Cultural dynamics in Stone Age hunter gatherers hidden dimensions (original) (raw)
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Grøn & Peeters Cultural dynamics in Stone Age hunter gatherers hidden dimensions
HIDDEN DIMENSIONS. Aspects of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer landscape use and non-lithic technology, 2022
Whereas the ‘cultural groups’ of Stone Age hunter-gatherers in archaeology typically are distinguished and classified on the basis of the typology of knapped lithics – whereby lithics are assumed to reflect these people’s territorial configurations as well as their cultural interactions – the reality becomes considerably more complicated when one is in a position to observe the organic dimensions of material culture and the way this component is used among living hunter-gatherers. Despite variations among different cultures, the organic part of their material culture seems to dominate significantly over the lithic component, in terms of both time investment in its manufacture and its role in cultural dynamics and interaction. Concerning the question of the arrival or development (i.e. diffusion or independent invention) of new cultural elements or traits, it also becomes clear that different cultural elements can follow different patterns of diffusion, in combination with different types of independent local inventiveness. The ‘currents of cultural influence’ affecting a human culture can, thus, be different for different parts of its material culture, e.g. its knapped lithics technology, its hafting methods, its clothing ornamentation, its burial customs, and so on. Such a complex, multi-layered cultural interaction pattern will in most cases be impossible to reconstruct archaeologically, but it is nevertheless important to keep the likelihood of this layering of interactions in mind, so that we do not lure ourselves into the illusion that the patterns distinguishable in lithic industries necessarily correspond to other, possibly more significant cultural influences that we are unable to reconstruct.
What is an archaeological culture? Approaching cultural transmission and variation
unizd.hr
The idea of an archaeological culture as a definable entity in space and time has survived the onslaughts of several generations of theoretically inclined archaeologists. Cultures have been deconstructed, reformulated, renamed and simply ignored but have refused to be consigned to the dustbin of archaeological research. Whether they are employed as a background to regional or local investigations or provide the central focus for research, they show no signs of going away. Does this mean that they have a certain validity? How therefore should we analyse and interpret distinct similarities in burials, settlements, technology or material culture? Perhaps our starting point should be the broad diversity of chronological and geographical scales through which archaeological regularities and variations exist. From this point of view, we must not expect straightforward correlations in the evidence as culture is not a bounded entity. What might be important is the nature of the connections where cultural transmission occurs and cultural variation is created.
Ethnoarchaeology and the organization of lithic technology
Although the modern production and use of stone tools is rare, ethnoarchaeological research on this subject has provided important perspectives on methodological approaches to archaeological lithic analysis. Recent ethnoarchaeological research on lithics frequently takes the form of ''cautionary tales,'' warning against the primacy of functional variables most commonly invoked by lithic analysts. I argue that lithic ethnoarchaeology would benefit from a comparative organizational framework for explaining variation in patterns of stone tool use that takes into account the predictability and redundancy of the location and timing of technological activities. Understanding the underlying causes of modern patterns of stone tool use, in turn, offers a framework for exploring sources of lithic technological variation in the archaeological record. I also argue that technological analytical perspectives, such as the chaîne opératoire and sequence of reduction approaches, can benefit from the insights gained through lithic ethnoarchaeological research, helping us define important analytical concepts and identify appropriate units of analysis.
EAA 2021 Abstract book, 2021
This paper investigates in what way the quantity of raw material extraction, circulation, production and use of objects is connected to changes in the social systems (social complexity, inequality). To study this question, it is of crucial importance to understand the different dimensions of value of lithic artefacts. Value is a subjective concept which is determined by social interaction in real life contexts and thus variable and culture/society specific. Nevertheless, it is crucial to have an idea of how, in what ways and what kind of values and value-systems governed prehistoric societies. Current accounts of the emergence of social inequality during the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic period in Southeast Europe are as yet mostly based upon the presence of a few richly furnished burials, interpreted as expressions of individual social status and thus social inequality of the communities in question. However, the economic basis of this potential process of social stratification is poorly understood, due to a lack of systematic and quantifiable data on its economic background, such as raw material use and circulation during the period before and during the potential social transformation. Studies of social organization normally focus on exotic materials, like Spondylus shells and early copper, or elaborate pottery. To systematically target the quantitative distribution and exchange of stone tools made from different raw materials and to examine their integration into culture-specific systems of value is an approach that fully integrates lithic studies and studies of the development of social systems. This will help to promote a better understanding of the social and economic role of lithic materials in prehistory and it will provide a more solid, quantitative basis for studies of socio-economic developments.
