Design of Stone Tool Technology During The

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Design of Stone Tool Technology During The DESIGN OF STONE TOOL TECHNOLOGY DURING THE EARLY PERIOD (CA. 10,000-5,000 B.P.) AT NAMU, CENTRAL COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FARID RAHEMTULLA B.A., University of Alberta, 1985 M.A., University of Toronto, 1990 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 1995 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Archaeology O Farid Rahemtulla SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2006 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or by other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME: Farid Rahemtulla DEGREE: TITLE OF THESIS: Design of Stone Tool Technology During the Early Period (CA. 10,000 - 5,000 B.P.) at Namu, Central Coast of British Columbia EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chair: George Nicholas, Professor Roy Carlson. Professor Emeritus Senior Supervisor Phlip Hobler, Professor Emeritus Brian Hay den, Professor Martin Magne, Parks Canada Examiner Date Approved: Mav 12,2006 DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection, and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Abstract This dissertation centers around an examination of a chipped stone tool component dating to the Early Period (10,000 - 5,000 I4C BP) at the site of Namu, located on the central coast of British Columbia. The site is important for a number of reasons, the most notable of which is the incredible time depth and the volume of archaeological materials dating to the early Holocene. Given that there are very few known and well-excavated sites of similar age on the Northwest Coast, Namu provides an opportunity to glimpse into a time period that is poorly understood from an archaeological perspective. Prior to this research, studies on Early Period lithic materials have focused on important chronological and preliminary culture-historical concerns, but we still know little about the people behind the stone tools. Over the last four decades many researchers have been developing new theoretical and methodological perspectives for understanding stone tools. Most of this work has fallen under the approach termed Technological Organization. Under this conceptual umbrella there are a number of different approaches; one of the most useful is the study of stone tool design, subsumed under Design Theory. In general the goal is to try to understand the kinds of decisions made by ancient toolmakers in designing their stone technological systems, and the empirical effects of these decisions. Using this conceptual framework an analysis is performed on the stone tool assemblage from the Early Period at Namu. Unlike the Interior of British Columbia and many other parts of North America, the dominant raw materials used at Namu are unusually medium-grained igneous toolstones that are somewhat difficult to work with. Based on the overall exercise, settlement, mobility, raw materials, tasks and learning are perceived as critical factors in the design of the stone technologies at Namu. The analysis supports the notion that Namu was a sedentary or semi-sedentary settlement very early in its history, and that the inhabitants must have used watercraft in order to underwrite the organization of their flaked stone tool technologies. These results have repercussions for our understanding of coastal hunter-fisher-gatherer groups, and for theoretical models that posit the long-term development of Northwest Coast societies. Acknowledgements The completion of this research is in part due to the support of many individuals. My supervising committee has been instrumental in providing guidance and support through the tenure of this project. As senior supervisor, Dr. Roy Carlson gave me the opportunity to examine the Namu materials, and to be part of the 1994 field research at the site. His role has been critical to this research. Over the years Professor Philip Hobler has provided support in so many ways, I am only one of very many students who have benefited greatly from his extensive field and lab experience, and from his friendship. Although his formal role in the committee was internallexternal examiner, Dr. Brian Hayden has been inspirational in his wide-ranging work on lithics and on several other topics. Much of the conceptual basis of this dissertation is derived from his work. I also thank Dr. Martin Magne for serving as external examiner, and for forwarding pertinent publications through the years. Department chairs and other faculty members provided financial and general support: Jack Nance, Jon Driver, Knut Hadmark, Cathy D'Andrea, George Nicholas and Eldon Yellowhorn. The staff at the Department of Archaeology has always been very adept and helpful. Ingrid Nystrom, Ann Sullivan, Robyn Banerjee and Linda Przbyla helped me to navigate through the inevitable bureaucracy at SFU, which would otherwise be far more frustrating. The lab staff has been instrumental in facilitating several aspects of the research. Andrew Barton provided much needed help with equipment and facilities, sometimes even before I asked for it. Shannon Wood has also been generous with her time. The materials analyzed for this project were recovered under the auspices of field crews from the University