Stone tool

Abstract: The Oldowan Stone tool industry was named for 1.8-million-year-old (Myr) artefacts found near the bottom of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Subsequent archaeological research in the Omo (Ethiopia) and Turkana (Kenya) also yielded stone tools dated to 2.3 Myr. Palaeoanthropological investigations in the Hadar region of the Awash Valley of Ethiopia1, revealed Oldowan assemblages in the adjacent Gona River drainage2. We conducted field work in the Gona study area of Ethiopia between 1992 and 1994 which resulted in additional archaeological discoveries as well as radio-isotopic age control and a magnetic polarity stratigraphy of the Gona sequence. These occurrences are now securely dated between 2.6–2.5 Myr. The stone tools are thus the oldest known artefacts from anywhere in the world. The artefacts show surprisingly sophisticated control of stone fracture mechanics, equivalent to much younger Oldowan assemblages of Early Pleistocene age. This indicates an unexpectedly long period of technological stasis in the Oldowan.

Abstract: 1. A brief introduction to lithic analysis 2. Basics of stone tool production 3. Lithic raw materials 4. Getting started in lithic analysis: identification and classification 5. Flake debitage attributes 6. Approaches to debitage analysis 7. Approaches to stone tool analysis 8. Artifact diversity and site function 9. Lithic analysis and prehistoric sedentism 10. Concluding remarks.

Abstract: Acknowledgments 1 Introduction Using This Book Learning to Knap 2 Flintknapping: Basic Principles Flintknapping Conchoidal Fracture Properties of Material Flakes and Cores 3 A Brief History of Flintknapping Prehistory of Stone Tools Recent "Stone-Age" People Modern Knapping Further Readings Other Resources: Finding Other Knappers 4 Raw Materials Stone Quality Stone Materials Heat-Treating Collecting Material: Ethical and Practical Considerations 5 Safety Proper Technique Eyes Hands Other Body Parts Lungs Waste Disposal Benefits 6 Hard-Hammer Percussion Material and Equipment Percussion-Flaking Principles: An Experiment Percussion Flaking Platforms The Face of the Core Terminations Curvature Starting a Core Summary: Nine Essentials Examples 7 Pressure Flaking Tools Raw Material First Principles Working Position Beginning Platform Preparation Thinning Notching Other Pressure-Flaking Techniques Summary: Six Essentials Application: Small Triangular Points from the Southwest Pressure-Flaking Problems Patterned Pressure Flaking 8 Soft-Hammer Percussion and Bifaces Definitions Tools Beginning Soft-Hammer Principles and Results Biface Thinning Flakes Fracture Theories The Blow Platforms Biface Stages Knapping Strategy and Other Considerations Example: A Basic Biface Biface Problems: Prehistoric Mistakes Summary 9 Blades and Fluting Blades Platforms Holding Punches The Blow Fluting Example: Fluted Point 10 Using Stone Tools Stone vs Steel Edges and Cutting Making a Projectile Foreshaft Going On 11 Archaeological Analysis of Stone Tools Typology Stone Tool Types and Change through Time What People Did with Stones Sources of Variation: Why Stone Tools Are Not All Alike Analyzing Stone Tool Materials Technology and What It Tells Us Figuring Out Function Questions of Style Conclusions Appendix: Resources for Knappers References Index

Abstract: The origins and evolution of modern humans has been the dominant interest in palaeoanthropology for the last decade, and much archaeological interpretation has been structured around the various issues associated with whether humans have a recent African origin or a more ancient one. While the archaeological record has been used to support or refute various aspects of the theories, and to provide a behavioural framework for different biological models, there has been little attempt to employ the evidence of stone tool technology to unravel phylogenetic relationships. Here we examine the evidence that the evolution of modern humans is integrally related to the development of the Upper Palaeolithic and similar technologies, and conclude that there is only a weak relationship. In contrast there is a strong association between the evolution and spread of modern humans and Grahame Clark's Mode 3 technologies (the Middle Stone Age/Palaeolithic). The implications of this for the evolution of Neanderthals, the multiple pattern of human dispersals, and the nature of cognitive evolution, are considered.