arch. lecture 3 Flashcards
1
Q
Stone Tools: The Earliest Indications of Material Culture
A
Tools can be made of made of stone, wood, bone, antler, skin, bark, leaves, etc., but stone tools are by far the most likely to be preserved from all periods, since they are resistant to destruction.
2
Q
Culture
A
- Culture: The system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning (Bates and Plog 1976).
- culture is one of the major behavioural traits which sets humans apart from other animals is the variety and frequency of our manufacture and use of tools, and our dependence on them.
- culture is the primary avenue through which humans adapt to their environment
3
Q
The Basics: Flaked Stone Tools
A
- based on fracture, not ground or “carved”
- requires homogeneous material with no natural grain – e.g. flint, obsidian
- when force is applied, a flake is detached from the core
- area on the core from which flake was removed is the “flake scar”
- either the core or the flake is used to produce a tool (“core tool” vs. “flake tool”)
- platform – the point of impact where the flake is detached from the core
- cortex - original exterior of stone core
4
Q
Percussion vs. Pressure Flaking | Flaked Stone Tools
A
- percussion flaking: the removal of flakes by impact
- pressure flaking: removal of flakes by pressing, rather than striking
5
Q
Direct vs. Indirect Percussion | Flaked Stone Tools
A
- indirect percussion: hammer strikes punch, which is placed against core
- direct percussion: hammer strikes core
- earliest manufacturing techniques used direct percussion, using three main techniques:
- hand-held hammerstone
- bipolar technique
- throwing
6
Q
Retouch | Flaked Stone Tools
A
additional flaking along the edge of a flake to alter the shape, making it into a tool.
7
Q
Oldowan Tool Tradition
A
- the earliest well-described stone tool tradition.
- 2.6-1.8MYA in Africa
- simple artifacts; four types:
- manuports: pieces of rock transported but not modified.
- hammerstones: rocks battered or pitted.
- core tools: pebbles and rock fragments from which flakes have been struck.
- most likely used for heavy-duty butchering and marrow bone breakage.
- flakes: thin flakes of rock struck from cores.
- early archaeologists thought flakes were waste, but now it’s clear that flakes were the most heavily used tools.
8
Q
Function of Stone Tools
A
function of stone tools is determined by:
- context; e.g. found with animal bones at kill site.
- use wear; microscopic analysis of damange on the edge of the tool from use.
- experiment; flakes are particularly good for cutting through hide since they’re very sharp.
9
Q
Who Made the Earliest Tools?
A
-
Homo habilis (2.3-1.6 MYA)
- one locality at Olduvai - Homo habilis found with Oldowan tools
- must have produced many of the tools
- Robust australopithecines - around at the same time.
- robust australopithecine had hands capable of precision grip
- most likely some stone tools made by both Homo and Australopithecus, but perhaps more frequently by early Homo
- stone tool production is correlated with large brain, reduced jaws, increased meat eating
10
Q
Bone Tools | H. habilis Behaviour
A
- Earliest definite bone tools are found in South Africa and at Olduvai Gorge, after 2 MYA.
- simply chunks of bone with polish, possibly used to dig in the ground for plant foods
11
Q
Subsistence | Homo habilis Behaviour
A
- No good evidence for use of fire at this time
- No good evidence for structures.
East Africa – many sites with fairly tight clusters of bones and stone tools
- early – thought to be clear “home bases” where meat was brought and shared.
- however, in many cases both hominids and carnivores were present
- likely explanation: these sites were originally clusters of shade trees to which many different species were drawn
12
Q
Ecological Niche | H. habilis Behaviour
A
- importance of plant vs. animal foods not clear
- but - no doubt that these hominids were processing bones and eating meat to a greater extent than chimps, or australopithecines
13
Q
Hunting or Scavenging? | H. habilis Behaviour
A
- scavenging may have been important, especially for marrow-rich bones which other carnivores could not easily use
- experiments have shown that core tools are useful for marrow acquisition
How can we test for hunting vs. scavenging?
- Look at cutmarks vs. carnivore tooth marks:
- 13 bones have been found with both cutmarks and carnivore tooth marks
- 8 - tooth marks on top (hominid hunted)
- 5 - cut marks on top (hominid scavenged)
- therefore, probably both hunting and scavenging
14
Q
Homo habilis Summary
A
- the first members of our genus - Homo - developed tool-making abilities and underwent some physical changes
- all can be attributed to a very new ecological niche - meat-eaters
- most likely - primarily scavenged meat, but also foraged for a wide variety of plant foods and hunted small animals when possible
- Oldowan assemblages are remarkably uniform through time and space – not much development over time
15
Q
Out of Africa: H. erectus and H. ergaster
A
- from 1.8 MYA to 200 KYA
- bigger brain, robust skeleton, human type nose, emphasis on front teeth - extreme exertion, meat eating, hunting or scavenging
- Homo erectus anatomy changes very little over time and space.
- Probably the first hominin out of Africa. Spread to:
- all of Africa
- much of southern and central Europe, based on stone tools
- much of southern Asia, with Zhoukoudian being among the northernmost Chinese sites