of Colorado, and by students and staff of the Simon Fraser University 1977, 1978 and 1994 archaeology field schools. Without their efforts this research would not have been possible. The Heiltsuk People have also played a critical role in these projects; many community members provided expertise and/or were part of these field crews, including representation from the Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre under the direction of Jennifer Carpenter. They include but are not limited to: Carl Humchitt, Julie Carpenter, Gary Housty, Beth Humchitt, and Jessica Schooner (Humchitt). I also thank Scott Williams for conducting the important stone tool replicative work, Jim Stafford for helping to sort through the debitage tailings and Kate Cooke for constructing the maps. Over the years friendships were formed with several graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Archaeology, there are too many to list here but during the course of this dissertation a few stood out in their willingness to always discuss various aspects of Northwest Coast archaeology or help out in other ways: Tom Arnold, Duncan McLaren, Rudy Reimer, Mike Richards, Cameron Smith, and Jim Stafford. Other individuals provided assistance in other ways such as providing opportunities for fieldwork or collaboration. These include: Aubrey Cannon, Gary Coupland, Colin Grier, Alan McMillan, Denis St. Claire and Elroy White. Finally and most importantly I thank the Heiltsuk Peoples, on whose traditional territory this research is based. Many individuals from the community have been enormously helpful and supportive and I hope that this dissertation in some way contributes to a greater understanding and appreciation of Heiltsuk history. Table of Contents vii Chapter Four: Model for technological design and expectations-----------------------------. 108 List of Tables List of Figures Figure 13. Selection of flakes culled from the experimental sample .------------------------.169 Figure 17: Large unidirectional core.-------------. xii xiv xvi Figure 111. Namu core and non-debitage tool representation by period.------------------. 307 xvii Chapter 1: Introduction Anthropologists have long recognized the unique nature of aboriginal socio- political organization, subsistence, settlement and art styles on the Northwest Coast of North America. This region has been the focus of numerous studies conducted by ethnographers and ethno-historians during the last two centuries, and early European explorers and travelers also recorded information on the lifeways that they witnessed. First Nations in the region today retain much information regarding the ecology of the land as well as the lifeways of their ancestors through knowledge in oral histories. This wealth of information has been used to varying degrees by archaeologists, as an analogical tool in reconstructing indigenous lifeways of the last few thousand years. The well-known ethnographies and ethnohistories have played a pivotal role in the interpretation of archaeological materials from the most recent several thousand years. Thus, our knowledge of the more recent history of Northwest Coast peoples is continually expanding, but relatively little is known about lifeways during the early to middle Holocene time period. First Peoples are documented on the Northwest Coast by at least 10,000 14cyears ago and while there are some tantalizing oral histories that purportedly describe events as far back as the late Pleistocene (Harris 1997), such knowledge is not common within the academy.
Recommended publications
  • Lithic Technology, Human Evolution, and the Emergence of Culture
    Evolutionary Anthropology 109 ARTICLES On Stony Ground: Lithic Technology, Human Evolution, and the Emergence of Culture ROBERT FOLEY AND MARTA MIRAZO´ N LAHR Culture is the central concept of anthropology. Its centrality comes from the fact human evolution different and what it that all branches of the discipline use it, that it is in a way a shorthand for what is that it is necessary to explain. It is at makes humans unique, and therefore defines anthropology as a separate disci- once part of our biology and the thing pline. In recent years the major contributions to an evolutionary approach to that sets the limits on biological ap- culture have come either from primatologists mapping the range of behaviors, proaches and explanations. Just to among chimpanzees in particular, that can be referred to as cultural or “proto- add further confusion to the subject, it cultural”1,2 or from evolutionary theorists who have developed models to account is also that which is universally shared for the pattern and process of human cultural diversification and its impact on by all humans and, at the same time, human adaptation.3–5 the word used to demarcate differ- ences between human societies and groups. As if this were not enough for Theoretically and empirically, pa- that paleoanthropology can play in any hard-worked concept, it is both a leoanthropology has played a less the development of the science of cul- trait itself and also a process. When prominent role, but remains central to tural evolution. In particular, we want treated as a trait, culture can be con- the problem of the evolution of cul- to consider the way in which informa- sidered to be the trait or the means by ture.
