Quantifying Traces of Tool Use: A Novel Morphometric Analysis of Damage Patterns on Percussive Tools

Caruana, Matthew V.; Carvalho, Susana; Braun, David R.; Presnyakova, Darya; Haslam, Michael; Archer, Will; Bobe, René; Harris, J. W.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113856

Cited by 62 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Our approach to the use-wear assessment was similar to previous studies that have pioneered the use of GIS analysis of both archaeological and primate percussive tools, focusing on hammerstones [34] and stone anvils [35,36] (figure 2a). After visually assessing pits on three-dimensional models of all hammerstones, we exported the models as 'Stereo Lithography (STL) files to Meshlab at a resolution of 0.127 mm, where we calculated total model volume and isolated and cropped the pitted surfaces.…”

Section: (B) Use-wear Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees

et al. 2016

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Stone tool transport leaves long-lasting behavioural evidence in the landscape. However, it remains unknown how large-scale patterns of stone distribution emerge through undirected, short-term transport behaviours. One of the longest studied groups of stone-tool-using primates are the chimpanzees of the Taï National Park in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Using hammerstones left behind at chimpanzee Panda nut-cracking sites, we tested for a distance-decay effect, in which the weight of material decreases with increasing distance from raw material sources. We found that this effect exists over a range of more than 2 km, despite the fact that observed, shortterm tool transport does not appear to involve deliberate movements away from raw material sources. Tools from the millennia-old Noulo site in the Taï forest fit the same pattern. The fact that chimpanzees show both complex short-term behavioural planning, and yet produce a landscape-wide pattern over the long term, raises the question of whether similar processes operate within other stone-tool-using primates, including hominins. Where hominin landscapes have discrete material sources, a distance-decay effect, and increasing use of stone materials away from sources, the Taï chimpanzees provide a relevant analogy for understanding the formation of those landscapes.

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Section: (B) Use-wear Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees

et al. 2016

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“…In the last few years, several works (Benito-Calvo et al 2015;Caruana et al 2014) tested the specific potential of the combination of 3D scanning and GIS in the quantification of battering marks on percussive tools. In particular, such methods were used by Benito-Calvo and colleagues (Benito-Calvo et al 2015) in order to identify and compute the use-related damage on battered tools used by extent primates from Bossou (Guinea).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The application of 3D modeling and spatial analysis in the study of groundstones used in wild plants processing

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Caricola

et al. 2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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In recent years, several works have proved the reliability of the application of 3D modeling and spatial analysis in the study of stone tool use. Monitoring surface morphometry resulting from the use of lithic tools has the potential to objectively quantify and identify patterns of modifications associated to specific activities and worked materials. In particular, the combination of surface morphometry with a systematic experimental framework and use wear analysis has the potential of foreseeing residue distribution areas over the groundstone surfaces, hence providing a key aid in establishing sampling strategies applied to archeological specimens. Here, we propose an approach that applies 3D modeling, performed through a close-range photogrammetry, and the use of GIS software to investigate surface modifications and residue distribution on groundstones used to process wild plants. Our work comprises a dedicated experimental framework in which modern tool replicas have been used to process different species of wild plant foods through grinding, crushing, and pounding. By applying 3D modeling and spatial analysis, we were able to characterize patterns of surface modifications related to each of the worked substances and activities performed. Moreover, we monitored the distribution of starch granules over the experimental groundstone surfaces and its variation in relation to the state of the worked substance and the action carried out. Our results provide one of the first experimental dataset focused on the use of groundstones for wild plant processing, and a reliable methodology for further studies related to the exploitation of stone technology and wild vegetal substances in the past.

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“…Identification of archaeological pounding tools relies on recognition of conspicuous marks, such as large battered areas, impacts, or specific fracture types [13, 43–46]. In places such as Olduvai Gorge, percussive processes were of greater importance than stone knapping in some assemblages, as indicated by the presence of a range of artefacts such as anvils, hammerstones, spheroids and subspheroids with battering marks and fractures linked to their use as percussive tools [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nut Cracking Tools Used by Captive Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and Their Comparison with Early Stone Age Percussive Artefacts from Olduvai Gorge

et al. 2016

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We present the results of a series of experiments at the Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan, in which captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) performed several nut cracking sessions using raw materials from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. We examined captive chimpanzee pounding tools using a combination of technological analysis, use-wear distribution, and micro-wear analysis. Our results show specific patterns of use-wear distribution across the active surfaces of pounding tools, which reveal some similarities with traces on archaeological percussive objects from the Early Stone Age, and are consistent with traces on other experimental pounding tools used by modern humans. The approach used in this study may help to stablish a framework with which to interpret archaeological assemblages and improve understanding of use-wear formation processes on pounding tools used by chimpanzees. This study represents the first direct comparison of chimpanzee pounding tools and archaeological material, and thus may contribute to a better understanding of hominin percussive activities.

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Quantifying Traces of Tool Use: A Novel Morphometric Analysis of Damage Patterns on Percussive Tools

Cited by 62 publications

References 54 publications

Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees

Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees

The application of 3D modeling and spatial analysis in the study of groundstones used in wild plants processing

Nut Cracking Tools Used by Captive Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and Their Comparison with Early Stone Age Percussive Artefacts from Olduvai Gorge

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