Stone tools

The Middle Paleolithic site of Ketrosy studied by N. K. Anisyutkin in 1974–1979 is situated in the middle reaches of the Dniester and can be dated to ca. 100 ka. The materials of cultural layer III (complex 1) have recently been re-examined by A. V. Larionova, who identified a big production zone (flint accumulation no. 1), a living zone (which includes flint accumulation no. 2) and two small accumulations of flint which seem to represent individual working places. The collection includes a considerable series of stone fabricators (19 items). Their dimensions fall within the ranges of variation of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic hammerstones. Worthy of note is a somewhat unusual location of use-wear traces, as well as the fact that all the pebbles are weakly worn. Traces observes on 18 quartzitic sandstone pebbles allow to confidently identify them as hammers for knapping stone. One flint object can be tentatively identified as a hammer-retoucher (other hypotheses about the possible functions of these object are considered too). An interesting finding of this study is that hammerstones are associated not only with accumulations of cores and debitage products, but occur also in direct proximity to ashy lenses. Thus, their spatial distribution points to the homogeneity of the cultural layer and brevity of the site occupation. The character of use-wear traces testifies to the expedient use of hammerstones, which is quite expected to take into account the abundance of pebbles in the area.
На стоянке Кетросы в среднем течении Днестра в 1974–1979 гг. Н. К. Анисюткиным было исследовано среднепалеолитическое поселение возрастом около 100 тыс. л. н. Материалы 3-го слоя стоянки Кетросы (комплекс 1) в последние годы были пересмотрены А. В. Ларионовой. В результате были выделены крупный производственный центр (скопление кремня № 1), жилая зона (включает в себя скопление кремня № 2) и два небольших скопления кремня, по всей вероятности, индивидуальные рабочие места. В коллекции значительной серией представлены каменные ударные орудия (19 экз.). По своим метрическим свойствам они укладываются в рамки вариабельности отбойников среднего–верхнего палеолита. Обращает на себя внимание не вполне обычное расположение следов использования и то, что все гальки мало изношены. Следы на 18 кварцитопесчаниковых гальках  позволяют однозначно отнести их к отбойникам для расщепления камня. Одно кремневое орудие мы определяем как отбойник-ретушер (в статье также предложены альтернативные гипотезы о вероятных функциях этого изделия). Интересным новым наблюдением можно считать расположение отбойников не только внутри скоплений нуклеусов и дебитажа, но и в непосредственной близости от углистых линз. Таким образом, изучение пространственного распределения отбойников подтверждает кратковременность бытования стоянки и гомогенность объектов культурного слоя. Особенности следов на них говорят о том, что при обилии галек вокруг отбойники использовали ситуативно, кроме того, способ их удержания в руке в средне- и верхнепалеолитическую эпоху мог быть различным.

SUMMARY: Chapter 8, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers what typically survives, what constitutes an "artifact", interpreting usage, obtaining materials (e.g., quarrying; mining), transporting materials, installing materials, manufacturing items, identifying function, experimental archaeology, etc., regarding stone, bone, antler, shell, leather, wood, plant, metal, faience, glass, and other materials and diverse artifacts.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record.  UPDATED May 2023.

Estudo estatístico de um conjunto de espólio lítico da jazida de Santo Antão do Tojal (Loures, Lisboa), um acampamento temporário de caçadores-recolectores que terá sido utilizado mais intensamente no Paleolítico médio.

Constatando o predomínio de lascas e de utensílios de tipologia mustierense, o autor defende que a associação desses materiais arqueológicos com vestígios faunísticos justifica o futuro desenvolvimento de projecto de investigação mais aprofundado.

The Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman site of Dura–Europos (or simply “Dura”), dubbed the “Pompeii of the Syrian Desert” by Yale historian and archaeologist Michael Rostovtzeff, was jointly excavated by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters from 1928 to 1937. Given the outstanding preservation of art and architecture at Dura, it is not surprising that four obsidian artifacts have escaped attention, despite evidence that stone tools – including obsidian ones – continued to be used into and after the Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean. After more than eight decades, the character of Dura's connections to the Classical world remains a matter of debate. Pottery includes not only local ceramic wares but also North African and Aegean ones. Our nondestructive pXRF testing establish that the Dura artifacts match the three most widely used Eastern Anatolian obsidian sources: Nemrut Dağ volcano as well as the Bingöl A and B sources. If indeed obsidian arrived at Dura via long-standing mechanisms of Mesopotamian exchange, these Eastern Anatolian obsidians would be expected. Unfortunately, the artifacts' precise locations at Dura are unclear, the excavations lacked stratigraphic con- straints, and Near Eastern obsidian distribution patterns have been rarely studied beyond the Early Bronze Age. Keeping in mind these limitations, our findings are most consistent with past suggestions regarding the im- portance of local Mesopotamian influences and resources at the site.

