Journal of Lithic Studies最新文献

{"title":"The mechanical properties of wood and the design of Neolithic stone axes","authors":"A. R. Ennos, J. A. Oliveira","doi":"10.2218/jls.3031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3031","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the importance of wooden tools for early man, and the development of woodworking in the Mesolithic and Neolithic culture, there has been surprisingly little research on how wood can be worked by stone tools or how wooden handles for composite tools were designed. This paper outlines an approach based on an understanding of the structure and mechanical properties of wood. The cell arrangement in wood makes it far less stiff, strong and tough across the grain, especially tangentially. This makes it hard to harvest wood or break it into lengths because it splits down its centre rather than breaking right across. Fortunately, this also makes wood easy to split along the grain, especially radially through its centre into sections and planks. \u0000A model of the splitting process predicted that wood is best split using blunt, broad but smooth wedges, as these would use less energy and would be less likely to get stuck in the wood. The predictions were verified in tests in which hazel coppice poles were split using wedges of contrasting angle, width and surface texture. The results help explain the change from the flaked flint Mesolithic tranchet axes to the broader polished stone Neolithic axe and adze heads. However, further experiments are also needed cutting wood obliquely to test this hypothesis. \u0000The splitting model also helps to understand the design of socketed axe hafts. Failure usually occurs when the handles split at the distal and proximal ends of the socket. To prevent this, handles are best designed with the growth rings parallel to the socket, and with an expanded head, especially with flanges on the distal and proximal ends of the socket. These designs are seen in some of the Neolithic axe handles that have been found in Britain, including the Etton, Ehenside and Shulishader axes. More experimental research is needed to understand the optimal way of hafting axe heads.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68262266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ground stone technology in context: Consumption of grinding tools and social practice at Neolithic Avgi, NW Greece","authors":"T. Bekiaris","doi":"10.2218/jls.3078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3078","url":null,"abstract":"Excavations at the Neolithic site of Avgi (Middle-Late Neolithic, circa 5700-4500 cal. BCE) in the Kastoria region, northwestern Greece, brought to light one of the largest ground stone assemblages known from Neolithic Greece. More than 8000 ground stone tools and objects, raw materials and by-products comprise a valuable record for investigating various aspects of ground stone technology (production, consumption, discard), while their rich contextual information provides an ideal opportunity for addressing its significance for Neolithic societies. \u0000This paper examines the presence of grinding tools (stable grinding slabs and mobile grinders, their raw materials and by-products) within different spatiotemporal contexts (habitational phases, buildings, open areas, pits). Through the detailed technological and contextual analysis of the grinding artifacts we seek to explore different aspects of their biographies, related to their manufacture, use, maintenance, destruction and discard, within the context of a single Neolithic community. The goal is to shed light on the multiple ways through which the Neolithic society of Avgi consumed those technological products in various social occasions, practices and places (e.g., daily routine activities, special events of communal or symbolic character, individual houses and communal activity areas) and explore their role in the formation of social identities and the production of social meaning.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43473978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant foods, stone tools and food preparation in prehistoric Europe: An integrative approach in the context of ERC funded project PLANTCULT","authors":"S. Valamoti, D. Chondrou, T. Bekiaris, Ismini Ninou, N. Alonso, Maria Bofill, Maria Ivanova, Sofia Laparidou, Calla McNamee, A. Palomo, L. Papadopoulou, G. Prats, H. Procopiou, G. Tsartsidou","doi":"10.2218/JLS.3095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.3095","url":null,"abstract":"The transformation of food ingredients into meals corresponds to complex choices resulting from the interplay of environmental and cultural factors: available ingredients, technologies of transformation, cultural perceptions of food, as well as taste and food taboos. Project PLANTCULT (ERC Consolidator Grant, GA 682529) aims to investigate prehistoric culinary cultures from the Aegean to Central Europe by focusing on plant foods and associated food preparation technologies spanning the Neolithic through to the Iron Age. Our paper offers an overview of the lines of investigation pursued within the project to address plant food preparation and related stone tool technologies. The wide range of plant foods from the area under investigation (ground cereals, breads, beer, pressed grapes, split pulses, etc.) suggests great variability of culinary preparations. Yet, little is known of the transformation technologies involved (e.g., pounding, grinding, and boiling). Changes in size and shape of grinding stones over time have been associated with efficiency of grinding, specific culinary practices and socioeconomic organisation. Informed by ethnography and experimental data, as well as ancient texts, PLANTCULT integrates archaeobotanical food remains and associated equipment to address these issues. We utilize a multifaceted approach including the study of both published archaeological data and original assemblages from key sites. We aim to develop methods for understanding the interaction of tool type, use-wear formation and associated plant micro- and macro- remains in the archaeological record. Our experimental program aims to generate (a) reference material for the identification of plant processing in the archaeological record and (b) ingredients for the preparation of experimental plant foods, which hold a key role to unlocking the recipes of prehistory. Plant processing technologies are thus investigated across space and through time, in an attempt to explore the dynamic role of culinary transformation of plant ingredients into shaping social and cultural identities in prehistoric Europe.