Production and use of percussive stone tools in the Early Stone Age: Experimental approach to the lithic record of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Yustos, Policarpo Sánchez; Martín, Fernando Diéz; Díaz, Isabel; Duque, Javier; Fraile, Cristina; Domínguez, Manuel

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.03.005

Cited by 40 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…; Dubreuil ; Yustos et al . ). The wear patterns identified on the MM tool are also comparable with use‐wear traces observed by Bednarik () on his experimental tools used to produce engravings.…”

Section: Use‐wear and Residue Observationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Creating Sydney‐Hawkesbury rock engravings: A Mangrove Mountain engraving tool

Attenbrow

Kononenko

2017

Archaeology in Oceania

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Aboriginal rock engravings of the Sydney-Hawkesbury region on Australia's east coast were commented on by the first British colonists, but their reports and journals contain no descriptions of how they were produced. Use-wear analysis of a basalt stone tool found on an engraving site in the Mangrove Mountain area of the NSW Central Coast supports the finder's supposition that it was a rock engraving tool. The analysis indicates the tool was used for both pecking and abrading coarse-grained rock -actions used in creating the Sydney-Hawkesbury rock engravings by a technique known as "conjoined-puncturing". An experimental study was undertaken to test the efficiency and usefulness of basalt tools in creating rock engravings and to produce wear traces for comparative functional analysis. The use-wear analysis suggests that this tool was also used for preparing skins. RÉSUMÉLes gravures rupestres Aborigènes de la région Sydney-Hawkesbury, sur la côte Est d'Australie,étaient notées par les premiers colons britanniques, mais il n'y a aucune description dans leurs rapports qui explique comment les gravuresétaient réalisées. La tracéologie d'un outil de pierre en basalte, quiétait recouvert d'un site de gravure situé dans la région de Mangrove Mountain sur la Côte Centrale de NSW, soutient la supposition qu'il est un outil qui utilisait pour produire des gravures rupestres. L'analyse indique que l'outil utilisait pour picoter et pouréroder de la roche granuleuse -des actions utilisait dans la création des gravures rupestres de Sydney-Hawkesbury par une technique connue sous le nom de "conjoined-puncturing". Nous avons entrepris des recherches expérimentales de tester l'efficience et l'utilité des outils basaltes pour créer des gravures rupestres, et pour produire les traces produitent lors de leur utilisation pour une analyse fonctionnelle comparative. La tracéologie indique que cet outilétait utilisé pour la préparation des peaux.

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Section: Use‐wear and Residue Observationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Creating Sydney‐Hawkesbury rock engravings: A Mangrove Mountain engraving tool

Attenbrow

Kononenko

2017

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…Shaped stone balls (henceforth SSBs) are a remarkable component at sites of the Oldowan and Acheulian cultural complexes in Africa [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], Asia [9][10][11], and Europe [12], as well as at Middle Stone-Age African sites [13]. Despite their conspicuous and prolonged presence, and the intensive scientific research focused on them, their typological definition and function are still debated [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Kleindienst [15] proposed a division into three categories based on type and degree of skills required for their manufacture: Missiles (roughly spherical, mostly shaped by nature but also showing signs of intentional shaping); polyhedral (roughly spherical, shaped by faceted intersecting negative flake scars over most of their surface or their entire surface); and bolas (pecked and/or battered to a nearly smooth surface and nearly spherical).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sahnouni [17], for example, distinguished between two types of SSBs: Polyhedrons, items flaked on at least three different faces and with some relatively acute edges but a fairly obtuse average core angle; and spheroids, items heavily flaked over much or all of the exterior with very obtuse angles. The first of two current opposing views interprets SSBs as end products of a preconceived shaping process [14], used as bolas or throwing stones for capturing animals [18][19][20] or as food-pounding tools [21]. The second view interprets these items not as predetermined tools but as byproducts of specific technological or functional trajectories: Exhausted cores [17,22], hammerstones [1,7,23], or battering tools for processing vegetal material or tendering meat [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shaped stone balls were used for bone marrow extraction at Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel

et al. 2020

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The presence of shaped stone balls at early Paleolithic sites has attracted scholarly attention since the pioneering work of the Leakeys in Olduvai, Tanzania. Despite the persistent presence of these items in the archaeological record over a period of two million years, their function is still debated. We present new results from Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave on the use of these implements as percussion tools. Use-wear and abundant bone and fat residues found on ten shaped stone balls indicate crushing of fresh bones by thrusting percussion and provide direct evidence for the use of these items to access bone marrow of animal prey at this site. Two experiments conducted to investigate and verify functional aspects proved Qesem Cave shaped stone balls are efficient for bone processing and provide a comfortable grip and useful active areas for repeated use. Notably, the patina observed on the analyzed items precedes their use at the cave, indicating that they were collected by Qesem inhabitants, most probably from older Lower Paleolithic Acheulian sites. Thus, our results refer only to the final phases of the life of the items, and we cannot attest to their original function. As bone marrow played a central role in human nutrition in the Lower Paleolithic, and our experimental results show that the morphology and characteristics of shaped stone ball replicas are well-suited for the extraction of bone marrow, we suggest that these features might have been the reason for their collection and use at Qesem Cave. These results shed light on the function of shaped stone balls and are consistent with the significance of animal fat in the caloric intake of Middle Pleistocene humans as shown by the archeozoological evidence at Qesem Cave and possibly beyond.

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“…Some recently conducted experiments exploring the activity-related marks on cobbles have shown battering traces on the stone cobbles resulting in 'pits' (Sánchez Yustos et al, 2015;Roda Gilbert et al, 2011;Field et al, 2010;Goren-Inbar et al, 2002;Spears, 1975). Though Sánchez Yustos et al (2015) studied the Early Stone Age sites and Roda Gilbert et al (2011) focused on sites belonging to Mesolithic times, many other sites have been reported belonging to mid-Holocene showed presence of multi-pitted cobbles (Soni and Soni, 2011;Xeuchun et al, 2003;Fitzgerald and Jones, 1999;Adams, 2001;Breschini and Haversat, 1993;Sim, 1990;True and Baumhoff, 1985;True et al, 1979).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though Sánchez Yustos et al (2015) studied the Early Stone Age sites and Roda Gilbert et al (2011) focused on sites belonging to Mesolithic times, many other sites have been reported belonging to mid-Holocene showed presence of multi-pitted cobbles (Soni and Soni, 2011;Xeuchun et al, 2003;Fitzgerald and Jones, 1999;Adams, 2001;Breschini and Haversat, 1993;Sim, 1990;True and Baumhoff, 1985;True et al, 1979). Seventy-four pitted cobbles with quite varied morphology and probably used for different functions have been discovered for the first time in the NW sub-Himalayas of India.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%