ecological context: Hotel California open‐air site at Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain

ABSTRACTHotel California is part of a network of open‐air Neanderthal sites located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). In this study, we examine the technology of the lithic assemblages recovered from this site's archaeological levels 3 to 7, which are characterised by the use of local raw materials, non‐hierarchical centripetal exploitation systems, systematic production of flakes and few retouched items. This type of expedient technology is repeated throughout the entire sequence, which spans Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 3 to 4. Through a comparison with the technocomplexes and occupation histories of surrounding sites – including a re‐evaluation of the published chronology for the nearby site of Fuente Mudarra, which is now dated exclusively to MIS 5 – we examine whether the detected pattern is applicable to the rest of the Atapuerca Mousterian record and if this expedient behaviour has equivalents in other sites in the region. Our findings show that the lithic procurement, exploitation and configuration strategies employed at the Sierra de Atapuerca open‐air sites were constant over broad time periods spanning MIS 5 to 3, in contrast to the technological sequences observed at other nearby sites on the Northern Iberian Plateau. The recurrent settlement of these open‐air Neanderthal sites over tens of thousands of years and the consistent use of expedient technologies during different occupation periods is likely attributable to the rich ecological context of the Sierra de Atapuerca environs.

Raw material characterization and lithic provenance from Shishan Marsh 1, a Middle Pleistocene site in the central Azraq Basin, Jordan

Provenance analyses have been utilized to cast light on the nature of lithic procurement and the mobility strategies of prehistoric foragers. Recently, scholars have applied them to chert formations of the Levant with noted success. However, the Azraq Basin in the eastern desert of Jordan is a region of the Levant where characterization of the lithology is on-going. This study evaluates additional chert sources from the central Azraq Basin, Jordan through LA-ICP-MS. These geochemical data contribute to an expanding regional dataset, particularly on the Umm Rijam Chert-Limestone formation. Furthermore, their profiles are used to investigate the provenance of a sample of lithic artifacts from the Middle Pleistocene site of Shishan Marsh 1 located within the Azraq wetlands. The evaluated stone tools are most consistent with certain profiles of the URC formation. The results indicate that raw material was procured from sources on-site and in distant areas to the west and northeast of the wetlands. Foragers remained mobile throughout the region and moved lithics over local and non-local distances into the wetlands before discarding them at Shishan Marsh 1. The utility of geochemistry for provenance in the Azraq Basin is recognized, but a future incorporation of petrography is suggested.

An expanded frame for lithic material choices

For a long time, lithic procurement strategies have been used as an indicator of mobility abilities and material preferences of various hunter-gatherer groups across time. Different procurement patterns between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Europe have led to interpretations of species differences between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens , and diverse influences of the environment on the populations. With the use of hypotheses on local or long-distance lithic procurement, agent-based models can function as a neutral and quantitative test of procurement choices. By statistically testing hypotheses made from ethnographic and archaeological studies, the material of four Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Middle Rhine area, Western Germany, set the frame for analysing procurement choices of the Neanderthals in their environmental setting. From the analyses of the agent-based models, it is visible that it is the availability of raw material resources that influences the procurement of the hunter-gatherer agent. By reflecting this result in the local environment and ecological options, it is argued that the advantages of local procurement succeeded the ones of long-distanced procurements for the Neanderthals. Thereby the study provides an example of the beneficial union of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in archaeological research, and how the science of the past can improve by adding computational methods of the present.

Western Stemmed Tradition lithic procurement strategies at the Catnip Creek Delta Locality, Guano Valley, Oregon: A gravity model approach

Source provenance analyses have long featured prominently in Great Basin Paleoindian archaeology. Such research has primarily focused on reconstructing Paleoindian settlement/subsistence strategies, territoriality, and socioeconomic interactions by sourcing obsidian artifacts from sites and mapping their geographic distributions. While these studies have identified the toolstone sources that early groups used and how they may have conveyed them, few have explicitly addressed why particular materials may have been selected. I present a gravity model that examines the influence of geologic and geographic factors (e.g., toolstone quality and abundance) on Western Stemmed Tradition lithic procurement strategies at the Catnip Creek Delta Locality, Guano Valley, Oregon. My results suggest that groups primarily procured toolstone based on its proximity to wetlands and travel corridors and not sources’ overall quality. Western Stemmed Tradition groups may have done this to maximize foraging efficiency within a wetland focused and residentially mobile settlement-subsistence system.