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41812721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Limestone millstones: Facies, provenance and use of sandy to pure limestones in France","authors":"G. Fronteau, F. Boyer, L. Jaccottey, Vincent Le Quellec, Stéphanie Lepareux-Couturier, Annabelle Milleville, Cécile Monchablon, Boris Robin, Paul Picavet","doi":"10.2218/JLS.3084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.3084","url":null,"abstract":"Limestones are sedimentary rocks more commonly associated with building stones or sculptures than with millstones. Nevertheless, many examples of limestone saddle querns, rotary querns and millstones are spread across France, at times making up the bulk of the archaeological assemblages in various areas characterized by bedrocks rich of sedimentary stones. These limestone millstones are of different types, sources and geological origins: Eocene sandy or fossiliferous limestones, mainly from the various limestones layers from the Lutetian beds, Quaternary calcareous tufas, and fine Jurassic limestones. To explain the behaviour of these rocks, this study advances a classification of the rocks used for millstones, focused not only on the rock-type but mainly on the topological aspect of the stone surface. (empirical macroscopic surface roughness) This renders it possible to classify the rocks into categories by materials, rather than according to petrographic facies. The pure limestones in this study are essentially vacuolar, whereas sandy limestones or certain biodetritital limestones belong to either the granular rocks category, which also includes sandstones, or to the category of heterogeneous rocks. These limestones appear for the most part to have been used due to their availability. Moreover, they epitomise a very satisfactory compromise between their grinding properties and their ease of carving, even if the hardness of these limestones is lower than those of other rocks used as grindstone (basalts or sandstones).","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43383046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ground stone tools from the copper production site Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman","authors":"S. Döpper","doi":"10.2218/jls.3082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3082","url":null,"abstract":"Archaeological research at Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman, conducted by the University of Tubingen, revealed a large Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BCE) site. During the intensive surface survey and excavations, several ground stone tools were found. Most of them came from the vicinity of monumental stone and mud-brick structures, so-called towers, and are clearly connected to copper-processing waste such as slag, furnace fragments and prills, i.e., droplets of molten copper. Therefore, it is assumed that these ground stone tools were used within the operational procedures of copper-processing. Interestingly, only the monumental towers from the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Hafit period, feature larger quantities of ground stone tools as well as copper processing waste. Towers from the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Umm an-Nar period, have none. Within the scope of this paper, the distribution of the different types of ground stone tools in Al-Khashbah as well as their find context will be presented. They are illustrated with drawings generated from 3D models created using digital photography processed with the software Agisoft Photoscan. Comparisons with other 3rd millennium BCE sites in Eastern Arabia show that there as well, copper-processing remains are often associated with ground stone tools. The overall variety of types seems to be rather homogeneous in the region.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":"7 1","pages":"1-24"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47281545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lava rotary querns of ‘Iron Age type’ in Roman times","authors":"S. Wenzel","doi":"10.2218/jls.3096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3096","url":null,"abstract":"In Mayen the production of lava rotary querns of ‘Iron Age type’ continued from the late La Tène period into Julio-Claudian times. The lower quernstone possessed a domed grinding face and the upper stone was double concave in section. While the surfaces of these querns are usually pecked, late examples show a segmented radial grooving on the grinding surfaces. Handle sockets with elbow-shaped (L-shaped) perforation were already an innovation of the late Iron Age. \u0000Since Augustan times ‘typical Roman’ hand-mills were the main product of the Mayen quarries. They had a meta with a flat conical grinding surface and a catillus with a broad raised rim. The active surfaces were grooved for functional reasons. However, the upper side of the catillus and the sides of upper and lower stones were grooved for decoration, making these rotary querns a characteristic ‘branded’ product. \u0000Most of the ‘Iron Age type’ quernstones of Early Imperial times are known from the Low Countries where they go under the name of Brillerij-type. A survey of these quernstones reveals several examples found to the southeast of this region. Even after the typical Roman hand mills became the dominant form, some ‘vintage’ Iron Age type querns were still produced for a special clientele. Though, so far, virtually no closely dated specimens are known from contexts after the Batavian revolt.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44822509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Manufacture, use and management of macro-lithic resources in the Bronze Age settlement of Bruszczewo (Poland)","authors":"S. Delgado-Raack, J. Kneisel, J. Czebreszuk, Johannes Müller","doi":"10.2218/jls.3080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3080","url":null,"abstract":"Contrary to pottery or metal artefacts, macro-lithic tools are still not fully integrated into the archaeological research programs concerning the Early Bronze Age of Central Europe. While such kind of archaeological materials usually do not easily allow typological approaches, their constant participation in several productive spheres makes them a crucial element for understanding the economic processes and the organisation of past societies. This paper presents the general results of the investigation carried out on an assemblage of 1073 macro-lithic items recovered in the wet soil area of the site of Bruszczewo (municipality of Śmigiel, Poland). This fortified settlement was inhabited during the Early Bronze Age (2100-1650 BCE) and later on in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (1100-800 BCE), with minor archaeological evidences from Middle Ages. The methodology applied in this assessment is a holistic one, which combines manufacturing (petrography and morphometry), functional (use-wear and residues) and spatial analyses. This approach has allowed recording a mainly local raw material supplying system, based on the gathering of pebbles in the vicinity of the site and a minimal transformation of raw pieces previous to use. Moreover, Bruszczewo comes out to be a central settlement managing and controlling exogenous ores, such as copper and gold, as shown by residues found on some macro-lithic forging anvils. All in all, the recognition in the macro-lithic tool assemblage of different tasks related to subsistence (food preparation) as well as to manufacture (metallurgy, probably bone working) processes contributes to (a) defining the settlement's organisation and the management of resources in the site and (b) improving our understanding of the role played by central settlements in the socio-economic networks, at a time when the first class societies emerged in Central Europe.