Nyland A 2017; Quarrying as a socio-political strategy at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Norway (original) (raw)
In this paper, a chaîne opératoire analysis of lithic extraction sites and direct lithic procurement form the point of departure. This study was originally part of a PhD project comprising a detailed examination and contextu-alization of 21 extraction sites located in southern Norway. The 21 sites are in different topographical settings and landscapes, in different geographical regions, and they provided people in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age with different types of rock. I build on the results from the original study of all the sites, but I will here emphasize only a few of them. To transcend the sites' physical differences and acquire information about procurement practices, I operate with an extended notion of what constitutes a quarry. Whereas estimates of the scale of quarrying and the duration of exploitation are important, tracing the occurrence of the extracted rock away from the quarries in different dated archaeological contexts is equally necessary in order to understand the character and value of the exploitation of the procurement sites. Investigating lithic procurement from various angles, attempting to chart and visualize spatial and temporal variation in practices, different methods have been applied. An important aspect has been to establish an index of the intensity of exploitation. This enables a demonstration of a 'norm' and an 'extraordinary' manner of exploitation of quarries and other lithic procurement practices. Furthermore, lithic procurement studied as a chain of operations embeds a theoretical perspective where all practices are perceived as influenced and guided consciously or subconsciously by peoples' cultural choices, traditions and social habitus. Together with the dated and contextualized sites and procurement practices, this offers a frame for interpreting the results of my study; some practices are common cross-regionally, while others defined regions and/or time-periods. Quarry studies therefore have the potential to provide insights into developing social relations and social-political strategies. Indeed, interpreted in a wider cultural context, it seems that how, and from whom or where you obtained your rock mattered more than the type or the quality of the rock itself.
Българско е-Списание за Археология, 2017
In this paper, a chaîne opératoire analysis of lithic extraction sites and direct lithic procurement form the point of departure. This study was originally part of a PhD project comprising a detailed examination and contextualization of 21 extraction sites located in southern Norway. The 21 sites are in different topographical settings and landscapes, in different geographical regions, and they provided people in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age with different types of rock. I build on the results from the original study of all the sites, but I will here emphasize only a few of them. To transcend the sites' physical differences and acquire information about procurement practices, I operate with an extended notion of what constitutes a quarry. Whereas estimates of the scale of quarrying and the duration of exploitation are important, tracing the occurrence of the extracted rock away from the quarries in different dated archaeological contexts is equally necessary in order...
Lithic raw material procurement through time at Swartkrans: earlier to Middle Stone Age
2014
Tool manufacturing played a major role in the development and evolution of our species, and by studying the tools left behind by our ancestors we gain valuable insight into their development and behaviours through time. This study was conducted on the Swartkrans Oldowan (2.2 -1.7 Ma), early Acheulean (1.5 -1 Ma), and Middle Stone Age (<110 ka) assemblages to determine the degree of lithic raw material selectivity for making stone tools, and if they practiced ever increasing selection towards better quality stone over time. The presence of quality selection was determined by comparing the various Swartkrans assemblages with experimentally created lithic tools from rock types found in the study area. Three main characteristics that determine selection of rock types were isolated: flaking predictability, durability and sharpness. Analysis of the data provided further evidence that our early stone tool making ancestors had the ability to understand how different rock types behave when knapped and tended to select rocks that had a high flaking predictability, high durability and could produce fairly sharp edges. It was also apparent that they could identify features that diminish the above mentioned characteristics. Variables such as the impurity encounter rate, fracture encounter rate, weathering, grain size and homogeneity were semiquantitatively recorded for the three techno-complexes at Swartkrans and compared to each other to help identify the degree of selectivity that was practiced over time. The data revealed that selection for quality of lithic raw materials was practiced to some extent during the Oldowan and improved slightly in the early Acheulean. The most marked selection for quality was seen for the Middle Stone Age when modern humans used the site. These results indicate that as time progressed in the Sterkfontein valley, and the stone tool technologies became more complex, so too did the selective pressures and thus an increase in selection for quality lithic raw materials over the course of time. iii Thank you for all your guidance, help and support.
Nyland 2016; Significant by association_In Current Swedish Archaeology vol24.pdf
Rocks and places of rock procurement can be significant beyond pragmatic reasons. In the Early Neolithic in southern Norway, specific rock types and quarries appear to have been deeply entangled in socio-political strategies that either bound people together or set people apart. Charted variations in the character of lithic procurement and distribution indicate two parallel but diverging processes of "Neolithization" in the western and eastern region respectively. In the west, rhyolite from a quarry atop Mt. Siggjo was especially significant, demonstrated by the intense quarrying and wide distribution of rhyolite along the west coast. Indeed, in the west, certain quarries appear to have been regarded as nodal points, anchoring people's sense of identity and belonging. In the east, imported flint gained a similar role because of its association with farming and Funnel Beaker-related societies in southern Scandinavia. That is, rock was significant not only due to its physical qualities, but by its association with a specific place, social or cultural group.
