Gender Prehistory: Shaping Techniques applied to Osseous Artefacts

Scraping and abrasion are quite ancient and universal techniques. On bone, antler, and teeth, these two techniques can sometimes be used for the reduction sequence but mainly serve for shaping, even though chronological, cultural, and geographical gradients can be observed. In some archaeological assemblages, during the European Neolithic for example, abrasion dominates whatever the type of object manufactured. In contrast, in the Arctic Pre-Inuit and Inuit contexts scraping largely predominates. Our goal is to question the variations from an almost complete exclusivity for only one technical practice to a mix of both. In particular, could the sexual division of labour influence both the technical and social spheres of activity? Why for a given type of artifact is a clear choice sometimes made for only one technique when both scraping and abrading are encountered within a single assemblage? To address these questions, we compared data obtained from different socio-economic and environmental contexts. The techniques used to produce osseous and lithic tools by Neolithic and Epipaleolithic groups from Europe, Near East and Maghreb have been analyzed and compared to those encountered in the American Arctic societies. Ethnographical comparisons help in analyzing potential links between techniques, lifestyles and gender. High-mobility, hunter-gatherer subsistence and scraping seem to be in association and opposed to sedentary, farming, milling, women activity and abrasion.L’abrasion et le raclage sont des techniques banales, très anciennes et universelles, mises en œuvre pour le travail des matières osseuses dès le Paléolithique moyen. Elles sont le plus souvent associées à l’étape de façonnage des objets, en terme opératoires, mais aussi, dans certains cas appliquées au débitage. Quand ces deux techniques se trouvent utilisées conjointement par les artisans, leur proportion varie en fonction de gradients chronologiques, culturels mais aussi géographiques. Ainsi, dans le Vieux monde, à partir du Pre-Pottery Neolithic B moyen au Proche-Orient (PPNB moyen, fin du IXe millénaire) (Aurenche 2010), au Néolithique ancien européen (fin du VIIe / début du VIe millénaires), et, dans une moindre mesure au Maghreb oriental (VIIe / VIe millénaire), l’abrasion est majoritairement employée pour le façonnage des objets, quels que soient leur type. Le raclage est plus régulièrement appliqué à l’entretien des outils et à leur raffûtage, au cours de leur utilisation. A l’opposé du Néolithique, dans le contexte arctique du Nouveau monde, le raclage prédomine très largement ; l’abrasion n’est utilisée que de façon exceptionnelle, pour obtenir une surface plane, renforcer le bord d’un tranchant ou pour la confection d’objets à valeur symbolique. Quelles sont les raisons pour lesquelles les proportions de ces deux techniques varient pour aller jusqu\u27à une quasi-exclusivité pour l’une ou l’autre pratique selon les contextes ? Une division genrée du travail, différente selon les cultures, peut-elle rendre copte d’un lien entre sphères technique et sociale ? Pour traiter ces questions, nous avons comparé les données provenant de contextes socio-économiques et environnementaux différents. Les résultats issus de la comparaison conduisent à proposer un lien entre techniques, mobilité et genre des individus. Ainsi, les sociétés arctiques se caractérisent par une forte mobilité et une répartition genrée des productions : les matières souples sont travaillées par les femmes, alors les matières dures le sont par les hommes. Les deux groupes partagent cependant un même registre de techniques, ce qui permet, au besoin, de toujours suppléer à l’absence de l’un ou l’autre genre. Les matières osseuses, travaillées par les hommes, font l’objet d’un traitement spécifique, distinct de celui des autres matériaux tels que le bois végétal ou la pierre, avec un façonnage quasi-exclusif effectué par raclage. A l’inverse, dans le Néolithique, et ce depuis le Pre-Pottery Neolithic B moyen (PPNB moyen), la sédentarité et le développement des activités de mouture ont probablement bouleversé la répartition du travail entre hommes et femmes, et accessoirement l’usage des techniques. La fabrication de nombreux objets en matière osseuse employé au quotidien y serait associée aux activités féminines, travail des peaux et des végétaux souples, et attachées à la sphère domestique, dans ou à proximité immédiate de la maison. Le raclage est plus fréquemment employé pour le raffûtage des outils pointus. Nous proposons d’y voir l’expression de différences de lieux entre la fabrication (domestique) et l’usage (hors du contexte domestique) des outils. De même, à l’échelle culturelle, nous soutenons l’idée de l’emploi du raclage versus abrasion, comme l’expression de sociétés mobiles, associées à un mode de vie nomade, versus sociétés sédentaires, associées à l’agriculture. Ainsi, malgré des conditions environnementales et climatiques imposant parfois des adaptations techniques, ce transfert ne s’est cependant pas opéré en contexte arctique où les artisans, toujours mobiles, ont parfois préféré substituer le raclage à la perforation plutôt qu’employer l’abrasion. De même, l’abrasion étant employée dans la fabrication et le maintien des outils, et par analogie de la gestuelle de l’abrasion et des activités de mouture ou de broyage, le développement et la prédominance de l’abrasion, au Néolithique, pourrait ressortir de la féminité. C’est en tout cas une hypothèse que l’on peut poser et travailler à l’avenir. &nbsp

