On the Function of Late Acheulean Stone Tools: New Data From Three Specific Archaeological Contexts at the Lower Palaeolithic Site of Revadim, Israel

Zupancich, Andrea; Solodenko, Natalya; Rosenberg-Yefet, Tamar; Barkai, Ran

doi:10.1080/01977261.2018.1523098

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…As an example, item #52 AQ17c 71.03–70.01 exhibits patina differentiation in scar color and texture, testifying to its later exploitation as a core. Similar suggestions were also made by Zupancich and colleagues concerning a chopper found in Area B in Revadim [ 46 ]. Following the same reasoning, cores were also used, albeit rarely, for heavy-duty tasks when their morphology suited for the task at hand, thus emphasizing the grey zone between the two categories and the flexibility of core-tools form during the late Acheulean.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…These findings indicate that Revadim hominins could produce and use varied tool-types with appropriate functional characteristics, highlighting their resourcefulness in functional decision-making [ 37 , 44 , 46 ]. Moreover, the co-occurrence of simple forms such as chopping tools, along with more complex items in Layer C3 (i.e., bifaces), demonstrates the cultural variability and behavioral flexibility expressed by the Revadim toolmakers in conceiving their heavy-duty tool-kit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study adds yet another piece to the puzzle of activities performed at Revadim, contributing to our knowledge of the different phases of animal carcass exploitation at the site. Thus far, the functional analysis of several lithic artifacts at the site proves that Revadim hominins were able to conceive a wide range of tools with distinct morphological characteristics (heavyand light-duty tools) and employ them to obtain food (e.g., meat, fat, brain, marrow) and, perhaps, other useful materials from animal prey [37,[44][45][46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, fat residues and use-wear traces were also found on a biface and a scraper, found in association with the remains of a butchered elephant at Layer B2 in Area B [ 37 ]. A study including 176 items from two different areas at the site (B and C) showed that flakes and tools were used equally in both areas, mostly to process soft animal materials, while evidence for the processing of wood and vegetal resources was also found [ 46 ].…”

Section: Archaeological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An integrated study discloses chopping tools use from Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel)

et al. 2021

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Chopping tools/choppers provide one of the earliest and most persistent examples of stone tools produced and used by early humans. These artifacts appeared for the first time ~2.5 million years ago in Africa and are characteristic of the Oldowan and Acheulean cultural complexes throughout the Old World. Chopping tools were manufactured and used by early humans for more than two million years regardless of differences in geography, climate, resource availability, or major transformations in human cultural and biological evolution. Despite their widespread distribution through time and space in Africa and Eurasia, little attention has been paid to the function of these items, while scholars still debate whether they are tools or cores. In this paper, we wish to draw attention to these prominent and ubiquitous early lithic artifacts through the investigation of 53 chopping tools retrieved from a specific context at Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel). We combined typo-technological and functional studies with a residue analysis aimed at shedding light on their functional role within the tool-kits of the inhabitants of the site. Here we show that most of the chopping tools were used to chop hard and medium materials, such as bone, most probably for marrow extraction. A few of the tools were also used for cutting and scraping activities, while some also served as cores for further flake detachment. The chopping tools exhibit extraordinarily well-preserved bone residues suggesting they were used mainly for bone-breaking and marrow acquisition. We discuss the data and explore the tool versus core debate also in light of a sample of 50 flake cores made on pebbles/cobbles retrieved from the same archeological layer. The results add further pieces to the puzzle of activities carried out at Revadim and add to our knowledge of the production and use of these enigmatic tools and their role in human evolutionary history.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Archaeological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An integrated study discloses chopping tools use from Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel)

et al. 2021

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“…Handaxes were sometimes in operation in the execution of tasks not related to animal carcass processing (e.g. Domínguez-Rodrigo et al 2001; Hardy et al 2018; Zupancich et al 2018), and thus it was suggested that handaxes acted as multipurpose tools. I argue that the available data point towards repeated archaeological association of animal carcasses and handaxes (e.g.…”

Section: Lower Palaeolithic Stone Handaxes and The Peculiar Presence Of Handaxes Made Of Elephant Bonementioning

confidence: 99%

The Elephant in the Handaxe: Lower Palaeolithic Ontologies and Representations

Barkai¹

2021

CAJ

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Indigenous hunter-gatherers view the world differently than do WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) societies. They depend—as in prehistoric times—on intimate relationships with elements such as animals, plants and stones for their successful adaptation and prosperity. The desire to maintain the perceived world-order and ensure the continued availability of whatever is necessary for human existence and well-being thus compelled equal efforts to please these other-than-human counterparts. Relationships of consumption and appreciation characterized human nature as early as the Lower Palaeolithic; the archaeological record reflects such ontological and cosmological conceptions to some extent. Central to my argument are elephants and handaxes, the two pre-eminent Lower Palaeolithic hallmarks of the Old World. I argue that proboscideans had a dual dietary and cosmological significance for early humans during Lower Paleolithic times. The persistent production and use of the ultimate megaherbivore processing tool, the handaxe, coupled with the conspicuous presence of handaxes made of elephant bones, serve as silent testimony for the elephant–handaxe ontological nexus. I will suggest that material culture is a product of people's relationships with the world. Early humans thus tailored their tool kits to the consumption and appreciation of specific animal taxa: in our case, the elephant in the handaxe.

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Torque creation and force variation along the cutting edges of Acheulean handaxes: implications for tip thinning, resharpening and tranchet flake removals

Key

Lycett

2020

Journal of Archaeological Science

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On the Function of Late Acheulean Stone Tools: New Data From Three Specific Archaeological Contexts at the Lower Palaeolithic Site of Revadim, Israel

Cited by 10 publications

References 32 publications

An integrated study discloses chopping tools use from Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel)

An integrated study discloses chopping tools use from Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel)

The Elephant in the Handaxe: Lower Palaeolithic Ontologies and Representations

Torque creation and force variation along the cutting edges of Acheulean handaxes: implications for tip thinning, resharpening and tranchet flake removals

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