Recognizing 3D objects in the presence of noise, varying mesh resolution, occlusion and clutter is a very challenging task. This paper presents a novel method named Rotational Projection Statistics (RoPS). It has three major modules: local reference frame (LRF) definition, RoPS feature description and 3D object recognition. We propose a novel technique to define the LRF by calculating the scatter matrix of all points lying on the local surface. RoPS feature descriptors are obtained by rotationally projecting the neighboring points of a feature point onto 2D planes and calculating a set of statistics (including low-order central moments and entropy) of the distribution of these projected points. Using the proposed LRF and RoPS descriptor, we present a hierarchical 3D object recognition algorithm. The performance of the proposed LRF, RoPS descriptor and object recognition algorithm was rigorously tested on a number of popular and publicly available datasets. Our proposed techniques exhibited superior performance compared to existing techniques. We also showed that our method is robust with respect to noise and varying mesh resolution. Our RoPS based algorithm achieved recognition rates of 100, 98.9, 95.4 and 96.0 % respectively when tested on the Bologna, UWA, Queen's and Ca' Foscari Venezia Datasets.

"""Content

AD GLORIAM 

N. A. Răileanu (Kishinev, Moldova)N. A. Chetraru: The Beginnings9
S. I. Covalenco (Kishinev, Moldova)The Leading Stone Age Researcher of Moldova11
N. K. Anisyutkin, G. V. Grigorieva (St. - Petersburg, Russia)N.A. Chetraru and the Palaeolithic of Moldova14
List of Published Works by N.A. ChetraruList of Published Works18

MAN – MAMMOTH – CULTURE 

Z. A. Abramova (St. - Petersburg, Russia)A Catalogue of Depictions of Mammoth in European Palaeolithic Miniature Art23
Z. A. Abramova (St. - Petersburg, Russia)A Catalogue of Depictions of Mammoth in European Palaeolithic Wall Art68
N. K. Anisyutkin (St. - Petersburg, Russia)Mammoth in the Middle Paleolithic of East Europe (on the problem of Mousterian living structures and the use of mammoth bones)114
S. A. Vasiliev (St. - Petersburg, Russia)Man and Mammoth in the Paleolithic of North America130
I. E. Kuzmina (St. - Petersburg, Russia)Late Anthropogenic Fauna of South-Western and Central Russian Plain141
V. V. Popov (Voronezh, Russia)Bones of Mammoth in Construction of Dwellings of Anosovka-Mezin Type on the Station Kostenki 11 (Anosovka 2)157

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS 

V. N. Stepanchuk (Kiev, Ukraine)The site of Mira in the Middle Dnieper area: On the question of homogeneity of Paleolithic layers187
A. V. Glavenchuk (Odessa, Ukraine)Study of a Manufacture Area on the Late Palaeolithic Settlement of Anetovka II206
A. P. Veselsky (Simferopol, Ukraine)Bodrak: A New Upper Paleolithic Site in South-Western Crimea228
S. P. Smolyaninova (Odessa, Ukraine)Some Groups of Retouched Stone Tools from Mesolithic Sites on the Northwest Coast of the Black Sea248
S. O. Remizov (Volgograd, Russia)A New Stone Age Station in Volgograd Oblast’267

PROBLEMS OF THE PALAEOLITHIC AND MESOLITHIC OF EUROPE 

Yu. E. Demidenko (Kiev, Ukraine)Problems of Epochal and Industrial Attribution for Kiik-Koba Rock-Shelter, Lower Layer Type Complexes in the Crimea271
S. I. Covalenco (Kishinev, Moldova)A Contribution to the Problem of the Dniester Epi-Aurignacien301
N. P. Olenkovskiy (Kherson, Ukraine)Nizhnedniprovska (Lower Dnieper) Epigravettian Culture307
I. V. Sapozhnikov (Odessa, Ukraine)The Ciobruci Station and Periodization of the Final Stage of the Late Palaeolithic in the Black Sea Steppes334

MONOGRAPH IN THE JOURNAL 

A. N. Sorokin (Moscow, Russia)The Mesolithic Stations on the Lower Moksha River359

ECO-SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTIONS 

E. V. Smyntyna (Odessa, Ukraine)Landscape in Archaeology and Primitive History: Main Approaches to Conceptualisation444
S. I. Medyanik (São Paulo, Brazil – Kishinev, Moldova), I. V. Sapozhnikov (Odessa, Ukraine)Natural Habitat of the Early Man in South-West of the Eastern Europe in Late Palaeolithic (based on palynological data and sections from the station Bolshaya Akkarzha)454
G. V. Grigorieva (St. - Petersburg, Russia)Planigraphy of Sew-on-Beads on the Upper Palaeolithic Settlement of Yudinovo (excavations of 1988 – 1990, 1995 – 1997 and 2000 – 2001)467

ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEOREMS 

L. S. Klejn (St. - Petersburg, Russia)How to Distinguish a Good Theoretical Archaeological Work of a Bad One?482
M. V. Anikovich (St. - Petersburg, Russia)Some Methodological Problems of Primitive Archaeology and Basic Generalizing Concepts: «Archaeological Stage», «Archaeological Culture», «Technical Complex», «Cultural-Historical Region»487

REVIEWS 

Yu. E. Demidenko, D. Yy. Nuzhnyi (Kiev, Ukraine)Upper Palaeolithic Problems in the North Black Sea Region and I.V. Sapozhnikov’s Book “Bolshaya Akkarzha. Upper Palaeolithic Economy and Culture of the Ukrainian Steppe”507
V. Ya. Shumkin (St. - Petersburg, Russia)The Death Again Has Chosen the Best One...To the Memory of Vladimir Ivanovich Timofeev (14.06.1947 – 08.08.2004)524

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

List of abbreviations527


Содержание

AD GLORIAM 

Н. А. Рэйляну (Кишинёв, Молдова)
Н.А. Кетрару: Начало большого пути Free!9
С. И. Коваленко (Кишинёв, Молдова)
Первый «каменщик» Молдовы Free!11
Н. К. Анисюткин, Г. В. Григорьева (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Н.А. Кетрару и палеолит Молдовы Free!14
Список опубликованных работ Н.А. Кетрару
Список опубликованных работ Free!18


ЧЕЛОВЕК – МАМОНТ – КУЛЬТУРА 

З. А. Абрамова (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Каталог изображений мамонта в европейском палеолитическом искусстве малых форм23
З. А. Абрамова (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Каталог изображений мамонта в палеолитическом настенном искусстве Европы68
Н. К. Анисюткин (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Мамонт в среднем палеолите Восточной Европы (к вопросу о мустьерских жилых структурах и использовании костей мамонта)114
С. А. Васильев (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Человек и мамонт в палеолите Северной Америки130
И. Е. Кузьмина (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Позднеантропогеновая териофауна юго-запада и центра Русской равнины141
В. В. Попов (Воронеж, Россия)
Кости мамонта в конструкции жилища аносовско-мезинского типа на стоянке Костёнки 11 (Аносовка 2)157


ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ И ПУБЛИКАЦИИ 

В. Н. Степанчук (Киев, Украина)
Стоянка Мира в Среднем Поднепровье: к вопросу o гомогенности палеолитических слоев187
А. В. Главенчук (Одесса, Украина)
Исследование производственного участка на позднепалеолитическом поселении Анетовке206
А. П. Весельский (Симферополь, Украина)
Бодрак – новый памятник верхнего палеолита в Юго-Западном Крыму228
С. П. Смольянинова (Одесса, Украина)
О некоторых группах изделий с вторичной обработкой ряда мезолитических стоянок Северо-Западного Причерноморья248
С. О. Ремизов (Волгоград, Россия)
Новая стоянка каменного века на территории Волгоградской области267


ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПАЛЕОЛИТА И МЕЗОЛИТА ЕВРОПЫ 

Ю. Э. Демиденко (Киев, Украина)
Проблемы эпохальной и индустриальной атрибуции комплексов находок типа нижнего слоя грота Киик-Коба в Крыму271
С. И. Коваленко (Кишинёв, Молдова)
К вопросу о днестровском эпиориньяке301
Н. П. Оленковский (Херсон, Украина)
Нижнеднепровская эпиграветтская культура307
И. В. Сапожников (Одесса, Украина)
Стоянка Чобручи и периодизация заключительного этапа позднего палеолита причерноморских степей334


МОНОГРАФИЯ В ЖУРНАЛЕ 

А. Н. Сорокин (Москва, Россия)
Мезолитические стоянки низовьев р. Мокши359


ЭКО-СОЦИАЛЬНЫЕ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИИ 

Е. В. Смынтына (Одесса, Украина)
Ландшафт в археологии и первобытной истории: основные подходы к концептуализации444
С. И. Медяник (Сан-Паулу, Бразилия – Кишинёв, Молдова), И. В. Сапожников (Одесса, Украина)
Природная среда обитания древнего человека на юго-западе Восточной Европы в позднем палеолите (по данным палинологии стоянки Большая Аккаржа и опорных разрезов)454
Г. В. Григорьева (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Планиграфия бус-нашивок верхнепалеолитического поселения Юдиново (раскопки 1988–1990, 1995–1997, 2000–2001 гг.)467