    [Show full text]
  • Excavation of a Chimpanzee Stone Tool Site in the African Rainforest Julio Mercader Et Al
    R EPORTS References and Notes (VR) to M.J.W. The Greenland Home Rule Govern- support, and comments. ment generously provided permission to conduct 1. S. J. Mojzsis et al., Nature 384, 55 (1996). Supporting Online Material studies and collect samples from protected out- 2. A. P. Nutman, S. J. Mojzsis, C. R. L. Friend, Geochim. www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/ crops on Akilia. We also thank S. Moorbath, V. L. Cosmochim. Acta. 61, 2475 (1997). 5572/1448/DC1 Pease, L. L. S¿rensen, G. M. Young, B. S. Kamber, M. 3. S. J. Mojzsis, T. M. Harrison, Geol. Soc. Am. Today 10, table S1 1 (2000). Rosing, J. M. Hanchar, J. M. Bailey, R. Tracy, J. F. 4. C. F. Chyba, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 57, 3351 Lewis, and G. Goodfriend for helpful discussions, 29 January 2002; accepted 8 April 2002 (1993). 5. K. A. Maher, D. J. Stevenson, Nature 331, 612 (1988). 6. A. P. Nutman et al., Precambrian Res. 78, 1 (1996). 7. M. J. Whitehouse, B. S. Kamber, S. Moorbath, Chem. Excavation of a Chimpanzee Geol. 160, 201 (1999). 8. B. S. Kamber, S. Moorbath, Chem. Geol. 150,19 (1998). Stone Tool Site in the African 9. M. J. Whitehouse, B. S. Kamber, S. Moorbath, Chem. Geol. 175, 201 (2001). 10. V. R. McGregor, B. Mason, Am. Mineral. 62, 887 Rainforest (1977). 1 1 2 11. W. L. Griffin, V. R. McGregor, A. Nutman, P. N. Taylor, Julio Mercader, * Melissa Panger, Christophe Boesch D. Bridgwater, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 50,59 (1980). 12. J. S.
    [Show full text]
  • Durham E-Theses
    Durham E-Theses Neolithic and chalcolithic cultures in Turkish Thrace Erdogu, Burcin How to cite: Erdogu, Burcin (2001) Neolithic and chalcolithic cultures in Turkish Thrace, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3994/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk NEOLITHIC AND CHALCOLITHIC CULTURES IN TURKISH THRACE Burcin Erdogu Thesis Submitted for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. University of Durham Department of Archaeology 2001 Burcin Erdogu PhD Thesis NeoHthic and ChalcoHthic Cultures in Turkish Thrace ABSTRACT The subject of this thesis are the NeoHthic and ChalcoHthic cultures in Turkish Thrace. Turkish Thrace acts as a land bridge between the Balkans and Anatolia.
    [Show full text]
  • Prehistoric Lithic Technology} Workshops} and Chipping Stations in the Philippines
    Prehistoric Lithic Technology} Workshops} and Chipping Stations in the Philippines D. KYLE LATINIS THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS represent an important area for research of problems concerning prehistoric archaeology in Southeast Asia. These insular areas, located east of the biogeographic boundary known as Huxley's line, include a variety of tropical environments. These islands remained detached from the continental portion of Southeast Asia throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Archaeolog­ ical research has documented human occupation and adaptation from at least the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene within these islands. Unfortunately, relatively little intensive prehistoric archaeological research has been undertaken in the Philippines compared to some areas in mainland South­ east Asia, Oceania, and Australia. Warren Peterson's dissertation (1974) focused on a series of sites in northern Luzon and represents one of the foundation stud­ ies in the Philippines for modern archaeology. Peterson's work has often been cited and his conclusions used for the development of models concerning prehis­ tory in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Peterson's research was conducted during a period when behavioral reconstruc­ tions from site assemblage analyses were prominent in archaeological research. Specifically, Peterson attempted behavioral reconstruction from the analysis of stone tools from the Busibus/Pintu site in northern Luzon, Philippines. A reanal­ ysis of the entire Busibus/Pintu lithic assemblage has revealed problems with Peterson's initial analysis and interpretation of this site-problems that will be addressed in this paper. Lithic technology, stone tool manufacture, and selection and reduction strategies will also be explored. Finally, new interpretations of the nature of the lithic assemblage and site activities at Busibus/Pintu rock shelter will be provided.