Preference for Porphyry: Petrographic Insights into Lithic Raw Material Procurement from Palaeolithic Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT Only a handful of stratified sites are known in loess, spring, and river contexts in the northern piedmonts of the Tian Shan, and the majority are dated to the Upper Palaeolithic. These sites have been studied from a geoarchaeological perspective; however, lithic procurement activities remain unknown. To address this deficiency, we present the results of the extensive field surveys aimed at locating prehistoric raw material sources in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor of Kazakhstan. We also provide a detailed petrographic description of the lithologies exploited during the Palaeolithic of Kazakhstan. Based on the field survey results, combined with petrographic data, we conclude that the direct procurement strategy was the most common at the stratified sites. However, evidence of both direct and embedded procurement is found in the northern piedmonts of the Ili Alatau range at the site of Maibulaq. Additionally, we highlight the variation of chert lithologies within the larger Qaratau region, laying a foundation for future provenance studies.

Lithic Analysis of Andean Sedentary Societies: A Case Study from the Chachapoyas Region, Peru, and Potential Applications

In the archaeological tradition of what is today Peru, studies of sedentary agricultural groups have accorded a minor role to the analysis of stone tools relative to other suites of material culture. Here, we illustrate the value of such lithic collections via a case study of settlement sites from the Chachapoyas region of northern Peru (AD 300–1500). This study demonstrates the potential of methods such as use-wear microscopy and raw material analysis to address questions of theoretical interest to archaeologists studying sedentary society, such as subsistence, household behavior, and ceremonial practices. A set of generalized linear models of the spatial distribution of volcanic stone indicates that lithic raw material acquisition at these ceramic period sites was likely embedded in other activities. In addition, we examine an unusual set of limestone and carbonate-patinated artifacts that suggest that lithic procurement and selection were informed and strategic, if not conforming to expected technological priorities. We suggest that, by taking the potential value of lithic artifacts into consideration from project design through field collection and assemblage sampling, researchers can minimize biases that may otherwise limit the value of lithic assemblages.

Evaluating landscape knowledge and lithic resource selection at the French Middle Paleolithic site of the Bau de l'Aubesier

We report on the application of a novel approach to exploring the degree of landscape knowledge, wayfinding abilities, and the nature of decision-making processes reflected in the utilization of stone resources in the French Middle Paleolithic. Specifically, we use data from the site of the Bau de l’Aubesier to explore the reasons why a majority of the 350 raw material sources cataloged in the surrounding region appear not to have been utilized, including several located near the site and yielding high-quality lithic materials. To this end, we focus on the spatial relationships between sources as an explanatory variable, operationalized in terms of minimum travel times. Using geographic information system software and a generalized linear model of resource selection derived from the Bau assemblages, we compute source utilization probabilities from the perspective of hominins located off-site. We do so under three optimization scenarios, factoring in the intrinsic characteristics (e.g., quality) and time required to reach each source on the way to the Bau. More generally, we find that in slightly more than 50% of cases, seemingly viable sources may have been ignored simply because the minimum cost path leading back to the Bau passes through or requires only minimal deviations to reach, higher quality options. More generally, we found that throughout the entire region, a cost/benefit analysis of competing sources favors those from source areas known to have been utilized. Virtually all the available information on lithic procurement at the Bau is consistent with a model of landscape utilization premised on detailed knowledge of a very large area, an ability to accurately estimate travel times between locations, and a pragmatic strategy of stone resource exploitation based on minimizing costs (travel and search times) and maximizing utility.

Sources of geomaterials in the Sicani Mountains during the Early Middle Ages: A case study of Contrada Castro, central western Sicily

AbstractFrom 2017, an unknown rural settlement in Contrada Castro at Corleone (Palermo Province, western Sicily) was investigated as part of the ‘Harvesting Memories Project’. The stratigraphic sequence, supported by radiocarbon dating, has demonstrated a reoccupation of a pre‐Roman site during the transition between the Byzantine and Islamic periods. In particular, the main occupation occurred in the late 8th–9th century when pottery kilns and a probable warehouse were constructed. During the 10th–11th century, a new structure with different orientations replaced the previous buildings that had already collapsed. Specifically focusing on a perspective of the household production and its relationship to the surrounding landscapes of this site, this paper presents the results of a geological survey and petrographic analysis of ceramic finds and lithic samples to identify the source area of the geomaterials used in the studied settlement. The ceramic finds were divided into different Paste Groups based on the characteristics of a polarizing microscope study. The use of some locally available raw materials was recorded both for ceramic and lithic samples. Such an approach enables us to better understand ceramic craft technology, clay and lithic procurement strategies and, more broadly, the consumption of household pottery in the Early Medieval site in Contrada Castro. Furthermore, this study verifies the close relationship that this rural settlement had with the surrounding resources in the area and reveals a connection with the city of Palermo during the Early Middle Ages.