2023
The archaeological study of quarries focuses mainly on the reconstruction of the extraction process, while rock-hewn spaces have often been approached from the point of view of architectural styles or art-history. Nevertheless, a holistic structural approach to the study of these spaces could allow a better understanding of the agency of those who carved the stone. Stone quarries and rock-cut sites have rarely been included in global studies of historical landscapes and few are the forums dedicated to the theoretical and methodological debate over the importance that these sites have for the understanding of past societies. To fill the gap, the proceedings volume aims at providing new data on sites located in Africa (Ethiopia, and Egypt), Europe (France, Croatia, Italy, Spain) and Asia (Turkey, Saudi Arabia) studied with a diachronic approach, as well as new theoretical reflections for the international debate on the archaeological investigation of rock-cut spaces and stone quarries. Two directions structure this volume: the analysis of the individual rock walls, considering the study of tool traces as a proxy for understanding the carving phases, as well as the analysis of the structure (site/quarry) as a whole, by contextualizing the results of the study of the single walls. The volume mainly targets researchers who are willing to discover quarries and rock-cut sites as aspects of the same mining phenomenon: places in which specific empirical and handcrafting knowledge related to stone working is expressed and conveyed, but also a wider audience that is interested in these peculiar and impressive sites.
Lithics and Livelihood: Stone Tool Technologies of Central and Southern Interior B.C.
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1983
We accept this.thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September 1983 '© Martin Paul Robert Magne, 1983 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. ABSTRACT This study is designed to investigate patterns of lithic technological variability in relation to settlement strategies that were employed by late prehistoric inhabitants of central and southern regions of interior British Columbia. The research contributes to current archaeological method through an experimental program of stone tool manufacture, and also to current understanding of Interior Plateau prehistory, through a multiregiohal analysis of technological variability. The first stage of the study involves conducting a controlled experiment , to determine the degree to which lithic debitage can be used to predict stages of chipped stone tool manufacture, and to devise an efficient means of classifying debitage into general reduction stages. The experiment is unique in providing control over the precise sequential removal of flakes, and also in examining quantitative variability in debitage that have been produced as the by-products of the manufacture of several tools and cores. The result of the experimental program is the formulation of a debitage classification that classifies flakes into early, middle or late reduction stages, and also into bifacial and bipolar reduction types. The archaeological analyses in the second major stage of the research use the debitage reduction stage classification and the occurrence of various lithic tools to examine the nature of interassemblage variability across the 38 sites from four regions of the Interior Plateau. A total of 14,541 flakes, 164 cores and 861 tools from the Eagle Lake, Mouth of the Chilcotin, Lillooet and Hat Creek regions are analyzed, using multivariate and bivariate quantitative methods. Three hypotheses relevant to lithic technology and hunter-iii gatherer archaeology are evaluated in this stage of the study. The analyses first employ the experimental debitage classification to obtain interpretable patterns of inter-assemblage similarities and differences. Multivariate analysis shows that several kinds of sites defined on the basis of features can be grouped by their predominance of early/core reduction, middle/wide ranging reduction, and late/ maintenance reduction debitage. The first formal hypothesis tested is that obsidian and chert raw materials should evidence patterns of conservation and economizing behavior by virtue of their geological scarcity in relation to vitreous basalt raw material. A series of chi-square tests demonstrates that debitage frequencies by reduction stage are proportionately equal for these three raw materials in all but the Mouth of the Chilcotin region. In all regions, except Lillooet where tool sample sizes are too small for reliable testing, tool sizes and scar counts show no significant difference attributable to raw materials. A slight trend is noted for chert tools to be larger and simpler than vitreous basalt or obsidian tools. A set of bivariate graphs demonstrates that while lithic raw materials may be reduced in highly similar manners, one raw material may have served to replace another. The second hypothesis, that tool curation and maintenance strongly affects assemblage composition, is first tested by examining tool assemblage measures that have been suggested by recent lithic technological models. Assemblages are highly variable with respect to the numbers of tools left at sites in relation to the intensity of tool maintenance that occurred at sites. iv The third hypothesis tested is that a set of site occupation purposes can be reliably predicted on the basis of debitage reduction stages and a functional tool classification. Using multiple discriminant analysis, housepit sites are accurately predicted at an 80% rate, and lithic scatters without features are accurately predicted at a rate of 60%. Lithic scatters with housepits achieve 86% correct classification; lithic scatters with cachepits are correctly classified at a rate of 75%; and lithic scatters with firecracked rock are accurately predicted 80% of the time. The results of this analysis are further strengthened by removing an ambiguous assemblage from consideration. The most significant findings of the multiregional analyses are those of definite tool cuiration patterns as evidenced in the raw material analysis, and the occupation span inferences of the tool maintenance analysis. Overall, it has been demonstrated that an experimentally obtained stage classification of debitage enables the derivation of behavioral inferences that could not be currently obtained by other means. In its multiregional perspective, this study has shown that processes of lithic assemblage formation are largely independent of regional provenience and more dependent on settlement purpose. Overall, the greatest determinant of assemblage variability is inferred to be site occupation span. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a great deal to my advisory committee. Dr. David Pokotylo, chairman, steered my fledgling interests in lithic technology to constructive paths, and his demands for originality and thoroughness are appreciated. Dr. R.G. Matson provided the opportunity for the Eagle Lake research, gave a great deal of advice, and always had his door open. Dr. David Aberle encouraged anthropological and logical awareness, and lent an editorial hand. Dr. Richard Pearson provided an invaluable example and took the time to comment on drafts and generally assist throughout my program. Dr. Arnoud Stryd trusted the Lillooet collections to my care, read drafts, and he and his wife Melanie graciously allowed me the use of their home in Kamloops.