    [Show full text]
  • Archaeology Activity Pack
    Archaeology activity pack Primary KS2 Stone Age to Iron Age 1 All images and content © Museum of London 2015. This sheet is designed to be edited by teachers. The museum cannot take responsibility for edited content. How does archaeology help us understand what life was like in prehistory? This series of activities looks at how archaeologists record and interpret objects to inform our understanding about life in the past. Pupils will: use clues to sort artefacts into categories consider how and why an archaeologist records accurately where things are found use images of artefacts to think about how groups of objects can give us information about the past suggest reasons why some of our activities leave traces when others do not consolidate prior learning about Stone Age hunter-gatherers understand that there were people living here before London existed. Activity 1 Sort it! Identifying different flint tools Activity 2 The archaeological jigsaw What can we learn from a group of objects? Activity 3 Case study: Three Ways Wharf Hunter-gatherers in Uxbridge Activity 4 Leaving traces Make a Stone Age tool Activity 5 Dig it! Archaeological dig record and field journal worksheets 2 All images and content © Museum of London 2015. This sheet is designed to be edited by teachers. The museum cannot take responsibility for edited content. Activity 1 Sort it! Identifying different flint tools Introduction Begin by showing your pupils a selection of brushes; a toothbrush, a dustpan and brush, a hairbrush, a paintbrush and a floor brush. Ask pupils: What do all these objects have in common? What is each one is used for? Although all the objects are brushes, they are all used to perform different tasks.
    [Show full text]
  • Revista De Arqueologia – Volume 27
    http://www.diva-portal.org This is the published version of a paper published in . Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Högberg, A. (2018) Approaches to children's knapping in lithic technology studies Revista de Arqueologia, 31(2): 58-74 https://doi.org/10.24885/sab.v31i2.613 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-79331 Recebido em: 09/09/2018 Aceito em: 10/10/2018 ART ICLE Anders Högberg* ABSTRACT This text gives an overview of how lithic technology studies have approached the topic of finding and interpreting the work of children in lithic assemblages. It focuses on examples from Scandinavian and European contexts. A selection of published studies is presented. Methods used in lithic technology studies and results from these studies are discussed. Achievements made and obstacles that still needs to be resolved by future research are discussed. Keywords: Children; Lithic; Assemblages. * Linnaeus University, School of Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Humanities, SE-391 82 Kalmar, Sweden. Centre for Anthropological Research, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa DOI: https://doi.org/10.24885/sab.v31 i2.613 ARTI GO RESUMO Este texto fornece uma visão geral de como os estudos de tecnologia lítica abordaram o tópico de encontrar e interpretar o trabalho de crianças em conjuntos líticos. Centra-se em exemplos de contextos escandinavos e europeus. Uma seleção de estudos publicados é apresentada.
