Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1007/s10816-026-09762-8
Marko Porčić, Mihailo Radinović, Marija Krečković Gavrilović
{"title":"Validating Pottery Seriation with Radiocarbon Dates: Relative and Absolute Chronology of the Early Bronze Age Necropolis in Mokrin","authors":"Marko Porčić, Mihailo Radinović, Marija Krečković Gavrilović","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09762-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09762-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"103 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146070234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-24DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09760-2
Mark Golitko, David M. Grogan
Buffer zones, areas unoccupied due to conflict between social collectives, have been theorized to indicate the existence of population pressure as a motivator for conflict in small-scale subsistence economies. Using a database of ethnographic and historical buffer zones, we show that buffer zone width is primarily influenced by population density and not by ecology or subsistence mode, suggesting that security concerns primarily account for buffer zone dynamics. Buffer zones may still contribute to resource imbalances, however. Buffer zones appear to be most effective in the context of inter-community raiding but may also be used more deliberately by states to monitor the movement of people or defend against internal or other non-state actors. Archaeologists should therefore expect them to exist under certain conditions of ancient conflict. However, identifying buffer zones in the archaeological record is challenging. We review a variety of approaches to examining ancient buffer zones, including using population estimates to model the plausible size of ancient buffer zones.
{"title":"Buffer Zones, Population, Ecology, and Conflict: Ethnological Modeling and Archaeological Implications","authors":"Mark Golitko, David M. Grogan","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09760-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09760-2","url":null,"abstract":"Buffer zones, areas unoccupied due to conflict between social collectives, have been theorized to indicate the existence of population pressure as a motivator for conflict in small-scale subsistence economies. Using a database of ethnographic and historical buffer zones, we show that buffer zone width is primarily influenced by population density and not by ecology or subsistence mode, suggesting that security concerns primarily account for buffer zone dynamics. Buffer zones may still contribute to resource imbalances, however. Buffer zones appear to be most effective in the context of inter-community raiding but may also be used more deliberately by states to monitor the movement of people or defend against internal or other non-state actors. Archaeologists should therefore expect them to exist under certain conditions of ancient conflict. However, identifying buffer zones in the archaeological record is challenging. We review a variety of approaches to examining ancient buffer zones, including using population estimates to model the plausible size of ancient buffer zones.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"397 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1007/s10816-026-09763-7
B. Jacob Skousen
Pilgrimage centers are persistent places due in part to spiritual magnetism, defined as the power of a place of pilgrimage to attract devotees. In most studies, scholars claim that humans confer spiritual magnetism on pilgrimage centers based on events or cultural, social, or historical factors associated with a center. Here I contend that spiritual magnetism comes from the atmospheres that emerge at a center due to assemblages of humans, places, materials, objects, substances, and more. To demonstrate this, I explore how the intersection of the natural landscape, water, and human bodies at the Marian pilgrimage center at Lourdes, France, generates affects and atmospheres that have and continue to attract pilgrims. From this perspective, spiritual magnetism can be studied archaeologically and can help archaeologists better grasp the importance of pilgrimage centers throughout history. To show how archaeologists might examine spiritual magnetism at ancient pilgrimage centers, I conclude by discussing spiritual magnetism at the Emerald Acropolis, a precontact Native American pilgrimage center associated with the eleventh century city of Cahokia.
{"title":"Pilgrimage Centers as Persistent Places: Spiritual Magnetism, Affects, and Atmospheres","authors":"B. Jacob Skousen","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09763-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09763-7","url":null,"abstract":"Pilgrimage centers are persistent places due in part to spiritual magnetism, defined as the power of a place of pilgrimage to attract devotees. In most studies, scholars claim that humans confer spiritual magnetism on pilgrimage centers based on events or cultural, social, or historical factors associated with a center. Here I contend that spiritual magnetism comes from the atmospheres that emerge at a center due to assemblages of humans, places, materials, objects, substances, and more. To demonstrate this, I explore how the intersection of the natural landscape, water, and human bodies at the Marian pilgrimage center at Lourdes, France, generates affects and atmospheres that have and continue to attract pilgrims. From this perspective, spiritual magnetism can be studied archaeologically and can help archaeologists better grasp the importance of pilgrimage centers throughout history. To show how archaeologists might examine spiritual magnetism at ancient pilgrimage centers, I conclude by discussing spiritual magnetism at the Emerald Acropolis, a precontact Native American pilgrimage center associated with the eleventh century city of Cahokia.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145961872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-17DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09756-y
Raven Garvey, Ian Beggen, Rocky Brockway, Christopher Morgan, Shannon Tushingham, Robert Bettinger
The adoption and spread of bow and arrow technology in North America reflect a complex interplay of ecological and social factors: While environmental variables such as wood availability and prey diversity/behavior were surely important, demographic and cultural variables—including population size, density, and connectivity; cultural transmission processes; and social dynamics—were equally or more influential. Parsing the relative effects of these factors and understanding interactions among them requires a clear view of the timing and nature of bow use across North America’s diverse geography. This paper makes two primary contributions to our understanding of the bow’s adoption in North America. Firstly, we present evidence for the bow’s earliest appearance, use in conjunction with other projectile technologies, and effects on economic and other systems in the North American Arctic, Pacific Northwest and Plateau, California and the Great Basin, Southwest, and Southeast. Secondly, we present a novel model of technological investment (uptake) that considers the effects of transmission agents’ social roles: Whether agents are craft specialists or do-it-yourself tool producers–users affects rates of adoption, a finding with global implications demonstrated here through regional case studies. We conclude that adoption depends not just on the bow’s inherent utility but on how tools are produced, shared, used, and valued in different economic systems.
