The three lives of a uniface

Andrews, Brian N.; Knell, Edward J.; Eren, Metin I.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.11.034

Cited by 35 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Phylogenetic analyses of tools and debitage, for example, could provide important complements to those of projectile points. Likewise, GM analyses of tools may complement those already published using size-adjusted interlandmark morphometrics (Andrews et al 2015), either by supporting the earlier studies or by revealing new kinds of information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Design Space and Cultural Transmission: Case Studies from Paleoindian Eastern North America

O’Brien

Boulanger

Buchanan

et al. 2015

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Tool design is a cultural trait-a term long used in anthropology as a unit of transmittable information that encodes particular behavioral characteristics of individuals or groups. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of a cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss, or partial alteration. Artifacts and other components of the archaeological record serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity in defining and measuring whatever it is that is being transmitted. Our interest here is in tool design, and we illustrate how to create analytical units that allow us to map tool-design space and to begin to understand how that space was used at different points in time. We first introduce the concept of fitness landscape and impose a model of cultural learning over it, then turn to four methods that are useful for the analysis of design space: paradigmatic classification, phylogenetic analysis, distance graphs, and geometric morphometrics. Each method builds on the others in logical fashion, which allows creation of testable hypotheses concerning cultural transmission and the evolutionary processes that shape it, including invention (mutation), selection, and drift. For examples, we turn to several case studies J Archaeol Method Theory

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Design Space and Cultural Transmission: Case Studies from Paleoindian Eastern North America

O’Brien

Boulanger

Buchanan

et al. 2015

J Archaeol Method Theory

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…However, because evaluating differences in shape between soft hammer percussion and pressure flakes was one of the objectives of this study, we further size-adjusted the quantitative variables using a common method for reducing the impact of size variation on objects. To do this, we calculated the geometric mean of all the quantitative variables for each flake and then divided the individual quantitative variables by this overall geometric mean (Lycett et al 2006; see also Andrews et al 2015;Eren 2013;Eren and Lycett 2012). Following the size-adjustment procedure, we carried out a similar set of analyses as described above.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Identifying Stone Tool Production Techniques: An Experimental and Statistical Assessment of Pressure Versus Soft Hammer Percussion Flake Form

2016

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Identifying stone tool production techniques in the archaeological record can inform on prehistoric economy, time budgets, shared cultural practices, and the spatiotemporal occurrence of technological innovations and adaptations. The pressure flaking technique is one such innovation that appears on every continent Homo sapiens colonized. Pressure flaking has long been associated with the ability of flintknappers to produce small, regularly shaped flakes that were used to maintain particular edge shapes and resharpen dull tool edges with minimal loss of raw material. Despite the importance of pressure flaking, a method for supporting the identification of pressure flakes in the archaeological record is lacking. Here, we present a stone tool replication experiment that statistically compares flakes derived from bifacial pressure flaking and soft hammer percussion flaking. Our analyses show that pressure flakes are on average lighter, shorter, narrower, and thicker than soft hammer percussion flakes. Discriminant analyses indicate that pressure flakes can be correctly classified at a rate of 70 percent in a mixed sample. Furthermore, our findings validate the assumption that pressure flakes are less variable in form compared to soft hammer percussion flakes. Based on our results, we suggest quantitatively reevaluating the presence of pressure flaking in the global archaeological record.

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“…Archaeologists argue that economization is linked to risk minimization (Odell 1994), mobility, and resource procurement (Clarkson et al 2015:132–133; Shott 1986). It is often suggested that predictable access to high-quality tool stone affects the investment in more formal and less expedient technologies such as hafting (Andrews et al 2015; Goodale et al 2008; Herzog and Goodale 2019; Oswalt 1976; Shott 1986, 1989). The rate of retouch has also been demonstrated to be influenced by the availability of high-quality raw material (e.g., Smith 2015).…”

Section: Why People Haft Stone Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithic Technological Organization and Hafting in Early Villages

Quinn

Goodale²,

Andrefsky³

et al. 2019

Am. Antiq.

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Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra’, Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra’. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages.

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The three lives of a uniface

Cited by 35 publications

References 66 publications

Design Space and Cultural Transmission: Case Studies from Paleoindian Eastern North America

Design Space and Cultural Transmission: Case Studies from Paleoindian Eastern North America

On Identifying Stone Tool Production Techniques: An Experimental and Statistical Assessment of Pressure Versus Soft Hammer Percussion Flake Form

Lithic Technological Organization and Hafting in Early Villages

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