Bifacial Research Articles

Mound group “II” near Askania-Nova

The article is devoted to the publication of the excavation results of the Krasnoznamianka expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1989 near the urban type settlement Askania-Nova in Kherson Oblast. Data are provided for 24 burials, almost entirely related to the Bronze Age: six Yamna culture burials, 13 Inhul culture burials, three Zrubna culture burials, one Sarmatian burial, and one indeterminate burial. Yamna culture burials belonged to ordinary representatives of this culture. All of them were found in the burial mound no. 7. Burial structures are pits with ledges. Noteworthy is a small flat-bottomed amphora from the grave no. 13. This type of ware is rather rare. A small number of Yamna culture burials does not allow drawing broad conclusions. However, it can be noted a rather rare orientation of some burials in the south-north direction. Catacomb burials belong to the Inhul culture. All of them have rounded entrance pits, short dromos, oval or semi-oval small chambers. In only one case, the deceased lies on his back with his legs bent at the knees. They are also represented by ordinary burials. Only the grave no. 12 from mound no. 7 can be considered an exception. The stone axe belonged to a warrior. Although in all other respects this is an ordinary burial. Attention is drawn to the burial no. 5 from mound no. 7. Three people are buried in this catacomb. Two adults and a teenager. Two adults are buried on top of each other on earthen bedding. The third — a teenager — lies at the feet of the first two. Perhaps this is an accompanying burial. The relatively large number of children’s burials is striking. The burial no. 8 from mound no. 7 testifies to the long coexistence of the Yamna and Inhul cultures. The legs of the deceased, raised at the knees, fall to the left. There are a lot of such burials in the steppe. Among several Zrubna culture burials, the burial from the mound no. 6 attracts attention. There was a pit with ledges, in which the skeleton of a calf lay. This is a socially significant burial. In general, the burials described above supplement our knowledge of the Syvash sites of the Bronze Age.

AMS 14C Dating of the Sites of Digaru-Kolong River Valley, Assam-Meghalaya Foothills, India

AbstractThe present study aims to determine the chronology of the past settlement of the different archaeological sites of the Digaru–Kolong River valley (Assam-Meghalaya Foothills), India, based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates of seven charcoal samples, five potsherds, and five sediment samples. The archaeological record of the study area consists of ground and polished stone axes and adzes, pottery, and standing or buried megaliths. The samples analyzed were excavated from test pits, and an attempt has been made to correlate the findings with the chronology of the neighboring archaeological region. A site reported in the vicinity of the study area is primarily Neolithic. However, the results from our excavations indicate a time frame for the analyzed artifacts of ca. 240 CE to 1379 CE.

Stone axes throw new light on Baltic stone age mortuary rites

Despite their ubiquity, Mesolithic lithic tools given as funerary offerings have rarely been studied in detail. Whereas personal ornaments (e.g. beads, pendants) are commonly interpreted as markers of social identity and status, archaeologists have struggled to understand the stone tools, commonly regarded as “utilitarian” items. As a result, this class of grave goods has not received the same level of attention, leaving a significant gap in our understanding of Mesolithic mortuary behaviours. Our research challenges long-lasting perceptions of lithic tools as strictly utilitarian objects and draws on studies of one of the most substantial stone axe funerary collections from one of the largest Stone Age cemeteries in Europe–Zvejnieki, Latvia. Evidence suggests the selection of unused axes as grave offerings, while unusual wear traces on an axe found in a female grave (no 57) raises questions about its use in the burial rites. Using a multi-proxy approach, we compare life histories of axes placed in burials to those recovered from contemporary, nearby settlement contexts. Finally, a strong correlation between axes and women and children at Zvejnieki challenges gendered stereotypes of stone tools, historically regarded as possessions of the adult male members of Stone Age societies.

Neolithic Hallstatt – a special mining place

The article analyzes salt exploitation in Hallstatt during the Neolithic period. Evidence for neolithic human presence in the Hallstatt area has been accumulating over the last years. Spatial analyses as well as use-wear analysis on the stone axes from the Hallstatt-Dachstein region give new important insights into human activity during this period. The presence of a deer pick documented within one of the mining galleries along with a fragment of a prestigious axe is very significant. Within the Salzberg area, four prestigious axes have been documented, an unusual fact for a mining area. The article highlights that Hallstatt developed advanced technology for salt extraction and presents the continuity and specialization of salt mining in this region since 5000 BC.