{"title":"Bow and Arrow Technology in North America","authors":"Raven Garvey, Ian Beggen, Rocky Brockway, Christopher Morgan, Shannon Tushingham, Robert Bettinger","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09756-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09756-y","url":null,"abstract":"The adoption and spread of bow and arrow technology in North America reflect a complex interplay of ecological and social factors: While environmental variables such as wood availability and prey diversity/behavior were surely important, demographic and cultural variables—including population size, density, and connectivity; cultural transmission processes; and social dynamics—were equally or more influential. Parsing the relative effects of these factors and understanding interactions among them requires a clear view of the timing and nature of bow use across North America’s diverse geography. This paper makes two primary contributions to our understanding of the bow’s adoption in North America. Firstly, we present evidence for the bow’s earliest appearance, use in conjunction with other projectile technologies, and effects on economic and other systems in the North American Arctic, Pacific Northwest and Plateau, California and the Great Basin, Southwest, and Southeast. Secondly, we present a novel model of technological investment (uptake) that considers the effects of transmission agents’ social roles: Whether agents are craft specialists or do-it-yourself tool producers–users affects rates of adoption, a finding with global implications demonstrated here through regional case studies. We conclude that adoption depends not just on the bow’s inherent utility but on how tools are produced, shared, used, and valued in different economic systems.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145770646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09757-x
Olivier Scancarello, Cristina Lemorini, Alain Queffelec, Tarek Ben Fraj, Héla Mekki, Andrea Zupancich, Nabiha Aouadi, Emanuele Cancellieri
Several syn and post-depositional processes are responsible for different degrees of site and assemblage formation and disturbance. Understanding the processes that lead to archaeological site formation is essential for interpreting past human activities, settlement patterns, and occupation dynamics. Among these processes, water flow is commonly recognized as a major factor influencing site and assemblage formation and integrity. Lithic taphonomy can add valuable information to the understanding of these natural processes. To better evaluate how different flint types react to both mechanical and chemical stresses, we carried out controlled and sequential experiments on knapped flint artifact replicas. These were realized on two different flint varieties, recognized in the archaeological assemblage of a Middle Stone Age open-air site located at Wadi Lazalim (Southern Tunisia). Our methodological framework is based on a sequential tumbling experiment that simulates the remobilization of artifacts by water. The resulting post-depositional surface modifications (PDSM) were observed and recorded. In addition, a sample of flint replicas underwent chemical alteration in a controlled environment, allowing us to document and measure both patina formation and changes in surface roughness. These experimental results were then compared with a sample of archaeological materials, providing the basis for a preliminary and exploratory hypothesis concerning the taphonomic processes at the site. Here, we observed that most of the alterations appear to be linked to patina formation, whose variable degree and kind are more strongly correlated with differences in raw material texture rather than to the co-occurrence of artefacts from different chronological spans.
