Frequency and distribution of edge damage on Middle Stone Age lithic points, Pinnacle Point 13B, South Africa

Schoville, Benjamin J.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.015

Cited by 49 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…For the purpose of calculating frequencies and proportions all collected pieces were tabulated. As at other MSA sites, very few trimmed pieces were recovered from the Magubike site (5.3%, n = 797) (Barham 2002;Schoville 2010). Those flakes that were retouched were generally lightly transformed into an assortment of scrapers, points and backed pieces.…”

Section: Raw Materialsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Werner

Willoughby

2017

Afr Archaeol Rev

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This paper contributes new information to the body of evidence for Middle Stone Age tool-use in Tanzania. Magubike rockshelter is located in an archaeologically unexplored region of the south-central part of the country, and thus fills a significant geographical gap between sites further to the north and those to the south in Zambia and Mozambique. Early analysis of a portion of the lithic materials demonstrates parallel changes in lithic reduction intensity, raw material preference and typology. This article explores possible explanations for this pattern, including the possibility that they reflect changes to local environment, and suggests avenues for future research.Résumé Cet article apporte de nouvelles informations à l'ensemble des preuves sur l'utilisationd'outille de l'âge de pierre moyen en Tanzanie. L'abris sous roches de Magubike est situé dansune région archéologique inexplorée de la partie sud-centrale du pays, et remplit ainsi unespace géographique entre les sites plus au nord et celles du sud en Zambie et au Mozambique. L'analyse préliminaire d'une partie des matériaux lithiques démontre des changementsparallèles dans l'intensité de réduction lithique, la préférence des matières premières et de latypologie. Cet article explore les explications possibles de ce modèle, y compris la possibilitéqu'elles reflètent des changements de l'environnement local, et propose des pistes pour larecherche future.

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Section: Raw Materialsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Werner

Willoughby

2017

Afr Archaeol Rev

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“…The method used in this dissertation builds upon a more quantitative approach through analysis of assemblage distributions of edge damage. This approach was initiated by Bird et al (2007) to look at the patterns of edge damage on a sample of points from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B), South Africa, and then refined further by Schoville (2010) using the complete sample of MSA points from PP13B. In these studies, instances of edge damage scars along the edge are mapped onto the artifact images in GIS, and then aggregated by assemblage to create summary distributions.…”

Section: Inferring Technological Adaptationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these studies, instances of edge damage scars along the edge are mapped onto the artifact images in GIS, and then aggregated by assemblage to create summary distributions. Bird et al (2007) then analyzed the distribution using circular statistics around the average midline of the artifacts, whereas Schoville (2010) analyzed the distribution relative to the base and tip of each point. In both studies, the archaeological distributions were compared to a random, or uniform distribution of edge damage to argue that the edge damage was unlikely to be of taphonomic origin.…”

Section: Inferring Technological Adaptationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schoville also used GIS to record edge damage by mapping edge scars to an image of the tool, creating a permanent record of damage observations. Schoville then analyzed the perimeter of tool edges using common linear statistical tests by dividing points into edges based on the segment between point proximal platform and distal tip (Schoville, 2010;Schoville and Brown, 2010). The frequency and distribution was then compared to random, or uniform, distributions with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Schoville, 2010) and to an experimental distribution of points used as spear points (Schoville and Brown, 2010).…”

Section: Edge Damage Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schoville then analyzed the perimeter of tool edges using common linear statistical tests by dividing points into edges based on the segment between point proximal platform and distal tip (Schoville, 2010;Schoville and Brown, 2010). The frequency and distribution was then compared to random, or uniform, distributions with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Schoville, 2010) and to an experimental distribution of points used as spear points (Schoville and Brown, 2010). These results demonstrated that the points from PP13B have edge damage that is non-randomly distributed, and significantly different from spear-tipped armatures.…”

Section: Edge Damage Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Landscape variability in tool-use and edge damage formation in South African Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages

Schoville

2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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This study explores how early modern humans used stone tool technology to adapt to changing climates and coastlines in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa. The MSA is associated with the earliest fossil evidence for modern humans and complex cultural behaviors during a time period of dramatic climate change. Human culture allows for the creation, use, and transmission of technological knowledge that can evolve with changing environmental conditions. Understanding the interactions between technology and the environment is essential to illuminating the role of culture during the origin of our species. This study is focused on understanding ancient tool use from the study of lithic edge damage patterns at archaeological assemblages in southern Africa by using image-based quantitative methods for analyzing stone tools. An extensive experimental program using replicated stone tools provides the comparative linkages between the archaeological artifacts and the tasks for which they were used. MSA foragers structured their tool use and discard behaviors on the landscape in several ways -by using and discarding hunting tools more frequently in the field rather than in caves/rockshelters, but similarly in coastal and interior contexts. This study provides evidence that during a significant microlithic technological shift seen in southern Africa at ~75,000 years ago, new technologies were developed alongside rather than replacing existing technologies. These results are compared with aspects of the European archaeological record at this time to identify features of early human technological behavior that may be unique to the evolutionary history of our species.ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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2011

Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Human Evolution

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Frequency and distribution of edge damage on Middle Stone Age lithic points, Pinnacle Point 13B, South Africa

Cited by 49 publications

References 47 publications

Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Landscape variability in tool-use and edge damage formation in South African Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages

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