Abstract book: Conference: 61st Annual Meeting of the Hugo Obermaier-Society: New Perspectives on Neanderthal Behaviour (23-27 Abril 2019, Erkrath and Mettmann, 2019
The development of raw material characterisation in Palaeolithic Archaeology in the last fifty years has widened our knowledge about the societies who inhabited Europe in the past. The characterisation of raw material, specially flint, has allowed defining the mobility of stones and people, selective processes to obtain specific varieties and proto-mining or mining activities. It also enables the researchers to a better understand knapping or use properties of specific raw materials. Quartzite was the second most-often used lithic raw material in Europe in the Palaeolithic. However, this rock has not been characterized fully from the geo-archaeological point of view. The main aim of this presentation is present partial results of my recently defended PhD, focussed in the understanding of acquisition, distribution and management mechanisms implemented by Middle-Palaeolithic societies in the Cantabrian Region (Asturias and Cantabria communities, NW Spain) to exploit quartzite. To do so, we are going to present the data of two middle-Palaeolithic archaeological sites: El Habario and El Arteu. We also present through a comprehensive way, the quartzite distribution in the area: The Deva, Cares and Güeña valleys. Finally, and due to the scarcity of previous research on the properties of this raw material, we also present the characteristics of these quartzites from a geo-archaeological point of view. The methodology used for this research combines three different approaches: microscopic, macroscopic and regional scales. The first one is based on petrographic, geochemical and binocular characterisation. The second, is the macroscopic approach and it is founded on the analysis of lithic assemblages based on technological, typological, petrological and metric criteria. The same macroscopic approach is used to characterise the potential raw material acquisition areas through the geological survey of the geological strata and deposits where quartzites are present. Finally, the regional scale is based on the geographic, geologic and archaeological analysis of landscape, mainly using Geographic Information Systems. The application of this comprehensive methodology to a narrow area, the Deva, Cares and Güeña valleys, allow us to understand quartzite from geological and archaeological perspectives. On one hand, we surveyed the source area of the sediment which formed the “archaeological quartzites”, their transformations due to sedimentary and metamorphic forces, and the mineralogy of these rocks according to the different geological environments where quartzites were formed. The understanding of all these phenomena allows us to classify quartzite into seven petrogenetic types and varieties, according to grain size and mineralogy. We also describe the geological strata where quartzite is present, characterising both their arrangement and its dispersion based on the types and varieties defined. On the other hand, we inferred the acquisition, management, and mobility patterns of Prehistoric societies in the Deva, Cares and Güeña valleys during the Middle Palaeolithic based on the analysis of the lithic assemblages from the archaeological sites of El Habario and El Arteu. This allowed us to understand the different strategies of landscape management of such a heterogeneous and mountainous area as the central Cantabrian Region is. The exploitation of quartzites in the sites of El Habario and El Arteu allow us to understand the dialectical territorial management of this mountainous area through the combination of selective processes and mobility mechanisms in lower and middle altitudes. These perspectives let us to understand this mountainous region not as a barrier but as an environmental-mosaic managed and optimised by Middle Palaeolithic societies. In addition, the recognition of the quartzite types using non-destructive methods in both complete assemblages through comprehensive analysis, lets us to understand preferential catchment and management of specific quartzites and different behaviours. Among others, a) adaptable mobility patterns and selection of specific types of quartzites; b) Complex management of lithic mass based on stock creation; or c) tool-kit maintenance on certain quartzite types and the dismissal of others.