The use of point-impact techniques in stone processing (pecking) in the sites of forest Trans-Urals

For processing of stone and manufacture of tools, ancient man mastered a variety of methods and tech-niques — beating, splitting into flakes and plates, impact and spin retouching, grinding, sawing, drilling and some others. Of these, the least studied and insufficiently covered in the literature is the point-impact technique (pe-cking). Pecking could have been used both as an auxiliary technique and as the main one. When processing large tools (axes, adzes, pestles), which subsequently were polished, it was an auxiliary method. But when mak-ing a circular groove for tying and hollowing out a blind or through hole, it would have become the main one. In the forest Trans-Urals, the pecking technique was already known in the Mesolithic. A treasure hoard containing six stone axes has been found at the Mesolithic settlement of Ogurdino (Perm Krai). The axes were treated by beating and pecking techniques, followed by partial surface polishing. Also, two axe blanks with lugs (trunnions) from the site of Beregovaya IX in the Gorbunovsky peat bog (Sverdlovsk Region) belong to the Mesolithic. The edges of the tools and the protruding lugs were processed by pecking. A perforated disk-pommel in the shape of a kind of disguise was found in the Late Mesolithic layer of the 2nd Beregovaya site in the Gorbunovsky peat bog. A rounded hole 2.8–3.1 cm in diameter was made in the center of the disc by deep pecking on both sides. The majority of the items processed by pecking were found on mixed sites and date to a wide chronological range from the Neolithic to Bronze Age. Some of them represent accidental single finds. Stone sculptures, tops of maces, axes, adzes, plows, chisels, pestles, fishing sinkers, “ironings” were processed using point-impact re-touching. Tying lines on hammers made of massive pebbles were designed exclusively by pecking. During the Early Iron Age, the pecking technique only further expanded its application. Moreover, it was used not only for shaping products, but for making complex figured ornaments on sculptures and bas-reliefs.

Morphology meets lithic function: Use-wear and residue analysis of stone tools from the Dadiwan site in Northwestern China

Morphological classification of stone tools has long been used to study functions. While this approach has practical merit, ethnographical research often suggests a weak relationship between morphology and function. However, the actual functions of stone tools are still understudied in Chinese archaeology. This study addresses this gap by applying use-wear and starch residue analyses to investigate the functions of grinding implements and stone axes from Phase I (7800–7300 cal. BP) and Phase II (6500–5900 cal. BP) of the Dadiwan site. We find that the sampled grinding stones were used to process both plant and non-plant materials. In addition, our study shows that stone axes were used not only in woodworking but also in processing starchy plants, including millets, tubers, and other wild cereals. We discuss the implications of utilizing stone axes in these tasks within the context of gendered labor roles and caution against relying solely on presumed tool functions for inferring gendered labor organization. Our findings highlight the issues embedded in the archaeological classification of stone tools and in using them for uncritical interpretations. Hence, a more rigorous approach is necessary to understand the fluidity of tool uses.

Garden Range 2: Taungurung rock art rockshelter site reveals 11,000 years of Aboriginal occupation of the Strathbogie Ranges, Central Victoria

This paper provides new insights into the long-term history of Aboriginal use of mountainous Victoria over the past 25,000 years. It presents results of excavations at Garden Range 2 rock art site located on the edge of the Strathbogie Ranges in central Victoria. The excavations were a research collaboration between the Taungurung Land and Waters Council (TLaWC) and Monash University. Results indicate possible ephemeral visitation by the Old People during the Last Glacial Maximum, clear evidence of occupation over the past 11,000 years, and increased activity since 1600 cal BP. The stone artefact assemblage is dominated by flakes of local quartz. Three igneous flakes from ground-edge axes, dating to after 700 cal BP, are contemporary with a grinding stone showing use-wear and residues from stone axe maintenance. The faunal assemblage is dominated by forest and grassland animals, such as macropod and emu, with mussel shells and fish bones indicating the use of nearby Seven Creeks. The rarity of ochre within sediments precludes insights into the age of rock art paintings on the shelter’s surface. Fossil pollen documents the nineteenth-century European forest clearances, a period when Taungurung people’s use of the site became unsafe. Unburnt fragments of rabbit and sheep bone suggest subsequent use of the site as a fox den. Garden Range 2 illustrates Aboriginal use of mountainous central Victoria during periods of significant environmental changes in the Early Holocene and possibly in the Late Pleistocene. These chronological patterns, including increased activity in the central Victorian uplands during the Late Holocene, match emerging chronological patterns of long-term use of other mountainous regions of southeastern Australia. How sites like Garden Range 2 relate to broader long-term Aboriginal use of more elevated sub-alpine and alpine (snow country) zones of central and eastern Victoria is a question for future archaeological research.