Singularidades tecno-culturais na região sudoeste do Planalto Central brasileiro no Holoceno Inicial

This article aims to contribute to expanding knowledge about the panoply of lithic tools present in Early Holocene archaeological sites located in the Brazilian Central Plateau. These sites have traditionally been interpreted within the context of the Itaparica tradition, whose artifacts called "slugs" or "plano-convex" were used as cultural markers. Technological research over the last twenty years on lithic materials from sites typologically attributed to the Itaparica tradition has allowed a better definition of what came to be called the Itaparica techno-complex. Due to the spectacular nature of the “plano-convex” objects identified in these ancient contexts, other artifacts are usually overlooked in research. Our proposal was, therefore, to look in more detail at the subtle incisive tools that are associated (or not) with “plano-convex” artifactual structures in the collections of two sites from the southwest region of the Central Plateau: the GO-JA-01 site (Diogo Lemes), dated from 12717 - 12143 cal. (Beta-3699), and the site MT-SL-31 (Morro da Janela), dated from 11994 - 11316 cal (Beta-78053). We could see that they are, very often, structured on other technical production principles and associated with specific operational schemes. We based our research on the Techno-functional Approach. This approach allows us to identify the coherences that are established within a volumetric structure (a specimen) in terms of its structuring subsets -minimally, the transformative edge(s) and the possible prehensive unit(s) - in light of their functional potential. Furthermore, it allows us to think about the technical meaning of artefactual structures by reinserting them into the set of which they are part (a population), providing data on the techno-functional consistency of the collections. In methodological terms, the identification of the operational schemes was carried out based on the diacritical analysis of the negatives present in the artifact, with the production modes being highlighted based on the technical principles of affordance, debitage and shaping. We were able to group the sharp tools from these collections into five techno-functional categories: unifacial shaped tools from normalized blanks (limaces); unifacial shaped tools on regularized blanks; tools shaped on blanks of cobble; tools with restricted modification; regularized and non-regularized blanks. We were also able to identify in the collections the representative occurrence of unexhausted cores with the presence of small negatives, which led us to infer the production of even smaller blanks which, however, were not detected in the collection. Furthermore, we identified the presence of discoid D-type debitage related to some of the tools. These technological details obtained with the investigation of the aforementioned archaeological sites of the Central Plateau, when considered in the light of spatial, chronological and paleoenvironmental information, allow us to consider the scenarios concerning the population dynamics of that period. The tools categories evidenced in this paper, added to the techno-cultural particularities found in other Central Plateau sites and expands the Itaparica toolbox. They bring about a greater understanding of the Techno-cultural diversity of the technical memories of the human groups that occupied the extensive area of the Central Plateau, enabling further investigations into the connections of technical knowledge between regions.Este artigo visa contribuir para a ampliação do conhecimento sobre as panóplias de ferramentas líticas presentes em sítios arqueológicos do Holoceno Inferior localizados no Planalto Central brasileiro. Esses sítios têm sido tradicionalmente interpretados dentro do contexto da Tradição Itaparica, cujos artefatos denominados de "lesmas" ou "plano-convexos" foram identificados como marcadores culturais. Os avanços nas pesquisas nos últimos vinte anos sobre as características técnicas, tecnológicas e tecno-funcionais de materiais líticos tipologicamente atribuídos à Tradição Itaparica permitiram uma melhor definição daquele que veio a ser denominado de complexo tecno-cultural Itaparica Lourdeau (2010:59). A partir da coleção lítica de dois sítios, pesquisados inicialmente por Oliveira (2014) e Oliveira (2019), provenientes da região sudoeste do Planalto Central, o sítio GO-JA-01 (Diogo Lemes), com datação mais antiga de 12.717 - 12.143 cal. (Beta-3699), e o sítio MT-SL-31 (Morro da Janela), de 11.994 - 11.316 cal (Beta-78053), buscamos criar condições heurísticas para que desses contextos antigos pudessem emergir um aporte de expressões culturais de baixa visibilidade técnica. Tais expressões são usualmente preteridas por estarem associadas a materiais cuja estrutura artefatual é caracterizada pela alta normalização e/ou pela padronização. Objetivamos, assim, olharmos com mais detalhamento para as ferramentas incisivas sutis que estão associadas às estruturas artefatuais “plano-convexas”. Nossa pesquisa fundamentou-se na abordagem Tecno-funcional (Boëda 2013:39), a qual permite identificar as coerências que se estabelecem no interior de uma estrutura volumétrica (um espécimen) nos termos de seus subconjuntos estruturantes - minimamente, o(s) gume(s) transformativo(s) e a(s) unidade(s) preensiva(s) - à luz de seu potencial funcional. Ademais, ela permite pensar o sentido técnico das estruturas