{"title":"Differential Taphonomic Behavior of Flint Types: Experimental Insights and Implications for the Middle Stone Age Assemblages of Wadi Lazalim in the Northern Sahara (Kebili, Tunisia)","authors":"Olivier Scancarello, Cristina Lemorini, Alain Queffelec, Tarek Ben Fraj, Héla Mekki, Andrea Zupancich, Nabiha Aouadi, Emanuele Cancellieri","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09757-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09757-x","url":null,"abstract":"Several syn and post-depositional processes are responsible for different degrees of site and assemblage formation and disturbance. Understanding the processes that lead to archaeological site formation is essential for interpreting past human activities, settlement patterns, and occupation dynamics. Among these processes, water flow is commonly recognized as a major factor influencing site and assemblage formation and integrity. Lithic taphonomy can add valuable information to the understanding of these natural processes. To better evaluate how different flint types react to both mechanical and chemical stresses, we carried out controlled and sequential experiments on knapped flint artifact replicas. These were realized on two different flint varieties, recognized in the archaeological assemblage of a Middle Stone Age open-air site located at Wadi Lazalim (Southern Tunisia). Our methodological framework is based on a sequential tumbling experiment that simulates the remobilization of artifacts by water. The resulting post-depositional surface modifications (PDSM) were observed and recorded. In addition, a sample of flint replicas underwent chemical alteration in a controlled environment, allowing us to document and measure both patina formation and changes in surface roughness. These experimental results were then compared with a sample of archaeological materials, providing the basis for a preliminary and exploratory hypothesis concerning the taphonomic processes at the site. Here, we observed that most of the alterations appear to be linked to patina formation, whose variable degree and kind are more strongly correlated with differences in raw material texture rather than to the co-occurrence of artefacts from different chronological spans.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145759569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09751-3
Younghee Noh, Seok Kim
{"title":"A Comparative Study of Hierarchical Significance Based on the Size and Terrain Elevation of Dolmens and Network Centrality: Focusing on Dolmens in Asan-myeon, Gochang County (Korea)","authors":"Younghee Noh, Seok Kim","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09751-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09751-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145717872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-09DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09755-z
Nicolò Fasser, Federica Fontana
This paper examines the microburin blow method and its impact on geometric microliths production during the Early Mesolithic. Through experimentation, a novel analytical framework was developed, combining a high- and a low-magnification analysis of a large sample of microburins. This approach enabled both the identification and description of combinations of micro-, meso-, and macroscopic features diagnostic of diverse microburin blow techniques and provided valuable insight into the variability of production modalities of Sauveterrian geometrics, i.e. the number of microliths and microburins obtainable from a single blank. Furthermore, this research extends beyond the experimental realm, examining an assemblage of microburins from SU 8 of Mondeval de Sora (San Vito, N-E Italy), for which two new radiocarbon dates are reported here, providing a more precise chrono-cultural attribution of its occupation. Such an analysis revealed the application of one specific microburin blow technique applied by the Sauveterrian inhabitants of the site. At the same time, a meticulous technological study of a representative sample of geometrics was performed, enhancing our understanding of the chaîne opératoire involving their production. The results of this study represent a major advance for the interpretation of the microburin blow method and its role in Mesolithic armatures production, contributing to a richer characterisation of the Sauveterrian technical traditions.
本文研究了中石器时代早期的微烧法及其对几何微石器生产的影响。通过实验，开发了一种新的分析框架，结合了对大量微烧伤样品的高倍率和低倍率分析。这种方法能够识别和描述各种微烧伤技术的微观、中观和宏观特征的组合，并提供了有价值的见解，了解索氏几何的生产模式的可变性，即从单个空白中获得的微岩屑和微烧伤的数量。此外，这项研究超越了实验领域，研究了Mondeval de Sora（意大利东北部圣维托）SU 8的微烧伤组合，报告了两个新的放射性碳年代，为其占领提供了更精确的时间文化属性。这样的分析揭示了该遗址的sauveterran居民使用的一种特定的微烧伤技术。同时，对具有代表性的几何样品进行了细致的技术研究，提高了我们对cha ne opsamatoire的理解。这项研究的结果代表了对微燃器吹击方法及其在中石器时代电枢生产中的作用的解释的重大进展，有助于更丰富地描述索维特人的技术传统。
{"title":"Exploring the “Microburin Blow”: An Insight into the Variability of the Microburin Blow Method for the Production of Sauveterrian Geometrics in the Site of Mondeval de Sora (N-E, Italy)","authors":"Nicolò Fasser, Federica Fontana","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09755-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09755-z","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the microburin blow method and its impact on geometric microliths production during the Early Mesolithic. Through experimentation, a novel analytical framework was developed, combining a high- and a low-magnification analysis of a large sample of microburins. This approach enabled both the identification and description of combinations of micro-, meso-, and macroscopic features diagnostic of diverse microburin blow techniques and provided valuable insight into the variability of production modalities of Sauveterrian geometrics, <jats:italic>i.e.</jats:italic> the number of microliths and microburins obtainable from a single blank. Furthermore, this research extends beyond the experimental realm, examining an assemblage of microburins from SU 8 of Mondeval de Sora (San Vito, N-E Italy), for which two new radiocarbon dates are reported here, providing a more precise chrono-cultural attribution of its occupation. Such an analysis revealed the application of one specific microburin blow technique applied by the Sauveterrian inhabitants of the site. At the same time, a meticulous technological study of a representative sample of geometrics was performed, enhancing our understanding of the <jats:italic>chaîne opératoire</jats:italic> involving their production. The results of this study represent a major advance for the interpretation of the microburin blow method and its role in Mesolithic armatures production, contributing to a richer characterisation of the Sauveterrian technical traditions.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"134 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145703864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-08DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09753-1