A typology of polished stone axes in the middle Yellow River and their impact on early complex societies

Polished stone axes have long been recognized as essential tools directly related to logging and wood processing in sedentary societies, playing a crucial role in prehistoric people's survival and social production. Their evolution as production tools has been a driving force behind the advancement of society's productive capacities. In this article, information and data on stone axes from the middle Yellow River region are systematically compiled, presenting a typology based on 640 stone axes from 153 sites spanning the Middle Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The main conclusions derived from the study are as follows: (1) Typological study reveals that stone axes can be classified into 7 types. By examining the evolution of these types and their combinations, four distinct phases in the development of stone axes are identified, reaching its peak during the middle stage of Phase 4. (2) The flourishing of the stone axe types originated in the Yangshao period in the Guanzhong Plain. With the development of social complexity and the establishment of the Xia and Shang dynasties after the Longshan period, the center of gravity of stone axe types and assemblages gradually shifted to the Central Plains and the Fen River Valley. Finally, the genealogy spread to the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains and declined. (3) The types of stone axes from the late Yangshao period and the middle and late Longshan periods exhibit a clear shift, highlighting their functional differentiation during these periods. (4) The production of stone axes can be categorized into two modes based on the raw stone material used: (a) and (b). The metallization of tools, even during the so-called Bronze Age, experienced significant delays, and it was only during the Yinxu era that bronze axes began to replace some of the stone axes produced in mode (b). (5) The functional differentiation of axes and the transformation of the mode of production have played a role in inducing the emergence of social complexity and expediting its development to some extent.

Known and Unknown Stone: Papuan Petrology and Reciprocity

What is knowable about stone tool users’ knowledge? The people of the New Guinea Highlands were among the last to use stone implements routinely in their daily lives. These comprised both lithic flake tools and polished stone axes. Their classification of these objects challenges our notion of taxonomic knowledge, which involves agreement over defined classes, whereas they evidence considerable disagreement with unclear categories. It is necessary to situate stone within the egalitarian acephalous cultures where reciprocity features centrally to appreciate the ontological status of stone.

Experiments with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes and adzes provide criteria for identifying tool functions

Systematic tree-felling using a polished stone axe and/or adze developed with sedentary lifeways in Holocene environments. However, securely dated Pleistocene edge-ground stone axes/adzes have now been identified from Marine Isotope Stage 3 sites in two distant regions: Australia and Japan. These early ground tools are indicative of full-blown tree-felling, but whether they indeed functioned as woodworking tools remains unclear. We present the results of an experimental study with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes/adzes from the Japanese archipelago that included a total of 75 replicas used in 15 different use and nonuse experiments. Results indicate that identifications of wood percussive tools must be based on a comprehensive analysis of both macro- and microscopic traces. Overall, the criteria presented in this study allow us to distinguish between edge-ground stone axes/adzes used as tree-felling tools and those used for other tasks.