ТЕОРЕМЫ АРХЕОЛОГИИ 

Л. С. Клейн (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Как отличить хорошую теоретическую работу по археологии от плохой?482
М. В. Аникович (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Некоторые методологические проблемы первобытной археологии и основные обобщающие понятия: «археологическая эпоха», «археологическая культура», «технокомплекс», «историко-культурная область»487


РЕЦЕНЗИИ 

Ю. Э. Демиденко, Д. Ю. Нужный (Киев, Украина)
Проблемы верхнего палеолита Северного Причерноморья и книга И.В. Сапожникова «Большая Аккаржа. Хозяйство и культура позднего палеолита Степной Украины» 507
В. Я. Шумкин (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Опять смерть лучших выбирает… Памяти Владимира Ивановича Тимофеева (14.06.1947 – 08.08.2004) 524


ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ИНФОРМАЦИЯ 

Список сокращений527

The risk to surface archaeological sites posed by
heavy machinery has grown significantly, and
stone-tool assemblages are particularly susceptible
to alteration that may be difficult to recognise.
Indeed, the impact of industrial
machines on surface scatters of lithic material
has not yet been explored. Here, an analytical
experiment is used to explore the ways in which
machine action can affect a test assemblage
resembling a typical Stone Age scatter. The
results demonstrate that while formal tool
types are not easily replicated through machine
action, the creation of assemblages that resemble
archaeological debitage poses a much
greater challenge for archaeologists.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/effects-of-heavyduty-machinery-on-the-formation-of-pseudoknapping-debitage-in-stone-age-cultural-landscapes/1508E33BF991AF04D0F2EAEE5199E6F2

The paper introduces a complex systems perspective of the dynamics of cultural evolution in human social systems. It emerges from an account of tool invention and tool using made with the prehistoric development of cultural spaces firmly in mind. It is based on some preliminary research into the relationship between language and the formation of sociotechnical systems and is intended to offer radically new insights into the formation of distinct cultural spaces.

Том содержит публикацию свода памятников среднего палеолита Донбасса. Рассчитан на специалистов в области первобытной археологии и истории, студентов и преподавателей ВУЗов, краеведов.

Утвержден к печати Ученым советом Института археологии НАН Украины.
Рекомендован к печати Ученым советом Донецкого областного краеведческого музея.

La question du premier peuplement préhistorique du continent américain a toujours fait l'objet de vifs débats. L'une des controverses actuelles concerne la possibilité d'une présence humaine antérieure à ca. 20 000 ans (avant ou pendant le Dernier Maximum Glaciaire). Bien que la grande majorité des chercheurs reste sceptique quant à la présence d'occupations humaines si anciennes, faute de preuves considérées comme tangibles, certains travaux récents défendent cette hypothèse à partir de cas sud-américains parmi lesquels le site de Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Brésil) tient une place centrale. Le caractère anthropique des assemblages qu'a livré ce gisement a été jusqu'à présent considéré comme très ambigu : les outils présumés, essentiellement des galets aménagés, sont identiques à ceux tombant naturellement du mur et du plateau de la falaise adossée au site. Malgré ces réticences basées sur un contexte géologique favorisant théoriquement la production de géofacts, l'équipe d'É. Boëda tend à considérer que tout chercheur non convaincu par les preuves aujourd'hui publiées l'est pour de simples raisons idéologiques et non scientifiques. Une analyse comparée et critique des nombreuses publications consacrées aux sites anciens de la région de Piauí.

