Going big versus going small: Lithic miniaturization in hominin lithic technology

Abstract

Lithic miniaturization was one of our Pleistocene ancestors' more pervasive stone tool production strategies and it marks a key difference between human and non‐human tool use. Frequently equated with “microlith” production, lithic miniaturization is a more complex, variable, and evolutionarily consequential phenomenon involving small backed tools, bladelets, small retouched tools, flakes, and small cores. In this review, we evaluate lithic miniaturization's various technological and functional elements. We examine archeological assumptions about why prehistoric stoneworkers engaged in processes of lithic miniaturization by making small stone tools, small elongated tools, and small retouched and backed tools. We point to functional differences that motivate different aspects of lithic miniaturization and several instances where archeological systematics have possibly led archeologists to false negative findings about lithic miniaturization. Finally, we suggest productive avenues by which archeologists can move closer to understanding the complex evolutionary forces driving variability in lithic miniaturization.

Miniaturization optimized weapon killing power during the social stress of late pre-contact North America (AD 600-1600)

“…The emergence of small stone tools during North America's first millennium AD, however, is not unique in the archaeological record. Indeed, lithic "miniaturization" is one the archaeological record's most pervasive and variable technological features [20]. As such, our study has potential to shed light on a global technological phenomenon that occurred repeatedly during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.…”

“…Several factors likely influenced toolmakers' decisions to miniaturize toolkits including efforts to exploit raw materials more efficiently, to produce interchangeable parts and composite tools, to reduce a wider range of rock types, and to increase the aerodynamic and ballistic properties of smaller and lighter armatures. However, on a relatively broader level, lithic miniaturization and the functional benefits it provides has been usually linked to three hypotheses: the emergence of modern cognition; increased mobility; and demographic shifts related to increased territoriality, population size increase, and inter-group conflict [20,[62][63][64]. Of these three hypotheses, in recent years the demographic hypothesis has seen a substantial increase in support.…”

“…Deer are the most common mammal remains found at late pre-contact sites [11][12][13][14][15][16] The warfare and hunting that occurred during AD 600-1600 of the North American midcontinent and northeast would have involved the use of small, triangular stone arrow tips (TSAT) [12,[17][18][19]. The profuse frequency and density of these TSAT is exceptional in the North American archaeological record, and serves as a valuable case for understanding the global phenomenon of "lithic miniaturization" that occurs during the late Pleistocene and throughout the Holocene (Fig 1) [20]. Hafted onto arrow shafts, prehistoric archers would have shot TSAT, often referred to as ''Levanna points" or ''Madison points" [21,22], via the bow and arrow [23][24][25].…”

Dedicated core-on-anvil production of bladelet-like flakes in the Acheulean at Thomas Quarry I - L1 (Casablanca, Morocco)

“…Another novelty is the exclusive use of an improved bipolar-on-anvil technique in two steps: 1) the splitting of the pebbles along the transversal axis to create a surface suitable to stabilize the core on the anvil, and 2) the extraction of bladelet-like products. Usually, the bipolar-on-anvil technique has been explained as a response to raw material constraints in order to maximally exploit small core blanks 53,54 and sometimes considered as a technique used by less skilled knappers 55 . Recent experimentations to distinguish bipolar from free-hand technique in the early technologies show that bipolar knapping is conditioned by the blank morphology and produced shorter and thicker flakes with a high variability in shape and dimensions, and often involves core rotation usually orthogonal to the previous platform/flaking surface in order to pursuit flaking and to guarantee an intense exploitation 56,57 .…”

Versatile use of microliths as a technological advantage in the miniaturization of Late Pleistocene toolkits: The case study of Neve David, Israel

“…The miniaturization of stone tools, as reflected through the systematic production of bladelets and bladelet tools (microliths), characterized many industries of the Late Pleistocene, with its sprouts emerging already in the Middle Stone Age of Africa, the Middle Paleolithic of Eurasia [1][2][3][4] and also manifested in small flake production in various contexts of the Pleistocene [5,6] (and references therein). The exploitation of microliths intensified at the end of the Late Pleistocene [1] with the Levantine Epipaleolithic (ca.…”