Western Stemmed Tradition Lithic Procurement Strategies at the Catnip Creek Delta Locality, Guano Valley, Oregon: A Gravity Model Approach

Western Stemmed Tradition Lithic Procurement Strategies at the Catnip Creek Delta Locality, Guano Valley, Oregon: A Gravity Model Approach

Rock Procurement in the Early Neolithic in Southern Norway – Significance by Association with People and Places?

Rocks and places of rock procurement can be sig- nificant beyond pragmatic reasons. In the Early Ne- olithic in southern Norway, specific rock types and quarries appear to have been deeply entangled in socio-political strategies that either bound people together or set people apart. Charted variations in the character of lithic procurement and distribu- tion indicate two parallel but diverging processes of “Neolithization” in the western and eastern region respectively. In the west, rhyolite from a quarry atop Mt. Siggjo was especially significant, demonstrated by the intense quarrying and wide distribution of rhyolite along the west coast. Indeed, in the west, certain quarries appear to have been regarded as nodal points, anchoring people’s sense of identity and belonging. In the east, imported flint gained a similar role because of its association with farm- ing and Funnel Beaker–related societies in south- ern Scandinavia. That is, rock was significant not only due to its physical qualities, but by its associa- tion with a specific place, social or cultural group.

GIS modeling of lithic procurement in highlands: Archaeological and actualistic approach in the Andes

The purpose of this work is to model human movements and lithic procurement costs in high-altitude environments on the basis of geographical aspects. Using GIS we analyzed movement costs that can be applied as of early occupation times in the Southern Andes. We compared curves used to analyze pedestrian movements and contrasted actualistic and ethnographic information in the Andes. We adapted the Tobler Offpath Hiking algorithm to GIS and estimated movement costs in the process of exploiting lithic resources that can be considered within local, non-local and extra-regional categories in Andean topographies as a function of isochrons or times of movement. We propose “local” to be the range of space which can be accessed in one 8-hour movement day. On this scale we establish a ranking regarding the costs of accessing the sources of raw material. The resulting movement scales can be useful for works in comparable environments and in different stages of occupation of high-altitude spaces.

Description, Geometric Morphometrics, and Microwear of Five Clovis Fluted Projectile Points from Lucas and Wood Counties, Northwest Ohio, USA

In 2011, the University of Toledo, Ohio, transferred five Clovis fluted points to the Department of Archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for permanent curation. Here, following several similar previous efforts, we describe these five Late Pleistocene artifacts with technological descriptions, illustrations, morphometrics, and microwear. These specimens support long-distance lithic procurement (> 200 km) from central Ohio to NW Ohio, as well as the exploitation of the NW Ohio and southern Michigan landscape by Clovis Paleoindian foragers.

In Search of Cloudstones? The Contribution of Charismatic Rocks Towards an Understanding of Mesolithic and Neolithic Communities in the Montane Regions of South Norway

This paper discusses whether a consideration of the capacity of rocks to affect humans in terms of their charisma or object-agency can aid in understanding identified variation in patterns of lithic procurement, distribution, and use. Lithic assemblages at sites dating to both the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in two separate areas of the central mountain plateau in southern Norway demonstrate use of locally available rock. Their use contrasts with that of flint which could only be sourced at the coast. While the use of flint in regions with a restricted range of available and suitable rock types is understandable, the presence of flint in regions rich in flint alternatives is more puzzling. In order to understand the choices and actions of prehistoric communities we must consider other factors, such as a sensorial exploration of the ability of raw materials to affect humans, together with the diverging ontological perspectives that shape human–material relations and the social situations of practice. This paper argues that, in addition to their straightforward utility, lithic raw materials had socially situated object-agency and inherent characteristics of charisma and that these exerted powerful influences on human choice, perception, and preference.

Tracing Palaeolithic human routes through the geochemical characterisation of chert tools from Caune de Belvis (Aude, France)

Caune de Belvis (Aude, France) is located in the northern slopes of the eastern Pyrenees, in south-east France. Excavations at the site during the final decades of the past century identified several human occupations from the Late Mousterian (Maroto et al. 2003) and the Magdalenian periods (Sacchi 1993). The archaeological remains are mostly composed of faunal bones and a rich bone and stone industry. In this paper, we focused on the analysis of stone remains recovered in the Magdalenian levels. The goals of this study are to determine the territorial behaviour of Magdalenian groups settled at Caune de Belvis and to identify their lithic procurement strategies. To do so, we applied a range of techniques for analysing stone remains from the Magdalenian levels and geological samples from the geological formations that may have been used. First, macroscopic studies were carried out to determine the textural and micropalaeontological content; then, geochemical analyses were conducted to quantify the elemental chemical composition. Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) was used to quantify major and minor elements and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was then used to quantify trace elements. The results show that the Magdalenian groups from Caune de Belvis exploited a range of geological formations in the northern and southern Pyrenees. They also highlight the relationship existing between the two sides of the Pyrenees during the Upper Palaeolithic and bear witness to the inhabitants’ thorough knowledge of the Pyrenean area.