This study uses data from the recently excavated Laurel Beach II shell midden site at the mouth of the Housatonic River in Milford, Connecticut to investigate several issues regarding stone tool use in coastal southern New England during the Woodland Period (3,000- 500 B.P.) including the use of Narrow Stemmed Tradition points and changes to lithic raw material acquisition which may have been related to changing social conditions involving trade and territory.  This work features a current synthesis of the Woodland Period in the Northeast which demonstrates a general trend of pan-regional similarities in cultural expression that became more localized as the Woodland Period progressed. An increase in the use of coastal environments is highlighted and possible reasons for this shift in settlement pattern including changes in climate, sea level stabilization, and the importance of newly-established shellfish beds are explored. A background of the Laurel Beach II site is provided, as well as a detailed analysis of the 2017-2018 excavations at the site. Laurel Beach II consists of a 20-25-centimeter-thick shell midden underlain by B and C horizons and overlain by modern fill. Radiocarbon dates obtained from hickory nutshells at the vertical center and base of the shell midden returned Late Woodland ages of 895 +/- 15 B.P. and 850 +/- 30 B.P., respectively. The underlain B-horizon was dated to the Early and Middle Woodland Periods based on the presence of a Middle Woodland Fox Creek point and wood charcoal that returned an Early Woodland radiocarbon age of 2210 +/- 30 B.P. Quartz cobble reduction and the use of Narrow Stemmed Tradition points was found throughout the occupational sequence of the site, demonstrating continuity in the use of these tools throughout the Woodland Period. Differences in the amount of chert and quartz between the Late Woodland and Early-Middle Woodland components suggest that there were diachronic changes in long-distance mobility or exchange networks. The Early-Middle Woodland occupants of the site were more connected to chert sources in the Hudson Valley while Late Woodland occupants relied more heavily on locally-available quartz for toolstone. These differences may represent changes in regional connectedness or changes in the degree of sedentism and/or territoriality as the Woodland Period progressed. Comparing these data to other Woodland Period sites in the lower Housatonic and Connecticut River valleys, Narragansett Bay, and Cape Cod showed considerable variability in the use of Narrow Stemmed points throughout the Woodland Period and in the level of regional connectedness as inferred by the presence of exotic lithic materials. While inconclusive, the general lack of Levanna points despite the high number of sites dated to the Late Woodland by radiocarbon assays or other means suggests that Narrow Stemmed points persisted through the Late Woodland in the Housatonic drainage. This trend is seen at some sites in the Connecticut River valley such as the Old Lyme Shell Heap where Narrow Stemmed points were included in Late Woodland burials. Narrow Stemmed points in Narragansett Bay appear to be confined to use during the Late Archaic Period. While the Woodland Period presence of Narrow Stemmed points is suggested in assemblages on Cape Cod, the data there is ambiguous. Connections with chert sources in the Hudson Valley are strongest during the Early and Middle Woodland Periods in the Housatonic Valley and become almost non-existent by the Late Woodland. The exact opposite pattern is seen in the Connecticut Valley, suggesting a reorganization of interregional connections. While Narragansett Bay never seems to be well-connected with the Hudson, a trend like the Housatonic Valley where the use of locally-available lithic materials became more prevalent as the Woodland Period progresses is apparent. A focus on local lithic sourcing on Cape Cod appears to be unique within the region, likely related to the ample supply of glacially-transported toolstone.

The purpose of this article is to bring awareness to fluted points of the Gainey form (see Don Simons et al 1984) present in the Rummells & Maske collections from an Early Paleoindian locality in eastern Iowa (see Morrow and Morrow 2002). The Rummells-Maske site was discovered by two men independently: Wayne Rummells and Richard (Dick) Maske in 1964 who never collected the site locality together but knew of each others hafted bifaces.

While stone casting moulds have been widely used to inform the study of prehistoric metalworking
techniques, the fact that many have been deposited in hoards that include only this kind of object has
often been overlooked. Such hoards are an original aspect of Bronze Age ritual that offers interesting
comparisons with the deposition of metalwork assemblages.

Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies / Yusof Ishak Institute, Temasek History Research Center, Temasek Working Paper Series, No. 1, 69 p.
https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/temasek-working-paper-series

----- ABSTRACT: Borneo has so far remained marginal in studies on Southeast Asian peoples and tigers. While the tiger is not known to exist in Borneo today, it has a significant reality in historical traditions, oral literature, myths, beliefs, and rituals. This study combines various materials about Borneo, with a primary focus on its central regions, in order to, ultimately, try to shed light on ancient belief systems and the modalities of their evolution through time and cultural contact. It first surveys the local Felidae species, the names given to the tiger, and the presence of tiger body parts among villagers. Then, it reviews representations of the tiger in oral literature, its value as a symbol of martial manliness and, locally, its standing as a culture hero, and looks at religious beliefs, the tiger’s ambivalent nature, and its function as mediator between humans and spirits. Focusing on rituals, it then stresses its benevolence (initiation, redemption, purification), as well as its sinister facets (punishment for breach of taboos), both meant to warrant a ‘cool’ socio-cosmic balance. Next, it investigates the historical role of one chieftain named Tiger who, urging forest nomads to settle down and farm, was instrumental in the emergence of a new ethnocultural cluster’s identity, and it explores the modalities of the myth-generating conflation of historical elements with religious beliefs. Finally, it scrutinizes the tiger’s complex relationship with the moon and thunder, hinting at the pre-existence among former nomads of non-dualistic beliefs in a ‘tiger-moon-thunder’ set of deities and, touching briefly on the ‘thunder complex’ question, it stresses ambiguity and variability, reflecting the systemic cultural plasticity and singular cultural histories of these societies. Due to the study’s broad spectrum, a large reference list is appended.

The KU Leuven Dayr al-Barsha project worked in al-Shaykh Sa'id, just north of Amarna, in 2007-2010 and 2014, and discovered on the hillside, north of the mouth of the Wadi Zabayda, archaeological remains of a royal domain, dating to the reign of Khufu. Afterwards, royal workshops were established on top of the Old Kingdom remains to supply the New Kingdom city of Amarna with a range of different goods. Due to severe erosion, hardly any traces of buildings survive, but the industrial waste left behind provide sufficient clues that besides a vast stone artefact industry, the artisans were also making objects in faience, glass and copper. Objects relating to the textile industry were also uncovered. The presentation will give an overview of the archaeological finds relating to the various industries active at al-Shaykh Sa'id during the Amarna-period, and a comparison will be made with the faience and glass industry in the city of Amarna.