artefatuais ao reinseri-las no conjunto do qual fazem parte (uma população), fornecendo dados sobre a consistência tecno-funcional das coleções. Em termos metodológicos, a identificação dos esquemas operatórios foi realizada a partir da análise diacrítica dos negativos presentes nos artefatos e dos modos de produção evidenciados com base nos princípios técnicos de afordância, debitage e façonagem. O ordenamento estrutural entre as porções transformativas e possíveis porções preensivas, nos possibilitou agrupar as seguintes categorias tecno-funcionais: 1) “Instrumentos com façonagem unifacial a partir de suportes normalizados (limaces)” - apresentam estrutura técnica estável, caracterizada por um suporte alongado e volumoso em uma de suas faces. A simetria das laterais e o plano de seção foram obtidos por façonagem, o(s) gume(s) delineados por confecção e podem compor de uma ou mais unidades transformativas. Algumas peças são altamente normalizadas apresentando recorrentemente uma unidade tecno-transformativa, localizada na porção apical. Outras são menos normalizadas, sua estrutura funciona como um suporte onde se instalam mais de uma unidade transformativa. São peças de arenito silicificado e sílex. 2) “Instrumentos com façonagem unifacial com suportes regularizados" - o suporte não é normalizado, os perfis e as laterais são assimétricos. Os princípios da afordância, façonagem e debitage atuaram na estrutura da ferramenta, podendo compor uma ou duas unidades transformativas. São peças de arenito silicificado, quartzito e sílex, 3) “Instrumentos produzidos sobre suportes de seixos” - os seixos foram selecionados por critérios técnicos de afordância, seguidos de façonagem e confecção de gumes, em contornos diversos. São peças de arenito silicificado e quartzito. 4) Instrumentos com modificação restrita” - foram identificados três tipos de estruturas de suportes: algumas pouco regularizadas, provenientes da debitagem tipo C; outras normalizadas, provenientes da debitagem tipo D-discöide; e ainda as de "cadeias operacionais ramificadas" (Bourguignon et al. 2004), derivadas de lascas de façonagem. Os gumes são definidos por retoques ou traços de uso. São peças de arenito silicificado, sílex, basalto e quartzo. Também pudemos identificar na coleção a ocorrência representativa de núcleos pequenos, não esgotados com presença de negativos de pequenas dimensões, o que nos levou a inferir a possibilidade de produção de suportes ainda menores, contudo, estes não foram detectados na coleção.  Compreendemos que a onipresença dos instrumentos comumente denominados de limaces, presentes na maioria dos sítios do Planalto Central, nos leva a considerar o compartilhamento da estrutura técnica dessa ferramenta, entre diferentes grupos humanos ao longo de pelo menos 4.000 anos. A proposição sobre a dispersão e possíveis conexões desta cultura técnica está mais alinhada com uma perspectiva interativa do que com uma convergência técnica (Chevrier 2012). A variabilidade técnico-funcional dessas peças está associada à temporalidades distintas, isto reforça a ideia de movimento e potencial de mudança nas tradições culturais (Sahlins 1997). Também destacamos a presença marcante do princípio da afordância (Boëda & Ramos 2017) entre as ferramentas do sítio MT-SL-31, possibilitando a supressão da fase de debitagem. Compreendemos que isso não encurta o tempo da cadeia operatória, neste caso o maior investimento estaria no critério técnico de seleção dos suportes (seixos) visando produzir a futura ferramenta. Neste movimento, entendemos que as categorias natural e cultural são complementares. Desvelam também o enredamento dos grupos humanos com suas cercanias, fazendo-nos considerar não apenas o sítio, mas também o entorno como participantes do projeto cultural. Os instrumentos de baixa visibilidade foram caracterizados, não necessariamente pelas suas dimensões reduzidas, mas principalmente por sua estrutura técnica ter sido pouco modificada, tornando-as ferramentas de difícil identificação se utilizarmos somente o critério “forma”, sem o desenvolvimento de análises tecnológicas. Incorporar e elevar essa categoria tecnográfica ao contexto da presente discussão, as emparelhando às demais presentes no tecno-complexo de Itaparica, significa dar visibilidade a um conjunto de objetos ainda pouco considerados nas análises tecnológicas da região sudoeste do Planalto Central. Isto, por sua vez, instiga os estudos a irem além do \u27formal\u27, do normalizado, seguindo o desafio da arqueologia aplicada ao tempo profundo em termos de se afastar do preconceito que equipara uma maior quantidade de negativos a um maior nível de complexidade tecnológica complexity (Maigrot & Plisson 2006). As minúcias tecnológicas obtidas com a investigação dos sítios arqueológicos supramencionados, quando consideradas à luz de informações espaciais, cronológicas e paleoambientais, permitem ponderar sobre os cenários concernentes às dinâmicas populacionais desse período. As categorias de ferramentas evidenciadas neste artigo, somadas às particularidades tecno-culturais encontradas em outros locais do Planalto Central, ampliam o conjunto de ferramentas de Itaparica. Proporcionam uma maior compreensão da diversidade técnico-cultural das memórias técnicas dos povos que habitaram a extensa área do Planalto Central brasileiro, possibilitando investigações mais aprofundadas sobre as conexões entre os conhecimentos técnicos presentes em diferentes regiões da América do Sul

