Naslov
On Microliths in Middle Palaeolithic: Start from scratch. Discussing problems and perspectives looking at shared taxonomies

Autori
Romagnoli, Francesca ; Ciesla, Magda ; Elefanti, Paraskevi ; Mihailović, Dušan ; Pereira, Telmo ; Stefański, Damian ; Valde-Nowak, Paweł ; Vukosavljević, Nikola ; Mester, Zsolt

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, prošireni sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Hugo Obermaier Society 64th Annual Meeting in Aarhus / Floss, Harald ; Tafelmaier, Yvonne ; Adaileh, Amira ; Rivals, Florent ; Weber, Mara ; Weiß, Marcel - Erlangen : Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft für Erforschung des Eiszeitalters und der Steinzeit e.V. c/o Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2023, 88-89

ISBN
978-3-946387-51-0

Skup
Hugo Obermaier Society 64th Annual Meeting in Aarhus

Mjesto i datum
Århus, Danska, 11.04.2023. - 15.04.2023

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Middle Palaeolithic, lithic technology, microlithic tools

Sažetak
The microlithic component in Eurasian Pleistocene stone tool assemblages has been identified as a relevant part of technological behaviours just recently. Traditionally the small component of pre-sapiens lithic assemblages was systematically classified into the category of “knapping waste/debris”. These tools are usually unretouched, so not easily identifiable as searched tools according to traditional criteria in lithic morpho-technical studies and, as a result, assumed not to be informative about past human behaviours. The first works that allowed archaeologists to identify tiny lithic items as tools by ancient hominins were mainly focused on use-wear analysis (recognising that they were used in meat-cutting activities since Lower Palaeolithic, Barkai et al., 2010), and refitting (showing a flexible character of Middle Palaeolithic stone tool production, systematically fragmented in the spatial, temporal, and social domains, Turq et al. 2013). Reanalysis of Eurasian assemblages was favoured by the identification of small implements in the African records (ESA, MSA, and LSA). Furthermore, micro-artefacts have been showed to be more frequently attested in their original location of use and in primary activity areas being charged of a special value for archaeologists when it comes to identifying and interpreting cultural aspects looking at the spatial distribution in hunter-gatherers’ campsites (Hull, 1987). In the last decade several papers have showed the widespread production of small items that are currently known as a basic component of Middle Palaeolithic technology (e.g., Borel at al., 2017 ; Romagnoli et al., 2022). However, these studies also clearly showed that, in some cases, these small tools were part of the transported toolkit. Thus, they can be related to a huge diversity of economic and mobility strategies. These include anticipated task planning, in-situ expedient production of effective cutting edges, exploitation of lower quality resources, or different manufacture procedures. Still, microlithisation of core knapping, exploitation of core-on-flake, bipolar production, recycling, etc. and the multiplicity of behaviours related to them are not necessarily mutually exclusive. While the issue of microliths in Middle Palaeolithic is currently a cutting edge in human evolution studies, it is still looked through a blurry lens because of the lack of clear definitions. One problem concerns the length or weight threshold that small items should have and the use of the generic label “microstuff” that impede to understand the specific contribution of these productions as cultural component in regional groups. Another problem concerns their role in hominins daily lifeways at different temporal and spatial scales of analysis, their possible integration in the technological and social organisation of the human groups. In this presentation we briefly consider these problems through some archaeological examples on which we are working. They converge on showing this variability within micro-productions studies in Middle Palaeolithic and current limitations to their understanding. We also discuss some proprietary aspects in relation to taxonomy and technology, as well as possible pathways to further investigate this issue. This paper is a first step to build a collective, collaborative project to investigate Middle Palaeolithic microproduction with a more focused look.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Arheologija

POVEZANOST RADA