This volume is a synthesis of the management systems of the macrolithic tools from three key Square Mouthed Pottery Culture sites located in Northeastern Italy. The tools were examined with an integrated approach that involves morphology, technology, use-wear analysis and experiments. The stone assemblages are classified into the following categories: tools for grinding, tools for abrading/polishing, tools for cutting, percussion tools and multifunctional implements. The raw materials include local, regional and allocthonous rocks. Local and regional rocks were exploited with attention to the morphology and size of the blocks; only querns and handstones present working traces via pecking and the rejuvenation of the active surface. More complex, and probably only partially done locally, was the production by flaking, pecking, polishing and periodic resharpening of the axe blades made of allocthonous greenstones. The results of the use-wear analysis and experiments show a wide range of substances used for food and craft tasks, according to the consolidation of the productive economy.

The Amakomanak site (AMR-00095), dated around 7500 BC, is located in the Noatak National Preserve in northwestern Alaska and presents an important microblade component (microblade cores, core tablets, and microblades) made of local chert. During the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene, microblade technology is widespread in central Alaska, dominated by Campus-style microblade cores (wedge-shaped microblade cores). The Amakomanak assemblage is primarily composed of larger prismatic microblade cores, similar to assemblages from other northwestern Alaskan sites compared here. This paper argues that raw material available in each area may have played a major role in the different microblade core variants described. Indeed, raw material availability in the northwestern region could be one of the major reasons behind the production of larger prismatic cores, as opposed to central Alaska Campus-style cores usually made on smaller river cobbles. The paper also presents the results of a morphometric analysis of microblade cores and microblades from the Amakomanak site, comparing the data to both experimentally derived data sets on microblade-flaking modes, as well as other microblade assemblages in Alaska and Siberia.

Collaboration between Pond the archaeologist, and Skavlem the self-taught knapper, produced one of the earliest and best works on stone tool manufacture experiments. My intro to a high quality reprint through Gustav's Library provides background on two interesting men. In light of modern lithic studies, the existing collection in Beloit College's Logan Museum shows what they knew, and what they did not fully understand.

Донбасс - крупная географическая область на юге Восточной Европы. Основной водной артерией является р. Северский Донец - главный правобережный приток р. Дон. Благодаря особенностям геологической истории, Донбасс изобилует источниками качественного кремня мелового генезиса. Систематическое заселение региона началось в среднем палеолите. Фоновыми памятниками являются комплексы«восточного микока» (Антоновка, Черкасское). Известны также специфические пластинчатые индустрии (Курдюмовка, Белокузьминовка). Переход от среднего палеолита к позднему характерен для модели прерывистой эволюции. В позднем палеолите развивались различные культурные традиции («селетоидные»,«ориньякоидные» и «граветтоидные»), которые не образуют устойчивых во времени культурных секвеций.

Stone artifacts from Sch€ oningen 12 and 13 were examined microscopically to identify residues, wear, and manufacturing traces in order to clarify their possible anthropogenic origins and their function. We present evidence showing that the stone tools were used for working wood and hide and for cutting meat. The results from the use-wear and residue analyses proved complementary in several instances. Suggestive evidence of hafting was observed on a few pieces, which is particularly interesting given the identification of wooden hafts at the site. The positive results of this analysis demonstrate the efficacy and potential of these techniques for Lower Paleolithic sites such as Sch€ oningen.

Zusammenfassung: Die Entwicklungen von Subsistenz und Siedlungsverhalten sind charakteristische Parameter zur Definition des Mesolithikums. Der frühholozäne Landschaftswandel bedingte Innovationen in der Landschaftsnutzung, die auf die intensivierte Ausbeute saisonal verfügbarer Ressourcen in begrenzten Territorien fokussierte. Hierbei spielte die Bevorratung mit energiereichen Haselnüssen eine ökonomisch tragende Rolle. Das Beispiel der gut erhaltenen und hochauflösend dokumentierten Wohnplätze von Duvensee (Schleswig-Holstein) zeigt die damit verbundenen Nutzungsstrategien und den Umfang der Haselnussnutzung durch die Kombination GIS-gestützter räumlicher Analysen, technologischer Artefaktuntersuchungen und quantitativer Modellierungen auf. Die Strukturen der Wohnplätze, ihre Ausstattung, Saison und Datierung sowie die gefundenen Nussschalen weisen sie als Werkplätze zur Bevorratung mit Haselnüssen aus, was eine hohe logistische Kapazität, vorausschauendes Planen und eine lange, besitzrechtartige Nutzungstradition dieses Territoriums impliziert. Die Untersuchungen am Duvensee sind Gegenstand meiner Dissertation (Holst 2007), deren die Subsistenz betreffenden Aspekte im Folgenden zusammengefasst werden. Schlagwörter: Norddeutschland, Mesolithikum, Subsistenz, Landschaftsnutzung, Haselnüsse