La talla bipolar en la base regional de recursos líticos: Estudio comparativo entre los núcleos de las costas Atlánticas Pampeana y de Patagonia Centro-Septentrional (Argentina)

Several authors argue that bipolar technology is an expeditious and versatile strategy, efficient for the reduction of small nodules. However, few studies analyze the use of bipolar reduction in relation to the lithic environmental supply. At the Pampean and Patagonian maritime coast, the technique has been widely recorded and seems to be conspicuous in indigenous populations that occupied coastal areas. With the aim of assessing and comparing the application of bipolar reduction 196 nuclei recovered from sites of diverse chronologies in the Pampean and northcentral Patagonian coasts were analyzed. The use of the bipolar technique was observed in relation to the lithic environmental structure, the size of nodules and their raw material. The results revealed high frequencies of bipolar nuclei at the Pampean coast (87%) and moderate frequencies at the northcentral Patagonian coast (39%). It was determined that the variables that influenced the application of bipolar techniques the most were the small size of the nodules and their rounded shape, generally thick, and without flat surfaces. As for raw material quality, the technique was applied on good to medium quality rocks at the Pampean coast, while in the northcentral coast it was exclusively applied on pebbles and cobbles of superior qualities (very good to excellent). The differences observed are most likely linked with technological choices made by different coastal populations to make the best use of widely available local rocks.La técnica bipolar es una de las primeras técnicas de talla lítica en la historia de la humanidad. Ha sido registrado en sitios arqueológicos de diferentes partes del mundo y de diferentes épocas. Distintas posturas se dieron en relación con las probables causas por las cuales los grupos humanos del pasado lo emplearon, atribuyendo su aplicación a características físicas y naturales de los recursos líticos y a factores sociales relacionados con preferencias estilísticas y tradiciones culturales. Este trabajo presenta los resultados del análisis comparativo de 196 núcleos líticos recuperados en 14 sitios arqueológicos de distinta cronología y sectores de la costa pampeana (entre el Cabo Corrientes y la desembocadura del río Quequén Salado) y la costa centro norte de Patagónica (entre Arroyo Verde y Bahía Cracker). El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la aplicación de la talla bipolar en ambas áreas y explorar tendencias espaciales y temporales en el uso de esta técnica en otros sectores de la costa atlántica continental desde la provincia de Buenos Aires hasta la provincia de Santa Cruz. Se evaluó el uso de la técnica bipolar en relación con la estructura ambiental lítica, el tamaño de los nódulos y la materia prima. Los núcleos proporcionan información sobre las primeras etapas de la explotación de materias primas líticas para la elaboración de los instrumentos, es decir, la selección inicial y la reducción de los nódulos. La metodología de estudios consistió en muestreos sistemáticos de rocas y el análisis tecnológico de los núcleos. Para el análisis de los núcleos bipolares se registró el tipo de materia prima, el grado de modificación del nódulo original, la longitud, el ancho y el grosor máximos, y la proporción de corteza en cada artefacto. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron altas frecuencias de núcleos bipolares en la costa pampeana (87%) y frecuencias moderadas en la costa norte patagónica central (39%). Se determinó que las variables que más influyeron en la aplicación de la técnica bipolar fueron el pequeño tamaño de los nódulos y su forma redondeada, generalmente espesa y sin superficies planas. En cuanto a la calidad de la materia prima, la técnica se aplicó en rocas de buena a mediana calidad en la costa pampeana, mientras que en la costa norte central se aplicó exclusivamente en rodados de cualidades superiores (muy buenas a excelentes). Se determinó que el registro de la talla bipolar es variable entre los diferentes sectores a lo largo de la costa pampena y patagónica. En el litoral marítimo de la provincia de Buenos Aires la talla bipolar se aplicó en rodados pequeños de basalto mientras que en el sector de la costa norte de Patagonia central se usó en guijarros de basalto y sílice. En el sector costero de Santa Cruz la talla bipolar se aplicó en guijarros de muy alta a excelente calidad, algunos no locales (como la obsidiana) y en otros de disponibilidad local pero limitada (como xilópalos y rocas oscuras de grano fino). Las diferencias observadas probablemente estén vinculadas con elecciones tecnológicas realizados por diferentes grupos de cazadores-recolectores para un mejor aprovechamiento de las rocas locales ampliamente disponibles

Going after the new without reinventing the wheel: On the necessity of learning and teaching different approaches to lithic analysis

Brazilian archaeology developed following the same phases that the discipline as a whole went through: an initial emphasis on Historical Culturalism, followed by criticism that culminated in a range of possibilities, from the indiscriminate rejection of everything that had been done before, to a more balanced stance with the incorporation of new concepts. Specifically, we can say that there was a schism between the first professional archaeologists, interested in building historical-cultural knowledge, who sought to understand artefactual variability based on the shapes and possible functions of artifacts, and a younger generation guided by the Processualist approach, who started from the principle that the diversity of stone tools would reflect the relationship between man and environment and could be understood based on the different manufacturing techniques. Over time, criticism of the use of morphological approaches led to technology becoming a supposedly superior and more suitable method of analysis for the characterization of lithic artifacts. In Brazilian archaeological research, this reasoning has been consolidated over time and, consequently, limited not only the use of other perspectives, which could be complementary to the characterization of artifacts, but also the identification of distinct cultural groups. Considering that technological analysis understands that there are several steps involved in the manufacturing process of lithic tools and that the development of these activities occurs in an orderly manner, within a certain time and space, we present in this article some approaches that deal with the notion of Models of Sequence (Bleed 2001). The main objective is to show that even if they consider the development of activities as a process that occurs in an orderly manner, similar concepts are not necessarily substantially identical. To begin the discussion about the different approaches, we first deal with the French method called chaîne opératoire, certainly the most recognized in Brazil. Possibly, its establishment in Brazilian literature is due to successive years of teaching, learning and reproduction of key concepts, without major investment in improving and applying other methods. To this end, we discuss the North American-influenced analysis model called Reduction Sequence, exploring basic concepts capable of differentiating it from the French school. Next, we present the method called Minimum Analytical Nodule Analysis, an approach focused on the macroscopic observation of the raw material, operationalized in a very similar way to the refitting method. Subsequently, we explored the Japanese concept called Gihō, aimed at analysing laminar industries. In conclusion, we draw a parallel between these approaches, showing that some of them require a specific context to be applied or even that their inferences will only be possible in the long term and from dense collections