    [Show full text]
  • Prehistoric ·Art of the Central Coast of British Columbia ROY L
    CHAPTER 7 Prehistoric ·Art of the Central Coast of British Columbia ROY L. CARLSON glance at any Northwest Coast art book attests firmly to the existence of a highly developed tradi­ A tion of painting and carving wood during the nineteenth century by the ancestors of the Bella Bella and Bella Coola peoples of the central coast of British Columbia. Similarly, examination of the journals of Sir Alexander Mackenzie and George Vancouver carries this tradition backward into the last decades of the eighteenth century. The reading of Mcllwraith's, The Bella Coo/a Indians (1948), or Boas', Mythology of the Bella Coo/a (1900b) and Bella Bella Tales (1932), provides some insights into the meaning of this art in the cultures which produced it. But what of the decades, centuries and millenia which preceded both the early explorers and the later ethnographers? What art was produced Fig. 7:1. Whalebone pendant resembling a rockfish from then? What techniques were employed and what styles the site of Namu dating to about 3,500 years ago. were produced? What was the meaning of this art and what were its historical relationships? This paper is directed toward answering these questions, even though in wood. At the bottom-the beginning of time for this in spite of the considerable archaeological research over part of the world-archaeological evidence comes from the last fourteen years, the data base is still very much a single component at the site of Namu (ElSx 1). The limited. assemblage from the basal levels of this site is a chipped stone industry with relationships to both the Pebble Tool Tradition and the Microblade Tradition (Ch.
    [Show full text]
  • Metate Re-Roughening, Pecking, Or Pounding?
    PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A REPLICATNE STUDY: METATE RE-ROUGHENING, PECKING, OR POUNDING? Dawn M. Reid and Mari A. Pritchard-Parker Department of Anthropology University of California Riverside, CA 92521 ABSTRACT This paper discusses the results of a replicative study on the roughening of milling equipment, specifically metates. The intent of the replication was to ascertain ifdiffering results were achieved when various percussor types were used to re-roughen a metate-like surface. Hammerstones prepared by flaking and unmodified cobbles were utilized. The results obtained in the replication were then compared with archaeological specimens in an attempt to determine more information as to the manufacturing and use behaviors associated with milling equipment. INTRODUCTION ment would be most efficiently accom­ plished with tools of different shapes and Stone metates or grinding stones have sizes, depending upon how much mass one long been a primary food processing tool for is trying to remove and where that mass is many agricultural as well as hunting and located. Where manufacture seeks to re­ gathering societies. Use of these imple­ move a relatively large amount ofmass, re­ ments to reduce both plant and animal ma­ roughening seeks to merely mar the grind­ terial has been well documented. When a ing surface to such a degree that it becomes metate is used in conjunction with a mano useful again. Identifying potential differ­ to grind foodstuffs, sharp edges are sheared ences in the types of tools used in the manu­ off ofthe metate surface and residues from facture and maintenance ofmilling imple­ the material being ground are deposited.
    [Show full text]
  • Prehistoric Diffusion of Pottery Innovations Among Hunter-Gatherers ⇑ Jelmer W
    UC Davis UC Davis Previously Published Works Title A tale of two technologies: Prehistoric diffusion of pottery innovations among hunter- gatherers Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3fn049zh Journal Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 35(1) ISSN 0278-4165 Authors Eerkens, JW Lipo, CP Publication Date 2014 DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2014.04.006 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 35 (2014) 23–31 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Anthropological Archaeology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaa A tale of two technologies: Prehistoric diffusion of pottery innovations among hunter-gatherers ⇑ Jelmer W. Eerkens a, , Carl P. Lipo b a University of California, Davis, United States b California State University, Long Beach, United States article info abstract Article history: We examine the diffusion of a successful and an unsuccessful innovation among hunter-gatherers in the Received 30 November 2012 western Great Basin, using a diffusion of innovation model. Modern and historical studies on the diffusion Revision received 11 April 2014 of innovations suggest that diffusion processes follow S-shaped curves, with small numbers of early Available online 13 May 2014 adopters, followed by more rapid uptick in the rate of diffusion as the majority adopt a technology, con- cluding again with small numbers of late-adopting laggards. Distributions of luminescence dates on sur- Keywords: face-collected pottery sherds show that the technology had a long period of experimentation. Beginning Diffusion of innovation about AD 1000, direct-rimmed pots were introduced in Southern Owens Valley and were used in small Pottery numbers over hundreds of years.