Late Bronze Age stone axe with a wooden haft from Nagļi (eastern Latvia)

Late Bronze Age stone axe with a wooden haft from Nagļi (eastern Latvia)

보이지 않는 선 지우기

Hallam Movius is the most cited and controversial scholar among East Asian Paleolithic researchers. Criticisms of the Movius theory that have been raised so far have often been developed in such a way that the ‘Movius line’ is not valid because there are ‘Acheulean (type) handaxes’ in East Asia and Southeast Asia. However, it is not so easy to clearly answer the question, ‘To what extent does it resemble a true Acheulean hand axe?’ Therefore, rather than examining the validity of the Movius theory through ‘formal similarity’, this study attempted to criticize the Movius theory at a more fundamental level by retracing the genealogy of the core theories that form the intellectual foundation of the Movius theory. The analysis revealed that the Movius theory is based on the ‘old intellectual legacy’ of modern Western academia that is no longer accepted by current academic circles. Theories that Movius relied on, such as Transformisme, Orthogenesis, Presapien theory, and Alpine glacial chronology, have now been discarded in the natural science and archaeology communities, and the culture-historical archaeology is also a controversial methodology in terms of its validity. In other words, considering the current level of academia, the intellectual foundation theories of the Movius doctrine are anachronistic. Therefore, the Movius model, which logically stands against old theories and concepts that no longer have a future, cannot help but be evaluated as anachronistic. Recent research has revealed that Movius’ survey of the Burma region had several critical stratigraphic errors and that there were also problems with stone tool determination. The basis of the Movius line is uncertain in that Movius built his theory based on uncertain data. Bifacial processing technology is a phenomenon that appears universally in the Old Continent, and is not a special phenomenon that appears only in certain regions such as Africa and Europe. However, we cannot lump them all together and name them ‘Acheulean’. This is because so much technological diversity is hidden within the morphological unity of ‘bifaces.’ From that perspective, the ‘Movius Line’ not only has no substance, but also fails to properly explain the Paleolithic culture of East Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as the Paleolithic culture of Europe and Africa. Therefore, the insubstantial Movius line should be discarded.

The signature of the stones: pXRF studies on prehistoric axes from the Eastern Sahara

Prehistoric stone axes are common in the Sahara but not much attention has been paid to them in recent research. Necked axes, also “haches à gorge” or “Darfur axes”, are a remarkable form of axes, which are characterised by a groove and a round or mushroom shaped neck. This rather peculiar type is widespread throughout the Sahara and can be linked with different pastoral groups of the 5th to 3rd/2nd millennia BCE. The distribution of these axes between the Nile Valley and Mali raises questions of trade and transport. In this regard the raw material used for the manufacture of these axes is of special interest. Visual rock determination of necked axes from the eastern Sahara, especially from the Wadi Howar and Laqiya regions in northern Sudan, indicates igneous rocks, mainly diabase, as raw material. As macroscopic raw material determination of archaeological objects can be difficult due to ancient surface treatment and taphonomic processes, a non-destructive elemental analysis approach was performed. pXRF analysis carried out on 62 pieces from the eastern Sahara for the first time allowed to further distinguish different rock groups based on their chemical composition. Comparison between pXRF measurements on the natural and fresh surfaces was made to address the question of taphonomic influence. A look for potential raw material sources for the production of the necked axes found in northern Sudan indicate a regional provenance of the raw material to be probable.

Use-wear analysis reveals the first direct evidence for the use of Neolithic polished stone axes in Britain

Polished stone axes have long been recognised as one of the most important forms of material culture in the Neolithic. Research over the last 40 years has done much to understand their origins, patterns of exchange across Europe, deposition, and social importance. Despite this long-recognised importance, little work in Britain has focused on the actual use of these objects. This article presents the first use-wear analysis of 20 Early Neolithic polished stone axes from Britain. This research shows that whilst many were used for woodworking, no doubt associated with forest clearance as agriculture spread, this masks the detailed and variable roles polished stone axes played in the emergence of Neolithic worlds in Britain, which use-wear has the capacity to reveal.

Unraveling Neolithic sharp-blunt cranial trauma: Experimental approach through synthetic analogues

Interpersonal violence in the past is studied from different perspectives, one of which is experimentation. Using analogues to the human skeleton it is possible to replicate fractures found in the archaeological record and understand how they were produced. The main objective of this paper is to describe and differentiate sharp-blunt force cranial trauma caused by stone axes and adzes, to test previous interpretations of an archaeological case. This will create a comparative frame of reference for future studies. In the present experiment, seven Synbone polyurethane spheres were used as analogues to the human skull. These were covered with rubber skin, filled with ballistic gelatin, and fixed in a way that allowed some mobility when struck. This system creates a skin-skull-brain-neck model. A replica of a stone axe and adze were used as weapon-tools, simulating a face-to-face attack. The results of the experiment showed that there are a series of characteristics that differentiate the fracture pattern associated with each one, confirming previous bioarchaeological interpretations. The differentiation between both weapon-tools through the resulting cranial trauma allows conclusions about the direction of the blow and the position of the attacker with respect to the victim. This provides a better reconstruction of the most likely scenario surrounding the confrontation and the possible cause of death of the individuals, which is especially important during the Neolithic period, when this type of cranial trauma is very common.

