Individual Variation as an Approach to Economic Organization: Projectile Points at Grasshopper Pueblo, Arizona

Introduction: Archaeological Approaches to Lithic Production Skill and Craft Learning

“…To date, much attention has focused on the first view of "skill" just noted, what Jacques Pelegrin (1990, p. 16) terms "elaborate knapping activities." Archaeological studies of skill often focus on expert and masterful performances, as evidenced by Danish flint daggers, Solutrean bifaces, and Paleoindian projectile point and biface production (Apel 2001;Flenniken 1978;Frison and Bradley 1999;Whittaker 1987). This research has often emphasized the identification of craft specialisation and the place of specialized production in ancient societies (e.g., Olausson 1997;Stafford 1998).…”

Test, Model, and Method Validation: The Role of Experimental Stone Artifact Replication in Hypothesis-driven Archaeology

“…In some circumstances it may be useful to differentiate between stone-tool replication and "flintknapping," which Reti (2014) defines as the act of creating flaked-stone tools as art, for personal pleasure (a hobby), or for business purposes (e.g. eighteenth-century gun flints) (see also Whittaker 2004). While a "replica" is often thought of as an object that matches as closely as possible to a specific original, a broader definition of the term "replica" may be more useful for our purposes here, namely a new-made object that possesses attributes relevant to better understanding prehistoric artifacts.…”

“…Other categorizations of replication experiments exist (e.g. Carr and Bradbury 2010;Flenniken 1984;Lerner 2013;Nami 2010;Olausson 2010;Shea 2015;Whittaker 1994), but we find these three categories useful for organizing the growing literature on the subject and highlighting how specific experiments have contributed to a better understanding of human behavior. The review hopefully will be of interest to archaeologists-flintkappers as well as non-flintknapperswho want to construct hypotheses about prehistoric tool manufacture and derive testable implications from them.…”

“…Barham 1987;Bradley and Sampson 1986;Davis and Shea 1998;Kuhn 1990;Odell and Cowan 1986;Roux, Bril, and Dietrich 1995;Whittaker 1987). Within a decade or so, a number of controlled replication experiments appeared (e.g.…”

The role of experimental knapping in empirically testing key themes in the evolution of lithic technology: reduction intensity, efficiency and behavioural complexity

“…Experiments have revealed knappers of varying skill levels in the archaeological record (Carroll 2016;Ferguson 2008;Fischer 1989;Pigeot 1990), and even identified instances of craft specialisation (Arnold 1987;Olausson 1993; and the mechanics of skill transmission, namely imitation, gestures and verbal cues (Geribàs et al 2010;Putt et al 2014;Shipton 2010). Finally, experimentation has facilitated attempts at identifying individual knappers and their idiosyncratic skills and behaviours in the archaeological record (Eren et al 2011b;Gunn 1975;Shelley 1990;Stahl 2008;Whittaker 1987).…”