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46872070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Olynthus mill in the Alps: New hypotheses from two unidentified millstones discovered in Veneto region (Italy)","authors":"Denis Francisci","doi":"10.2218/jls.3083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3083","url":null,"abstract":"The archaeological collection at the Museum of Feltre (province of Belluno, Veneto region, Italy) includes fragments of two ancient millstones of type known as “Olynthus mill” or “hopper rubber”. The first one (from San Donato, in the municipality of Lamón) is mentioned in a number of published and unpublished works; the other (generally from Feltre) is new to archaeological literature. Until now, they had never been identified as specimens of the Olynthus mill. \u0000Following a brief introduction on this type of device (its technical features, origin and geographic distribution) and the main hypotheses concerning its diffusion in the Alps, the first part of this paper describes the two stones from Feltre: their dimensions, morphological features, raw material, etc. Consequently, this article will focus on the topographical areas where the stones were found and on their importance for understanding the diffusion of the Olynthus mill model in the Alpine region characterised by Raetic culture, which is still an unresolved problem. The sites of discovery of the two Olynthus mills (along with the places of origin of the other hopper rubbers found in the Veneto region and in the eastern part of the province of Trento) could suggest new working hypotheses about the provenance of this type of millstone and its introduction into the Raetic territory between 5th and 4th century BCE. More specifically, the Olynthus mill model might have been introduced into the Alps through the Piave and Brenta valleys and not the Adige valley as previously thought; the Olynthian-type mills from the Veneto region could therefore mark the stages of this south-north path rather than being mere outlying specimens of the Raetic area, or items exported from there.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43214915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rock procurement and use during the Middle Neolithic: The macrolithic tools of Dambach-la-Ville (Alsace, France)","authors":"Florent Jodry, Marion Delloul, Christophe Croutsch, P. Duringer, G. Fronteau","doi":"10.2218/jls.3090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3090","url":null,"abstract":"A preventive archaeological excavation carried out in 2012 at Dambach-la-Ville (Bas-Rhin, France) uncovered a large Middle Neolithic settlement (Upper Rhine West Bischheim group) dating from the second half of the 5th millennium BCE. The site comprised a very large assemblage of well-dated macrolithic tools (more than 600). Grinding stones, including about roughouts, make up the bulk of the assemblage. Morphological analyses indicate that certain types of use-wear are linked directly to specific types of rock. The variety of rock types is unusual for this period. In fact, contrary to other assemblages from the same period mainly made up of Lower Triassic sandstone (Vosges sandstone; 43%), the tools fashioned on this settlement are mostly made from sedimentary rocks of the Permian and Lower Triassic (possible sources at 15 km), and more rarely from plutonic and metamorphic rocks (possible sources between 5 and 15 km). The use of rough textured rocks such as arkosic sandstone or microconglomerate largely dominating the assemblage. This one also includes a large group of hammerstones from different rock types (sedimentary, plutonic, volcanic and metamorphic). More than half are silicified micritic limestones, a rock that is extremely rare and can be unambiguously traced to a single outcrop about 15 kilometres from the site. This systematic interdisciplinary study of the tools and their petrography offers the opportunity to explore questions regarding provenance and procurement networks in Alsace around 4150 BCE.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43277766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolution and function of the Chinese carved horse hitching stone post","authors":"Ke Bai","doi":"10.2218/jls.3077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3077","url":null,"abstract":"This article focuses on a typical artefact in Mainland China: carved stone horse hitching posts and their distribution, history, types, and cultural meaning. It tries to interpret their evolution and the relationship between their functional and social change. This type of post was made exclusively for tying horses, from the Han Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty (approximately 1st-13th century CE). Initially, posts were a practical tool used for simply tying horses, with no added symbolism. Later, the stone posts were carved with many decorative patterns. In the 1980’s, tens of thousands of stone posts were rediscovered next to gates of rural residential houses and seldom in cities. Both archaeologists and artists try to organize this sequence and interpret the symbolism. Patterns used on the posts, originating from fairy tales, religion and life, have different meanings. Nowadays because of the beautiful patterns and implied meaning, the posts were transported to cities and collected by museums, universities, parks and artefact shops. A collection of stone posts was put together and merged into the roadside landscape. The posts are treated as an antiquity and as a symbol of culture, art and taste. The function and symbolism of Chinese carved stone hitching post changed with the development of agriculture and transportation. Some of its original functions vanished, and the value changed from a practical implement to a standard of wealth, good taste and culture.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42298521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}