The emergence and significance of heavy-duty scrapers in ancient stone toolkits

Barsky, Déborah; Vergès, Josep-María; Titton, Stefanía; Guardiola, Miquel; Sala, Robert; Moyano, Isidro Toro

doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2017.09.002

Cited by 23 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Interestingly, their dispersion and damage concentration patterns do not seem to be related to knapping activity, but rather to the treatment of a medium to low resistance material. For example, semi-peripheral micro removals (Figs 11 and 14) are comparable to those obtained experimentally by pounding dried tendons on a stone anvil [135]. Also, trihedral angles such as those on polyhedrons are not efficient hammers for stone knapping (see experimental in: [52]).…”

Section: Africasupporting

confidence: 56%

“…Compared to the older assemblages, the ability of hominins to pursue a recurrent strategy in the management of multifacial multipolar cores, as in the BL subspheroids described here, represents a step forward in terms of cognitive advancement. The presence of recurrent morphotypes in late Oldowan assemblages (PSSB, HDS, [135]), underlines different levels of complexity [188], moving beyond the more restrictive interpretations of the Oldowan (example: [189]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous papers, we have highlighted the intensive percussive activities carried out by hominins occupying the BL site [51,52,135]. Our work on these limestone percussion tools, complemented by experimental analysis, has allowed us to catalogue the variability of traces of percussion in terms both of their type and their position, and with respect to the morphology of the cobbles.…”

Section: Stage 4) Analysis Of the Type And Position Of Percussion Trmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Traces of percussion identified on the tips of the trihedral zones, such as facetted breakage, may be associated with active hard percussion activity (see experimental work in [52]); microremovals could be the result of repeated pounding of soft materials on an anvil, producing retouch and crush marks on abrupt edges, as shown in the case of the BL heavy-duty scrapers (see experimental in [135]). Multi-functionality and re-use are also characteristics of the BL Oldowan assemblage [66,138], where hominins appear to have opportunistically selected cobbles with rounded morphologies, perhaps because they were found to be suitable for holding in a fist.…”

Section: Traces Of Percussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multi-functionality and re-use are also characteristics of the BL Oldowan assemblage [66,138], where hominins appear to have opportunistically selected cobbles with rounded morphologies, perhaps because they were found to be suitable for holding in a fist. They recall ellipsoidal hammers and present abrupt edges shown to be useful for secondary pounding activities [52,135]. Because these marks were found to have been made posterior to the knapping phases, this 'secondary' percussive activity places these tools within a different link in the operative schemes; relating to use rather than manufacture.…”

Section: Traces Of Percussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subspheroids in the lithic assemblage of Barranco León (Spain): Recognizing the late Oldowan in Europe

et al. 2020

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The lithic assemblage of Barranco León (BL), attributed to the Oldowan techno-complex, contributes valuable information to reconstruct behavioral patterning of the first hominins to disperse into Western Europe. This archaic stone tool assemblage comprises two, very different groups of tools, made from distinct raw materials. On the one hand, a small-sized toolkit knapped from Jurassic flint, comprising intensively exploited cores and small-sized flakes and fragments and, on the other hand, a large-sized limestone toolkit that is mainly linked to percussive activities. In recent years, the limestone macro-tools have been the center of particular attention, leading to a re-evaluation of their role in the assemblage. Main results bring to light strict hominin selective processes, mainly concerning the quality of the limestone and the morphology of the cobbles, in relation to their use-patterning. In addition to the variety of traces of percussion identified on the limestone tools, recurrences have recently been documented in their positioning and in the morphology of the active surfaces. Coupled with experimental work, this data has contributed to formulating hypothesis about the range of uses for these tools, beyond stone knapping and butchery, for activities such as: wood-working or tendon and meat tenderizing. The abundance of hammerstones, as well as the presence of heavy-duty scrapers, are special features recognized for the limestone component of the Barranco León assemblage. This paper presents, for the first time, another characteristic of the assemblage: the presence of polyhedral and, especially, subspheroid morphologies, virtually unknown in the European context for this timeframe. We present an analysis of these tools, combining qualitative evaluation of the raw materials, diacritical study, 3D geometric morphometric analysis of facet angles and an evaluation of the type and position of percussive traces; opening up the discussion of the late Oldowan beyond the African context.

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Section: Africasupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stage 4) Analysis Of the Type And Position Of Percussion Trmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Traces Of Percussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Traces Of Percussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subspheroids in the lithic assemblage of Barranco León (Spain): Recognizing the late Oldowan in Europe

et al. 2020

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Oldowan stone knapping and percussive activities on a raw material reservoir deposit 1.4 million years ago at Barranco León (Orce, Spain)

Titton

Oms

Barsky

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Use of meat resources in the Early Pleistocene assemblages from Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada, Spain)

Yravedra

Solano

Courtenay

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Over the last few decades, several types of evidence such as presence of hominin remains, lithic assemblages, and bones with anthropogenic surface modifications have demonstrated that early human communities inhabited the European subcontinent prior to the Jaramillo Subchron (1.07–0.98 Ma). While most studies have focused primarily on early European lithic technologies and raw material management, relatively little is known about food procurement strategies. While there is some evidence showing access to meat and other animal-based food resources, their mode of acquisition and associated butchery processes are still poorly understood. This paper presents a taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the Fuente Nueva-3 (FN3) (Guadix-Baza, Spain) faunal assemblage, providing a more in-depth understanding of early hominin subsistence strategies in Europe. The present results show that hominins had access to the meat and marrow of a wide range of animal taxa, including elephants, hippopotami, and small- and medium-sized animals. At the same time, evidence of carnivore activity at the site suggests that these communities likely faced some degree of competition from large predators when acquiring and processing carcasses.

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The emergence and significance of heavy-duty scrapers in ancient stone toolkits

Cited by 23 publications

References 22 publications

Subspheroids in the lithic assemblage of Barranco León (Spain): Recognizing the late Oldowan in Europe

Subspheroids in the lithic assemblage of Barranco León (Spain): Recognizing the late Oldowan in Europe

Oldowan stone knapping and percussive activities on a raw material reservoir deposit 1.4 million years ago at Barranco León (Orce, Spain)

Use of meat resources in the Early Pleistocene assemblages from Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada, Spain)

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