Shaping Marble, Shaping Minds: Apprenticeship in an Early Neolithic Bracelet Quarry (original) (raw)
Related papers
Knapping methods and techniques in the bracelets quarry of Cortijo Cevico (Loja, Granada
The stone bracelets are one of the most outstanding elements of personal ornaments of the ancient Neolithic in Western Mediterranean and the South of the Iberian Peninsula (5500-4800 cal. BCE). These bracelets are considered an element of cultural identity and a chronological marker of the first Neolithic societies in these areas. The study of the production processes of this ornament has brought a new approach to social relations of the early Neolithic groups of this area. The existence of specialized workshops and the circulation of these objects show the shift towards more complex social organizations. The aim of this paper is to present knapping methods and techniques carried out in the Neolithic bracelets quarry of the Cortijo Cevico. This quarry has recently been discovered and excavated, and it is the first site of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula. It is a rocky outcrop in the geological formation of Trías de Antequera, formed by dolomitic marbles. On this site we carried out the extraction works, as well as the first transformation of the knapping performs that were going to be processed as bracelets. In addition, we have applied for the first time in this paper the methodology consists on using diacritical schemes in the knapping waste of the bracelets. This methodology, along with experimentation and technical stigmas, has allowed the recognition of the techniques and methods applied to knapping dolomitic marbles and these are presented for the first time in this paper.
One of the most characteristic personal ornament of the European Neolithic is the ring bracelet made of stone or shell. In Italy, its spreading affected several cultural groups between the Early and Middle Neolithic. It was a very common adornment object, especially in the northern Italian regions, indicating that its employment was trans-cultural and had a long lasting tradition during the Neolithic. The paper focuses on the stone bracelets of the Early Neolithic groups of northern Italy dated between 5600 and 4900/4800 cal. BC, taking into consideration their geographical distribution, the raw materials employed, the manufacturing processes, the exchange networks and interrelation between different groups.
Experiments in replicating facsimiles of Late Neolithic engraved slate plaques from southwestern Iberia suggest that variation related to fine-motor skills is greater between individual engravers than within the work of a single engraver. This implies that the work of different individuals producing certain classes of material culture may be distinguishable on the basis of repetitive, idiosyncratic traits. These studies also generate otherwise unobtainable information about the experience of plaque making. We examine past and present methodological attempts to differentiate unconscious, individual styles from intentional, culturally mediated styles, and discuss why in some cases it is extremely difficult to separate such variation. We explore the link between individual variation and theoretical notions of the individual, and its implications for understanding the organization, transmission, and shared expression of ancient social practices.
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Amongst the pottery sets associated with the Argar culture (Cultura del Argar), in the Bronze Age in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, it is common to find small recipients in funerary and household contexts. However, their techniques and manufacture reveal they do not seem to be products made by expert hands but rather the opposite. They are small artefacts, the result of the learning processes as well as the knowledge transfer between producers (adults) and learners (infants). To identify and describe these learning processes, we have developed, for the first time, research from a multiproxy perspective. To reach our objectives, we have implemented analytical protocols (macro and microscopic) oriented to determine both formal and functional aspects. The study departs from identifying the macro traces to define the chaîne opératoire. Then, we used X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to carry out their mineral and clay characterisation. The XRD was also related to the microstructural study made through scanning electron microscope (SEM) to verify the baking processes and the temperatures reached. Lastly, we applied gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography (UPLC-HRMS), and we established the isotopic values via the use of gas chromatographycombustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) to ascertain if those recipients were used with a specific function or purpose. The results obtained let us reconstruct the learning processes as well as the learning and socialisation phases in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the Bronze Age.
In this paper we will focus on the study of the chipped stone tools from the Minferri site, an Early Bronze Age settlement in the east sector of the Ebro valley in northeast of Spain. Our aim is to characterize the whole lithic tool production processes, from the raw material procurement stage to their consumption, in order to prove whether or not some form of crafting and economic specialization within such settlements existed. Integrating raw materials, techno-morphological and use-wear analysis we will be able to evaluate the importance of lithic resources for the development of labour in the Bronze Age communities of northeast Iberia.