On foot, by boat: Distribution methods of raw materials suitable for lithics in Central Europe in c. 4900-3400 BCE

Thanks to long-term efforts to identify the stone raw materials of Neolithic lithics, a dataset of the proportional raw material composition at Neolithic settlements for the eastern part of Bohemia and the Morava River Basin in Central Europe has been created, which can be analysed in the period c. 4900-3400 BCE The focus of this study is on four issues: (1) the chronological evolution of the mode of distribution of the raw materials of lithics and its relation to settlement dynamics; (2) the relationship between the rate of imported raw materials and settlement density; (3) the importance of navigable rivers for the long-distance transport of raw materials; and (4) a comparison of the spatial distribution of stone raw materials and ‘archaeological cultures’. In terms of chronological variations in distributional structures, it is clear that population size was an important factor affecting extra-regional distribution, particularly when compared with settlement numbers and radiocarbon density. In contrast, settlement density was not a determinant of the occurrence of imported raw materials. Navigable rivers are an important factor in the transport of goods, which is represented in the archaeological record by stone raw materials. The most evident relationship between imported raw materials and navigable rivers is in c. 4800-4500 BCE. At the end of the period under study, the construction of fortified hillforts is a significant social phenomenon, which, despite the problematic find circumstances of lithics, suggests a change in the distribution pattern. The presence of archaeological cultures (ceramic style) cannot be an explanatory factor for the changes in the distribution of stone raw materials, as the changes in internal and extra-regional distribution are not related to its changes

Connecting arrowheads: Differential transmission of information at the dawn of the Bronze Age

The study of the relationships between prehistoric social groups is one of the main targets in present day archaeology. A useful tool to entangle this issue is social network analysis (SNA). Some of the advantages brought by this mathematic approach refer to the possibility of studying relationships through the material culture items, or its capability to integrate different scales of analysis (macro-micro). Moreover, SNA combined with the application of bayesian statistical methods of chronological attribution can create long range diachronic series of relational information, connected with prehistoric social groups dynamics. This methodology enables archaeologists to study archaeological big data from a totally different perspective, not only focused on a descriptive or morphometric point of view. The objective of this work is to apply an SNA procedure, together with a recently developed bayesian tool of chronological attribution, to archaeological sites located in the East of the Iberian Peninsula during the 4th and 3rd millennium cal. BCE using chert arrowheads as an archaeological proxy, due to the chronologic implications their morphology has, in the referred geographic frame. It is our specific target to analyse the transition between the Bell-Beaker world and the Bronze Age, through the differential transmission of information and the time-space variability present in the archaeological record, through the study of relationships between chert arrowheads assemblages. In order to do so, we will build a relational framework between the social communities present in the Late Neolithic-Copper Age through the chert arrowheads morphologic typologies, and we will apply SNA to characterize the resulting networks. Furthermore, we will propose a new metric to quantify the cultural fragmentation using community detection algorithms, in a diachronic axis, to identify groups of sites with homogeneous technological behaviour, to check the initial hypothesis which points to the existence of periods of cultural homogeneity followed by others in which fragmentation-regionalization is dominant

The lithic assemblages from the Palaeolithic survey research in the Megalopolis Basin, Greece

An intensive, target-oriented surface survey conducted in the Megalopolis basin during 2012-2013 led to the discovery of several Palaeolithic sites and findspots with lithics and faunal remains, including Marathousa-1, a Lower Palaeolithic open-air elephant-butchering site, dated to ca. 400-500 ka BP. This study presents the results from the techno-typological analysis of 413 lithic artefacts collected as surface or stratified finds during the survey research. The aim of the work is to evaluate the diachronic occupation of the area in relation to the lithic technologies used, the typology of the artefacts, and the raw materials exploited. It was possible to provide a chrono-cultural attribution of 167 artefacts, ranging from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Holocene, with a significant component of the collection attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic. Several diagnostic retouched tools allow us to infer that the open-air sites were occupied comparatively more intensively during the Middle Palaeolithic period. We also provide a detailed account of the lithic assemblage from Kavia cave, a previously unstudied site identified during the survey. The high frequency of artefacts pertaining to the Upper Palaeolithic in Kavia is in line with previously identified settlement and mobility patterns of the Peloponnese, where the occupation of caves becomes more intensive from the Upper Palaeolithic onward, as attested at the sites of Klissoura, Kephalari, and Franchthi. The Upper Palaeolithic component from Kavia Cave adds new data to a meagre sample of known sites from this period. The results from the typological and technological analysis of the lithic assemblages collected during the survey in Megalopolis support the conclusions of the basin\u27s long-term and ongoing research, indicating a relatively continuous hominin presence during the Pleistocene