The Paleolithic Age is the beginning of human history and geologically covers the Pleistocene part of the Quaternary period. Human societies of this age had lived a nomadic life. Livelihood economies were hunting and gathering. People living in this era used cave and rock shelters as well as open shelters as temporary shelters. Paleolithic groups of people produced tools and weapons using raw materials obtained from nature. These tools and weapons were indispensable for meeting all the daily work and needs of the Paleolithic man. Many types of raw materials such as wood, bone, horn, and especially stone types showing conchoidal fracture were used for the production of tools and weapons. Therefore, in this age that covers a large part of human history, we also see the oldest form of production in human history. The most important feature that distinguishes human beings from other species is already known that human beings can produce tools. Therefore, if a chronological order is made under the title of production, it is seen that the fi rst production is about tool production. This habit has continued for generations and formed the basis of the continuation of humanity and the civilizations established by future generations. This is because if human beings cannot produce tools, they will not be able to win the game of survival in nature and will face being endangered. In the article, the fi rst analysis focuses on the initial stages of the chipped stone tool production. It continues with an exploration of the chipped stone tool examples, produced in the Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic ages well as the examples of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Paleolithic tools, in the following parts of the article, with reference to their characteristics as observed in their cultural periods. Thus, this article presents a chronological development of the chipped tool production in the Paleolithic age, exemplifying it from its oldest versions and to the latest ones

Gaining experience with stone tool technology can be an important part of professional archaeological training as well as a valuable learning experience in its own right.  This paper summarizes its author's insights gained from making and using stone tools and from teaching these skills to college students for more than two decades.  It argues that teaching stone tool production and use to a wider audience

This volume presents new methodologies for the design of dimension stone based on the concepts of structural design while preserving the excellence of stonemasonry practice in facade engineering. Straightforward formulae are provided for computing action on cladding, with special emphasis on the effect of seismic forces, including an extensive general methodology applied to non-structural elements. Based on the Load and Resistance Factor Design Format (LRDF), minimum slab thickness formulae are presented that take into consideration stress concentrations analysis based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) for the most commonly used modern anchorage systems. Calculation examples allow designers to solve several anchorage engineering problems in a detailed and objective manner, underlining the key parameters. The design of the anchorage metal parts, either in stainless steel or aluminum, is also presented.

ABSTRACT: This documentary response sheet contains a series of sequential questions drawn from the video, BBC: The Incredible Human Journey, Episode 3 on Europe (shown in-class; also available online via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH43nnBBzOY [58 minutes]).  The documentary looks at mainly the modern human migrations into Europe ca. 40,000 BP, encounters and interactions with Neanderthals, plus later human migrations into Europe, and with Europe, via Anatolia during the late Paleolithic through early Neolithic periods. These sequential questions aim to maximize both student attention to various pertinent points made throughout the documentary and greater retention of the materials covered by the documentary.  In addition, the documentary has been vetted for overall content accuracy (albeit updated and/or corrected in-class), and selected to provide supplementary visual aids (e.g., images of regions, sites, finds, and other materials), additional specialist views (e.g., interviews), and other data to aid in student comprehension of the course lectures and readings from the textbooks (REVISED: Sept. 2018). SPRING 2024

Stone tools are the least familiar objects that archaeologists recover from their
excavations and, predictably, they struggle to understand them. Eastern Africa
alone boasts a 3.4 million-year-long archaeological record, but its stone tool
evidence still remains disorganized, unsynthesized, and all-but-impenetrable to
nonexperts, and especially so to students from Eastern African countries. In this
book, John J. Shea offers a simple, straightforward, and richly illustrated introduction
in how to read stone tools. An experienced stone tool analyst and an expert
stoneworker, he synthesizes the Eastern African stone tool evidence for the first
time. Shea presents the EAST Typology, a new framework for describing stone
tools specifically designed to allow archaeologists to do what they currently
cannot: compare stone tool evidence across the full sweep of Eastern African
prehistory. He also includes a series of short, fictional, and humorous vignettes
set on an Eastern African archaeological excavation that illustrate the major issues
and controversies in research about stone tools.
John J. Shea is Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, New York.
He is the author of Stone Tools in Human Evolution (Cambridge University Press,
2016) and Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic of the Near East: A Guide
(Cambridge University Press, 2012).