남강유역 청동기시대 편인석부의 제작과 생산체계

This thesis is a study on the bladed stone ax manufacturing and production system of the Korean bronze age at the Namgang river basin. The bladed stone ax is presumed to be a wood working tool. From the earlier bronze age(早期) to the early years of the bronze age(前期), the flat adze were mainly produced. In the second half of the early years(前期後半), the pillar shaped adze was newly manufactured. In the late period(後期), the pillar shaped adze was improved and the grooved adze was produced. A variety of tool sets have been estab- lished with existing the flat-adze and the pillar shaped adze at the same time. It is estimated that the growing demand for wooden tools as they entered a full-fledged agricultural society in the late bronze age increased the types and quantity of wooden tools and required functional development. In addition, it would have been equipped with an efficient stoneware production system.
 Also, through the distribution network of Hornfels stone knives, which were buried together in tombs and had the majestic character, there is a possibility that high-quality stone tools or materials made of Hornfels other than stone knives were included. The large pillar shaped adze excavated from the remains of the bronze age set- tlement in the Namgang river basin could be the clue.

남강유역 청동기시대 편인석부의 제작과 생산체계

This thesis is a study on the bladed stone ax manufacturing and production system of the Korean bronze age at the Namgang river basin. The bladed stone ax is presumed to be a wood working tool. From the earlier bronze age(早期) to the early years of the bronze age(前期), the flat adze were mainly produced. In the second half of the early years(前期後半), the pillar shaped adze was newly manufactured. In the late period(後期), the pillar shaped adze was improved and the grooved adze was produced. A variety of tool sets have been estab- lished with existing the flat-adze and the pillar shaped adze at the same time. It is estimated that the growing demand for wooden tools as they entered a full-fledged agricultural society in the late bronze age increased the types and quantity of wooden tools and required functional development. In addition, it would have been equipped with an efficient stoneware production system.
 Also, through the distribution network of Hornfels stone knives, which were buried together in tombs and had the majestic character, there is a possibility that high-quality stone tools or materials made of Hornfels other than stone knives were included. The large pillar shaped adze excavated from the remains of the bronze age set- tlement in the Namgang river basin could be the clue.

Tree Felling with Stone Axes: Pre-Bending Matters but Feller Sex Does Not

Based on recent insights about intensive soil husbandry by some Neolithic farmers combined with the required techniques for efficient use of stone tools, this research questions the emphasis in the experimental archaeology literature on felling of large trees by stone-axe-wielding males working alone. To reflect conditions after the short fallows now thought to have been favored by farmers using stone tools, young (8–12 years) and small (3.5–5.6 cm diameter) Quercus hemisphaerica (laurel oak) trees were felled in this study by both male and female participants. Felling with a stone axe required an average of 75 more strokes than for felling a similar sized tree with a steel axe. One novel finding in this study is that when the Quercus hemisphaerica (laurel oak) saplings were bent over/tensioned by a co-worker, the predicted numbers of felling strokes declined by 123 (73%) for stone axes and by 15 (72%) for steel axes. We also observed no effect of sex on felling efficiency with stone axes. These results suggest that stone-tool wielding farmers of both sexes worked together to clear trees from their fallowed fields.