Robert S. Weiner
{"title":"Processing Into the Past: The Chaco South Road as a Multi-Century Religious Corridor","authors":"Robert S. Weiner","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09753-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09753-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145697000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-29DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09752-2
Carolina Cucart-Mora, Diego Lombao, Antonio Pineda, Bruno Boemke, Beniamino Mecozzi, Marie-Hélène Moncel
{"title":"The First Occupations of Western Europe: Dispersals and Population Dynamics in the Early to Middle Pleistocene","authors":"Carolina Cucart-Mora, Diego Lombao, Antonio Pineda, Bruno Boemke, Beniamino Mecozzi, Marie-Hélène Moncel","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09752-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09752-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"197 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145613707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-24DOI: 10.1007/s10816-025-09754-0
David Nora, Ariel Malinsky-Buller, Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan, Ellery Frahm
The study of retouching, reshaping, and rejuvenation in lithic technology has traditionally focused on finished tools, overlooking the byproducts of these processes, particularly microdebitage. This emphasis has led to an incomplete understanding of the dynamic behaviours associated with tool maintenance and a lack of crucial information about prehistoric technological strategies. In this study, we address this knowledge gap. Specifically, we introduce a classification system for lithic byproducts resulting from retouching, reshaping, and rejuvenation techniques, categorising them into five modules (M0 through M4) based on lithic technological analysis. This methodology integrates the chaîne opératoire approach to analyse flakes without size thresholds. To demonstrate our approach, we apply it to lithic assemblages from two Middle Palaeolithic sites in Armenia, Kalavan 2 and Ararat-1 Cave. This enables a precise reconstruction of tool use-life and, in turn, the maintenance strategies of Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. Our findings demonstrate that microdebitage (byproducts) can contribute to a holistic view of decision-making, revealing patterns in tool maintenance and raw material provisioning. The module system provides insights on ‘ghost tools’ i., e., tools that are no longer present in the archaeological record, as well as curation behaviours and economic decisions regarding raw materials that were previously difficult to discern. By shifting the focus from finished artefacts to byproducts, this framework enhances our ability to interpret lithic assemblages and understand the adaptive strategies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.
传统上，对岩屑技术的修饰、重塑和再生的研究主要集中在成品工具上，而忽略了这些过程的副产品，特别是微碎屑。这种强调导致了对与工具维护相关的动态行为的不完整理解，以及对史前技术策略的关键信息的缺乏。在这项研究中，我们解决了这一知识差距。具体来说，我们介绍了一个由润饰、重塑和年轻化技术产生的岩屑副产物的分类系统，根据岩屑技术分析将其分为五个模块（M0到M4）。该方法集成了cha ne opsamatoire方法来分析没有尺寸阈值的薄片。为了证明我们的方法，我们将其应用于亚美尼亚两个中期旧石器时代遗址Kalavan 2和Ararat-1洞穴的石器组合。这使我们能够精确地重建工具的使用寿命，进而了解更新世狩猎采集者的维护策略。我们的研究结果表明，微负债（副产品）有助于整体决策，揭示工具维护和原材料供应的模式。模块系统提供了对“幽灵工具”的见解，即不再存在于考古记录中的工具，以及关于以前难以辨别的原材料的管理行为和经济决策。通过将焦点从成品人工制品转移到副产品，该框架增强了我们解释石器组合和理解史前狩猎采集者适应策略的能力。
{"title":"Snakes and Ladders: A technological approach to tool maintenance byproducts using module flake categories","authors":"David Nora, Ariel Malinsky-Buller, Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan, Ellery Frahm","doi":"10.1007/s10816-025-09754-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09754-0","url":null,"abstract":"The study of retouching, reshaping, and rejuvenation in lithic technology has traditionally focused on finished tools, overlooking the byproducts of these processes, particularly microdebitage. This emphasis has led to an incomplete understanding of the dynamic behaviours associated with tool maintenance and a lack of crucial information about prehistoric technological strategies. In this study, we address this knowledge gap. Specifically, we introduce a classification system for lithic byproducts resulting from retouching, reshaping, and rejuvenation techniques, categorising them into five modules (M0 through M4) based on lithic technological analysis. This methodology integrates the <jats:italic>chaîne opératoire</jats:italic> approach to analyse flakes without size thresholds. To demonstrate our approach, we apply it to lithic assemblages from two Middle Palaeolithic sites in Armenia, Kalavan 2 and Ararat-1 Cave. This enables a precise reconstruction of tool use-life and, in turn, the maintenance strategies of Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. Our findings demonstrate that microdebitage (byproducts) can contribute to a holistic view of decision-making, revealing patterns in tool maintenance and raw material provisioning. The module system provides insights on ‘ghost tools’ i., e., tools that are no longer present in the archaeological record, as well as curation behaviours and economic decisions regarding raw materials that were previously difficult to discern. By shifting the focus from finished artefacts to byproducts, this framework enhances our ability to interpret lithic assemblages and understand the adaptive strategies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"112 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145583338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：