IMPORTANT:  This is only the front matter.  I posted it to help colleagues decide if they want the book or not.  An electronic version of the book is available for purchase now (April 2020), hard copies available in May 2020.  Don't have a heart attack over the price,  paperbound copies will assuredly be less expensive.
-JJS

Stone adzes were common in the tool kits and burial caches of ancient Polynesians. Though they appear in many forms this paper deals with the late stage of manufacture of Type 1 rectangular cross section adzes of the Moa-hunter period (1,000-1,400 CE) of the Maori culture in New Zealand.
The technique used in the manufacture of the final stages of these ancient adzes has not been described in the literature to date. The hypothesis of this paper is that the lateral edges of these adzes, that meet to form 90  or square edges, were formed by the indirect percussion technique using punches of stone and possibly wood or other materials. Indirect percussion is a stone tool knapping technique that employs an intermediate tool, a punch, between the hammerstone or billet percussion instrument and the object being worked. It is used in a similar manner to a sculptor's chisel. Evidence for this hypothesis is based on the examination of artifacts contained in museum collections in New Zealand, and the results of experimental work done to replicate the artifacts.

This is a paper on the history of amateur stone-artefact
collecting in Victorian archaeology. While it identifies
a potential problem in the representativeness of the
stone artefact record, it is not the place of this paper to
propose a solution. Flaked stone artefacts are frequently
the focus of archaeological investigations into the past
behaviour of Aboriginal people. It is a prerequisite in
any analysis of an archaeological site or artefact that
site formation processes, whether natural or cultural, are
well-investigated and -comprehended (Schiffer 1987).
Without such investigations, it is not possible to infer how
people lived from the surviving archaeological record. At
the very least, the amount of disturbance to a site and its
surroundings should be researched and investigated to
understand the limits of our archaeological interpretations.
It does not seem that such historical research has been
undertaken widely in Victoria, the state documented as
having undergone the most intensive episodes of amateur
stone-artefact collection in Australia. This raises serious
questions as to how reliable studies of Victorian surface
stone artefact assemblages are—particularly those that
compare surface stone artefact assemblages from different
locations. It appears questionable, based on the findings
of this paper, whether variation in such stone artefact
assemblages reflects the past behaviour of Aboriginal
people consistently, or is largely a result of localised,
amateur stone-artefact collecting.

Architectures and funerary practices from the second half of the forth and the beginning of the third millennium B.C. are quite different from those in use during the previous middle Neolithic period, in many places in occidental Europe. In Western France this general trend will be expressed in very diff erent ways, if we observe regions situated north or south of the Loire River. New megalithic architectures were built on top of the soil in Brittany, or buried in the Paris Basin. No such thing in more southern regions, were the individual “burials” could even have been one of the more common practice, for a time at least. Comparisons between domestic and funerary architectures, at north, or between individual and collective burials, at south, will highlight new perspectives in the status, the composition or the disposition of funerary goods.

Although alternatives have become available, pen and ink drawings of stone tools dominate archaeological publications. Despite the existence of a conventional illustration framework, the work produced by illustrators can be inconsistent and hinges on skill level
and time commitment. Discussions going back to the 1880s critically question the use of illustrations for the purpose of scientific publication. Alternatives, such as laser scanning and photogrammetric modeling, are now available for displaying lithics. These alternatives can remove the subjectivity involved in artistic rendering, creating replicable results, regardless of who is collecting the data. In addition to creating more regularized and objective representations, there are a significant number of analytical and other benefits to adopting novel imaging techniques to depict stone tools in publications. A set of three-dimensional (3D) models are presented here to demonstrate the capabilities of laser scanning and, potentially, photogrammetric modeling as replacements for lithic illustration.

Closely following the invention of photography in the mid-1800s, stereophotogrammetry emerged as the science of extracting metric data from pairs of still photographs. Although commonly employed and developed by governments for civil and military purposes (often using aerial photographs), it was not until the 1970s that archaeological publications employing pho-togrammetry became routine. Early applications in archaeology often featured specialized pairs of fixed-base cameras with precise calibration to take stereopairs of photographs, although individual cameras could also be moved to achieve similar ends. Early applications of stereophotogrammetry both facilitated the display of archaeological findings and aided in analysis. Subjects of study ranged in scale from engravings to monument complexes, and allowed linear and volumetric measurements to be made. Despite its acknowledged potential, in its earlier form the technology did not see widespread use by archaeologists; stereoscopic equipment was expensive and highly specialized, costing over six figures in the 1970s, and required a skilled operator. Some of these concerns were mitigated with increasing use of computers in analysis, although photogrammetry remained a relatively specialized tool into the early 2000s. While originally clumsy and inaccessible , early developments established both the conceptual and technological foundation for modern photogrammetry to progress.