Report: Peering into the Prehistoric Past of Bandhavgarh National Park, central India

This paper reports on recent discoveries of prehistoric findspots inside and around the Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh, central India). These discoveries dramatically push the antiquity of a human presence in this region back from their known existence during the historic period into the prehistoric epoch. This also means that it was prehistoric people who were the first forest dwellers of the national park. The lithic scatters are marked by a variety of microlithic forms, with a strong possibility of an older, Upper Palaeolithic presence. The localities are several and are spread over about sixty square kilometres, within the core and buffer zones of the national park, some of them being close to different stretches of the Charanganga river. They suggest a prolonged hominin presence here, in time and space. One of these areas in particular, the Jwalamukhi Ashram site-complex (JMP) with multiple localities that have yielded early remains, holds immense potential for understanding the nature of prehistoric occupation in this region, their possible dates and their palaeoenvironmental contexts. Further, discoveries within the core region of the national park point to a deeper, and possibly different, relationship between prehistoric human populations in the forest, in relation to the known historical archaeological record in this region. Future work at the region will delve into characterising the nature of prehistoric occupation in the region through a study of the lithic assemblages noted and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction on the basis of the study of various environmental proxies

Where have all the arrows gone? A cross-cultural comparison of Lowland Maya and Central Ohio arrow use

Arrow points are an abundant lithic resource, but exactly how abundant? Recent systematic surveys of the Mayan Lowlands and central Ohio permit a new cross-cultural comparison of arrow use, and factors that may lead to their differing accumulations in the archaeological record. Somewhat surprisingly, Mayan arrow use, at least in terms of recorded frequencies in the archaeological record, is less than that of Central Ohio Late Prehistoric populations. Central Ohio has a much smaller population density than the Yucatan peninsula, so the dearth of arrow points in the latter context is unexpected. There are many factors that may explain the paucity of arrow points in Mayan contexts, when compared to the relatively dense arrow assemblages in Ohio sites. These many factors warrant further research and analysis in both Ohio and Mayan lithic arrow studies. This research presents the results of a preliminary comparative analysis. Several factors likely explain the difference between Ohio and maya arrow frequencies. Given that most arrows in Ohio are found as isolated finds, the most likely explanation is a difference in survey coverage between Ohio and the Mayan Lowlands. The other contributing factors include the relatively short use-life of Ohio arrow points, and the lack of weapon diversity in Ohio. Both factors result in higher usage of arrows, and a higher rate of deposit when compared to the Mayan Lowlands. With the increase in digital archives and records, large-scale comparative studies such as this have the potential to change our collective understanding of warfare, conflict, and tool use by past peoples

Blank predetermination in the Iberian Acheulean. Insight from the cleaver on flake assemblage of Casal do Azemel site (Leiria, Portugal) by a Geometric Morphometric approach

Over the last decades, the increase of data available for the study of the archaeological topic in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Pleistocene has favoured the understanding of the technological trends of the Iberian Acheulean assemblages. These have features of a Large Flake Acheulean (LFA), displaying, among other traits, a significant presence of cleavers on flake, a specific tool type that is of great cultural and technological value. Particularly, these artefacts are privileged to discuss the importance of blank predetermination in the Acheulean techno-complex. Following this reason, in the present work we aimed to explore this topic through the 2D Geometric Morphometric Analysis of the cleaver on flake assemblage from Casal do Azemel (Leiria, Portugal), an example of a paradigmatic Iberian Acheulean site that has one of the largest collections of this type of tools in Western Europe. The results obtained revealed that no significant morphological differences were found according to the technological solutions applied to the acquisition of the blank and its secondary transformation. Considering that in most of the cases these tools display a low degree of secondary transformation, these data suggest that underlying the production of Casal do Azemel’s cleaver on flake assemblage was not only a technological and cognitive flexibility (given its typological composition), but also a conceptual, structural, and morphological standardisation. These observations allowed us to discuss the significance of blank predetermination in the Acheulean, implying the existence of greatly structured technical and cognitive prerequisites