{"title":"Not just a technique! An experimental approach to refine the definition of the bipolar anvil reduction in the Uluzzian","authors":"Davide Delpiano, Giulia Marciani, Jacopo Conforti, Serena Lombardo, Matteo Rossini, Marcos César Pereira Santos, Stefano Benazzi, Marco Peresani, Adriana Moroni","doi":"10.1007/s12520-024-02097-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The bipolar technique has been widely used across a wide range of prehistoric contexts, from the Lower Pleistocene to the Metal Ages, and is a defining feature of the Uluzzian technocomplex, evident in the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Italy and Greece. The objective of this paper is to examine whether the use of the bipolar technique within the Uluzzian extends beyond its conventional definition as a mere technique. To address this question, we conducted goal-orientated experimental flaking, focusing on the industries found at key Uluzzian sites in Italy: Broion, La Fabbrica, and Castelcivita. A comprehensive review of archaeological and ethnographic evidence further supplemented our study on the application of the bipolar technique. While bipolar reduction typically involves less procedural control, resulting in a diverse range of blanks, our research shows that adhering to certain discernible principles can indeed exert control over specific morphological features of the resulting products. Factors such as blank selection and configuration, along with the management of volumes and edges, contribute to high productivity, the generation of elongated products, and miniaturization as distinctive characteristics. These findings collectively establish the bipolar reduction on an anvil in the Uluzzian as a systematic method of debitage.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8214,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences","volume":"16 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-024-02097-z","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The bipolar technique has been widely used across a wide range of prehistoric contexts, from the Lower Pleistocene to the Metal Ages, and is a defining feature of the Uluzzian technocomplex, evident in the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Italy and Greece. The objective of this paper is to examine whether the use of the bipolar technique within the Uluzzian extends beyond its conventional definition as a mere technique. To address this question, we conducted goal-orientated experimental flaking, focusing on the industries found at key Uluzzian sites in Italy: Broion, La Fabbrica, and Castelcivita. A comprehensive review of archaeological and ethnographic evidence further supplemented our study on the application of the bipolar technique. While bipolar reduction typically involves less procedural control, resulting in a diverse range of blanks, our research shows that adhering to certain discernible principles can indeed exert control over specific morphological features of the resulting products. Factors such as blank selection and configuration, along with the management of volumes and edges, contribute to high productivity, the generation of elongated products, and miniaturization as distinctive characteristics. These findings collectively establish the bipolar reduction on an anvil in the Uluzzian as a systematic method of debitage.
期刊介绍:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences covers the full spectrum of natural scientific methods with an emphasis on the archaeological contexts and the questions being studied. It bridges the gap between archaeologists and natural scientists providing a forum to encourage the continued integration of scientific methodologies in archaeological research.
Coverage in the journal includes: archaeology, geology/geophysical prospection, geoarchaeology, geochronology, palaeoanthropology, archaeozoology and archaeobotany, genetics and other biomolecules, material analysis and conservation science.
The journal is endorsed by the German Society of Natural Scientific Archaeology and Archaeometry (GNAA), the Hellenic Society for Archaeometry (HSC), the Association of Italian Archaeometrists (AIAr) and the Society of Archaeological Sciences (SAS).