Stone Tools in Ethnoarchaeological Contexts: Theoretical-Methodological INFERENCES1
2007
We present a critical review of the use which ethnological data has been used for the study of prehistoric societies and stone tools. In this sense, we note the uselessness of fonnal ethnographic analogies, in view of their incapacity to generate explanations for the causality of lithic assemblages. In this way, we claim a new fonnulation of ethnoarchaeological research, focused on developing an archaeological methodology confonning to the study of the socio-economic dynamics of prehistoric societies. Thus, the ethnoarchaeological research we are developing with hunter-gatherers societies from the Tierra del Fuego archipelago (Argentina) pennit us to corroborate the lack of social significance of the morphological and technological categories that have been typically used in lithic analyses. It is for this reason that we propose different analytic categories which allow us to detenninate the goals of lithic production and, at the same time, to reconstruct and characterize developed ...
The anthropology of hunter-gatherers: key themes for archaeologists
2013
"This book provides a basic introduction to key debates in the study of hunter-gatherers, specifically from an anthropological perspective, but designed for an archaeological audience. Hunter-gatherers have been the focus of intense anthropological research and discussion over the last hundred years, and as such there is an enormous literature on communities all over the world. Yet, among the diverse range of peoples studied, there are a number of recurrent themes, including not only the way in which people make a living (hunting, gathering and fishing) but also striking similarities in other areas of life such as belief systems and social organisation. These themes are described and then explored through archaeological case-studies. The overarching theme throughout the volume is the use of ethnographic analogy, and how archaeologists should be critical in its use. Table of contents -Introduction: Why the Study of Modern Hunter-gatherers Can Help Us Understand the Past -Making a Living: Hunter-gatherer Subsistence -Moving on Up: Mobility and Settlement -Society and Social Organisation -Belief Systems -Landscape -Material Culture and Exchange -Conclusions Bibliography Index"
Journal of Historical Archaeology and Anthropological Sciences, 2024
The production of flint tools evolved and diversified in response to the increasing and newly appearing demands of the early societies. The maintenance of this tradition coupled with the durability of stone tools resulted in the development of the lithic tool kit and the accumulation of large lithic assemblages mainly in settlements. The twentieth century witnessed the wide investigation of those assemblages through techno-typological approaches that aim at classifying and interpreting lithic assemblages and using them to reconstruct the chronological and cultural phases of given societies. The wide use of stone tools in daily-life activities i.e. hunting, gathering, farming, and food processing, enhanced the perception of lithics as functional objects that are mainly associated with secular activities. However, investigating the changing roles of stone tools over time remained partially overlooked. Apart from finely-made flint knives, the ritual functions of stone tools remain an unexplored research area. The current paper focuses on assessing the symbolic roles of the Predynastic lithics based on their use as grave goods. The results show that varied classes of tools were recruited for funerary purposes and that the evolving roles of lithics were influenced by a long process of human-nature and people-object interactions.
The question of spatial organization and mobility within the southern French Chassey culture and the neighbouring cultures, at the end of the 5th and during the first half of the 4th millennium, is taken up from research carried out by the authors on the lithic industries of some 20 sites. We base our study on an integrated technological approach, from the acquisition of raw materials to the use of the lithic products obtained. These data make it possible to propose a broader interpretative framework concerning the circulation and the exchange of materials through the spatial distribution pattern by adding a qualitative dimension . This indeed leads us to reason not about materials, but about technical products. It is thus possible to investigate the diffusion of these products, by integrating, among other data taken into account, their position in the chaînes opératoires of the productions, the level of know-how implemented by the producers, and the circumstances of their use and management. What is the relationship between the lithic productions and the diffusion networks, the technical, economical and social status of the lithic products, the methods of acquisition and consumption of these products in relation with spatial organizations and mobility systems on various scales, and the changes that these spatial organizations undergo in time and space?