Headroom and human trampling: cave ceiling-height determines the spatial patterning of stone artefacts at Petzkes Cave, northern New South Wales

Abstract

Going into a cave or shelter, one walks where one can stand upright or has to crouch less. That affects which zones objects are trampled on, which zones they may be kicked out of, which zones they may be kicked into. And those effects interact with the usual spatial order–with its activity zones and drop zones–that develops through occupation of the enclosed cave or shelter.

Trampling experiments at Cova Gran de Santa Linya, Pre-Pyrenees, Spain: their relevance for archaeological fabrics of the Upper–Middle Paleolithic assemblages

“…This factor suggests that archaeological materials were subjected to a process which was distinct from sedimentary fabrics, possibly due to anthropogenic processes. Trampling is one of the most frequently cited activities causing disturbance in archaeological assemblages (Stockton, 1973;Gifford and Behrensmeyer, 1977;Hughes and Lampert, 1977;Courtin and Villa, 1982;Villa and Courtin, 1983;Gifford-Gonzalez et al, 1985;Nielsen, 1991;Theunissen et al, 1998;Eren et al, 2010). In order to monitor the impact of this process and establish whether trampling had influenced the Cova Gran archaeological assemblages, we conducted experiments to determine the effects of anthropic trampling on archaeological materials.…”

“…Intense trampling action can generate vertical displacement producing mixing, and also patterns in the horizontal position of materials. Such patterns identify types of circulation in the settlement (traffic zones and marginal zones), showing that large and medium sized objects tend to be displaced towards marginal zones while small objects remain in the traffic zone (Theunissen et al, 1998;Nielsen, 1991).…”

The social construction of caves and rockshelters: Chauvet Cave (France) and Nawarla Gabarnmang (Australia)

“…The ceiling height of rockshelters affects the movement of people and the layout of activity areas (e.g. Theunissen et al 1998). Geology also influences the positioning of particular artistic designs, and the forms they take, as most famously exemplified by the spotted horse of Pech-Merle in France (e.g.…”

Archaeobotany of fruit seed processing in a monsoon savanna environment: evidence from the Keep River region, Northern Territory, Australia

“…However, the variability evident in the three Jinmium pits and two Punipunil pits suggests that these reflect spatial variability within sites (cf. [33]) rather than any sort of broader trend.…”