Journal of Lithic Studies, 2021
The authors present the evidence gathered during the interdisciplinary study of several polished stone tools from some Neolithic sites in Hungary. In particular, the cutting-edged tool production (axes, adzes, chisels) involves knapping at several stages of the operational-chain within an artefact's 'life cycle'-from raw material procurement, its manufacture, use, and discard. Some specific finegrained and non-siliceous raw materials, among which are mainly hornfels, "white stones" and a few greenstones, show evidence of being worked by knapping as shown by the recovery of rough-outs, flaked similarly to biface artefacts, reworked pieces during retooling attempts, and several flakes detached before and after polishing the artefact surfaces. These latter demonstrate that re-sharpening and reworking polished cutting-edged tools was a common practice within the settlements during the whole Neolithic period. These small flakes, that sometimes look like true bladelets, have been often confused with, and published as, chipped stone tools. Therefore, it is important to get a holistic view of the whole stone industry during the study of the lithic assemblages. As in the case for chert and flint in N Europe, which have been intensively exploited for the production of polished axes and adzes, some other lithic raw materials could be easily worked by knapping for the production of polished tools, especially micro-crystalline rocks that have technical response and physical properties very similar to true flint and chert. Moreover, there are indeed implications regarding social organization among Neolithic communities, not only from the point of view of raw material procurement. Notably, the technical capability of producing and maintaining in efficiency the polished stone tools had to be acquired by individuals belonging to each household within the community, since stone axe-adzes were polyfunctional tools for mundane and multiple tasks. Therefore, as an important means for survival, the production of stone tools, both chipped and polished, was a knowledge certainly transmitted from generation to generation, although we still have to understand the modes and social implications of the transfer in details.
Sylvie Beyries, Caroline Hamon & Yolaine Maigrot eds. 2021. Beyond Use-Wear Traces. Going from tools to people by means of archaeological wear and residue analyses, Leiden : Sidestone Press., 2021
Schist bracelets are emblematic sign-objects of Early Neolithic contexts in Western Europe, where they are closely linked to the expansion of the Blicquy-Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture (BVSG, 4950-4750 cal BC). This paper focuses on three specialized quarries and workshops and one settlement site located on the eastern margin of the Armorican Massif (Sarthe and Caen plain) where Pissot schist bracelets were produced. The integrated macroscopic and microscopic use-wear analysis of thousands of Pissot schist elements and hundreds of macrolithic tools found on these different sites has allowed us to precisely reconstruct the sequence of production and the technical processes involved in the manufacture of these bracelets. Together with large quantities of waste debris, objects reflecting the different stages of schist bracelets production were abandoned on the sites. In parallel, a large corpus of hammerstones and anvils, hand-held and grooved abraders, as well as edged tools, in different qualities of sandstones, have been recovered on these sites. Based on a first set of experimental tests, our analyses suggest the predominance of percussion and abrasion techniques in the production of bracelets in this area. Results are compared with other areas where schist bracelets were produced, especially southern Belgium, in order to investigate the technical choices adopted by the different communities and groups engaged in the production of schist bracelets throughout the BVSG area.
2019
As we understand it, the crux of Castañeda’s argument relies on using published ethnographic and experimental results of knapping skill variation and learning to develop a list of criteria, associated with both the selection of raw material blanks and the reduction of cores. These criteria are applied in a top down approach to the study of flint cores from Casa Montero allowing their categorisation into one of three skill levels, expert, advanced apprenticeships and novice. Based on these categories, Castañeda describes a dynamic picture of communal gathering at a raw material source, where novice adolescents and expert adult knappers are engaged in extensive social teaching of blade production.
2019
Contemporary with the beginning of the western Mediterranean Neolithization, Peiro Signado is one of the oldest Neolithic settlements in the south of France. The site shows the installation, on the coast of Languedoc, of small pioneer groups with clearly Italian origins. The lithic industry is characterized by a bladelet production. Use-wear analysis brings to light the diversified forms of Neolithic economy corresponding to a technical system transported by the first settlers. This paper presents the first results of use-wear analysis that will be entirely published in the monograph of the site.
Marble as a Material for the Production of Bracelets in Neolithic Central Europe
Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt , 2022
Marble bracelets are a characteristic artefact of the Stroked Pottery culture (5100/5000-4500/4400 BC) in Central Bohemia, and they also occur in the same period in the sphere of the Rössen culture around the River Saale in Germany. These finds began to attract interest in the 19th century and the issue of the origin of their material had been consid ered resolved for several decades. However, a new mineralogical study has shown that the main source of material was located elsewhere and that the overall number of sources used was higher. The article presents the results of the study of the actual artefacts and the results of a terrain survey of the most promising natural sources of the material in the Czech Republic. The combination of the two approaches led to the discovery of the main potential source.