    [Show full text]
  • Glaciation (Oakley, 1950). Variations in the Proposed Beginning Dates
    EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN HAND AMD THE GREAT HAND-AXE TRADITION Grover S. Krantz The hand-axe is both the earliest and the longest persisting of standar- dized stone tools. They present a continuous history of one tool type from the first to the third interglacial periods, a span.of at least 200,000 years and perhaps as many as half a million. Equally remarkable is their geographical range which covers all of Africa, western Europe and southern Asia--fully half of-the then habitable Old Vorld. Aside from differences in the local stone that was utilized, hand-axes from this whole area are constructed on the same plan and show no clear regional typology. Other tool types occur with hand-axes: utilized flakes are found at all levels, and in the later half of the sequence there-are cleavers, ovates, trimmed flakes and spherical stone balls. Throughout the sequence, however, the basic design of the hand-axe continues with its intended formnapparently unchanged. We thus have a continuous record of man's attempts to produce a single type of 'implement over mst of his tool making history. (See Figure 1.) Recent discoveries of fossil man have made it increasingly evident that biological evolution of the human body was also in progress coincident with the development of ancient stone tool types. 'While the exact time of appearance of Homo siens is still in some dispute (see Stewart, 1950 and Oakley., 1957), it is no nowseriously maintained that the earliest tool makers necessarily approximated the modern or even the neanderthal morphologies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Archeological Heritage of Kansas
    THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF KANSAS A Synopsis of the Kansas Preservation Plan by John D. Reynolds and William B. Lees, Ph.D. Edited By Robert J. Hoard and Virginia Wulfkuhle funded in part by a grant from the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service KSHS Archeology Popular Report No. 7 Cultural Resources Division Kansas State Historical Society Topeka, Kansas 2004 1 Preface This document is a synopsis of the archeology section of the Kansas Preservation Plan, which was financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, a division of the United States Department of the Interior, and administered by the Kansas State Historical Society. The contents and opinions, however, do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the United States Department of the Interior or the Kansas State Historical Society. The Kansas Preservation Plan is a technical document that was developed for the Historic Preservation Department of the Kansas State Historical Society that is designed to provide the background for making informed decisions in preserving the state's heritage. The size and technical nature of the plan make it inaccessible to many who have interests or responsibilities in Kansas archeology. Thus, the following synopsis of the archeology sections of the Kansas Preservation Plan is designed as a non-technical, abbreviated introduction to Kansas archeology. William B. Lees and John D. Reynolds wrote the original version of this document in 1989. These two men were employed by the Kansas State Historical Society, respectively, as Historic Archeologist and Assistant State Archeologist. Bill Lees moved on to work in Oklahoma and Kentucky.
    [Show full text]
  • Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East: a Guide John J
    Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East: A Guide John J. Shea New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013, 408 pp. (hardback), $104.99. ISBN-13: 978-1-107-00698-0. Reviewed by DEBORAH I. OLSZEWSKI Department of Anthropology, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; [email protected] n reading the Preface and Introduction to Shea’s book Stone Age Prehistory,” and lists the origins of genus Homo Iwhere he discusses why he wrote this volume on Near in the Lower Paleolithic period, which is incorrect both Eastern stone tools, I had to smile because his experience as temporally and geographically (Homo ergaster appearing ca a graduate student was analogous to mine. Learning about 1.8 Mya in Africa, or Homo habilis ca 2.5 Mya in Africa, if one stone tools in this world region was not easy because no accepts this hominin as sufficiently derived as to belong to single typology had been developed, at least in the sense genus Homo). And the same is true in this table for several of a widely accepted set of terminology that could be ap- other major evolutionary events for which our earliest evi- plied to the Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic there, or even the dence is African rather than Levantine. Neolithic period. In retrospect, it is somewhat surprising For Chapter 2 (Lithics Basics), the reader is immedi- that in the several decades since no one, until this book by ately immersed in how stone fractures (using terminol- Shea, undertook producing a compendium of information ogy from mechanics), is abraded, and is knapped.
    [Show full text]