Challenges to reconstruct chert availability in tectonically highly modified environments: Examples from the Dead Sea Transform (Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Wadi Hammeh, Greater Petra Region)

In the Near East, more particularly in the Southern Levant, the Rift Depression, also called the Dead Sea Transform (DST), reveals unique natural phenomena that have deeply marked the landscape, notably its topographic and hydrographic features, since the Miocene, about 5 million years ago (Mya).In this paper, we present four geo-archaeological case studies associated with the Central Jordan Valley (i.e. Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Wadi al-Hammeh and the Greater Petra Region). These examples intend to illustrate the importance of taking the context and development of the geological substratum into account for the reconstruction of prehistoric lithic procurement strategies. Chert features and availability have been profoundly impacted by these diverse and complex processes. Continental and marine erosion, associated with plate tectonics and lateral plate displacements, have altered silicifications in their primary matrix and have also resulted in the accumulation of secondary deposits rich in chert nodules.Prehistoric peoples throughout the Pleistocene have extensively exploited these various sources. At Acheulian Gesher Benot Ya'aqov the presence of a non-local chert provided the opportunity to focus on and better understand the battered chert only available south of the Sea of Galilee, in the Central Jordan Valley (Case Study #1). The Natufian inhabitants of Wadi Hammeh 27 mainly exploited a yellow chert collected in secondary outcrops of limited geographical distribution that have vanished with the Holocene erosion (Case Study #2). In the Petra Region the lithic analysis of Neolithic assemblages was challenged by the presence of cherts of supposedly non-local origin. Lithic analysts working in the Dead Sea Rift should be aware that the chert spectrum of “the other side” of the depression might be different and that knowledge on local or regional chert availability cannot simply be transferred (Case Study #3). In the Wadi Sabra lateral and vertical displacements as well as tilting processes have affected primary chert-bearing formations resulting in heavily fissured and cracked cherts badly suitable for knapping. In contrast, the tectonically unaffected outcrops in the highlands show no internal damage of the material. This difference is clearly mirrored in the procurement behaviour of the Upper Palaeolithic groups occupying the wadi (Case Study #4).

Comparing lower and middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia

The Hrazdan River valley in Armenia contains Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites and offers access to the Gutansar Volcanic Complex, a large and important source of obsidian. The sites’ occupants primarily acquired lithic material from this obsidian source, which is manifested throughout the local landscape, but its obsidian exposures, produced during a single eruptive phase, exhibit the same geochemical signature. This situation inspired the development of rock magnetic characterization as a means to recognize obsidian from different spots across the volcanic complex (i.e., intra-source, not inter-source, characterization). This intra-source approach was first applied to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lusakert Cave 1, where the data revealed that the occupants collected obsidian throughout the river valley, rather than a preferred outcrop, quarrying area, or secondary deposit. Such a finding implied that the toolstone procurement spatially coincided with the valley and was embedded in subsistence activities. In this new study, the same approach to intra-source magnetic characterization is applied to the Lower Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi 1 – specifically, to obsidian debris dated between 440 and 335 millennia ago. The magnetic measurements show that, like at Lusakert Cave 1, toolstone acquisition occurred within the valley. If, as we propose, obsidian procurement reflects the spatial distribution of subsistence activities, it attests that archaic hominins at both sites and in both periods were able to effectively exploit a resource-rich riparian ecosystem. Consequently, this study provides an example of behaviors shared by Middle and Lower Palaeolithic hominins whereby, placed within the same landscape, their resource exploitation behaviors appear indistinguishable.

Neanderthal lithic procurement and mobility patterns through a multi-level study in the Abric Romaní site (Capellades, Spain)

This study represents the first integrated approach to the lithic raw materials exploited by the Neanderthals that occupied the Abric Romaní site (NE Iberia). Focusing on chert as the most abundant raw material (>80% of the assemblages), we determine the potential procurement areas and the mobility patterns. Geo-archaeological surveys within a radius of 30 km from the site documented 32 primary locations with silicifications. The chert abundance ratio, a quantitative approach to the raw material availability, together with macroscopic and petrographic analyses, confirm the underexploitation of the local raw materials (<10 km).The main procurement areas are located between 16 km (Sant Martí de Tous chert) and 24 km (Panadella chert), indicating different procurement strategies and mobility patterns. Stone tool assemblages from levels M and Oa fall within a foraging radius, whereas level P, in part, suggests a logistical radius, demonstrating a complex scenario of extensive knowledge and intensive exploitation of the landscape among Neanderthals.