Culture and industry of the Acheulean Age

The readers of Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences are presented with reflections on volumes III and IV of the fundamental multivolume summarizing work on the Paleolithic by the outstanding archaeologist and historian Academician A.P. Derevyanko. The main stages in the development of humankind and its technology, known from preserved ancient sites, are described. The finds at the sites consist mostly of remains of the stone industry and crushed bones of animals hunted by ancient humans. A great piece of luck is the discovery of the remains of humans. Volumes III and IV of Derevyanko’s book are devoted to the Acheulean age, a period marked by the beginning of complex interactions between representatives of the first and second waves of migrants from Africa: Homo erectus with the Oldowan tradition of stone processing and Homo Heidelbergensis of the second wave of migrants, who possessed the world’s first universal tool of a standard almond shape, i.e., the hand axe. Following the pattern of the distribution of the Heidelberg man and the hand axe, the author of this article comes to the conclusion that volumes III and IV of Derevyanko’s book clearly reflect the complex picture of interactions between the carriers of the two different technological cultures. The Acheulean age sees, for the first time in history, the formation of local cultural provinces of primitive human communities coming from different origins, which raises, also for the first time, the issue of interactions between different races and cultural traditions.

화성 천천리 구석기 유적(2021년 발굴) 석기 분석

The investigation of a site for the new building of a factory in Cheoncheon-ri, Maesong-myeon, Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi-do, a paleolithic cultural layer was excavated. At the distance of around over 50m on the other side of a lane on the northwestern side of this point, the Hwaseong Cheoncheon-ri Paleolithic Site that had been excavated in 2014 is located. At the time, as a result of the excavation that had been limited to 60㎡, it has been reported that the site was formed from the Late Middle Paleolithic to the Early Upper Paleolithic. It was also estimated that the Paleolithic cultural layer had been distributed widely around this area. We had analyzed with lithic artefacts on Hwaseong Cheoncheon-ri Paleolithic Site had been excavated in 2021. Even though It had been excavated a small scale with a total of 200㎡, 125 pieces of the lithic astefacts had been yielded including the sample investigation while showing a degree of concentration. Excavated lithic artefacts are classified into 4 groups; 96 pieces of the primary products derived from the tool-manufacturing process, 23 pieces of tools, 3 pieces of striking tools for the edged tool-manufacturing, 3 pieces of the raw materials, etc. A total of 102 pieces of artefacts that can be interpreted as the tool-manufacturing process are about 82% of the total. Considering that had been excavated only a small part of the cultural layer of the entire at the present, it is difficult to understanding of the clear and definite personalities of the site. When seen with the investigation performance until now, a part of the lithic workshop that had a scale was revealed. In addition, it can be seen that a point where the specific tools, including end-scraper, awl, bec, etc., had been used more emphatically had been excavated. Indeed, It can be assumed as a base-camp where regarding the production of tool-manufacturing and use. A total of 23 tools were excavated from the cultural layer, the kinds are the following: Hand axe(1), large end-scraper(2), end-scraper(6), awl(4), scraper(2), bec(3), retouched debris(4), utilized debris(1), etc. Especially, compared with the curvature of the edge from the end-scraper, it can be seen that the 3 groups including the large, the middle, and the small-sized. Indeed, it is estimated that the handling of the leather by using the end-scraper and a series of the work that were related to the processing had been materialized. In the case of the awl, an edge was simply retouched at the distal part of the flake. It can be seen as a retouch method that had utilized the form of the blank well. A total of 18 pieces of flakes were excavated. Among these, it is characteristic that the traces of the reshaping of the flakes of the 7 pieces had remained. The reshaping is distinguished into 2 kinds of methods. One is the method of flaking in the width direction of the flake. And another thing is flaking in the direction of the thickness. With the wide direction flaking get formed the slanting facet and the edge. And with the thickness direction flaking gets a facet. Each is distinguished into 3 pieces and 4 pieces. In relation to the tool-manufacturing, it is presumed to be an edge or a holder for each. Also, if the following are synthesized; an aspect that the length of the flakes are shorter than the length of debitage surfaces of cores, an aspect that the frequency of the punctiform or the linear butt of flakes are high, an aspect that the reshaping of the flakes are confirmed as 7 pieces, etc., we can infer that with the original flakes as the blank, it was flaked once again at the lithic workshop. To speak differently, it directly shows that the case in which a smaller flake was flaked again from the original flake had been frequent. And regarding this, instead of using as a blank that smaller flake, it can be seen as a retouch technuque that is related to the tool-manufacturing. In conclusion,