Special Libraries, February 1944

Volume 35, Issue 2https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1944/1001/thumbnail.jp

A comparative study of early shell knife production using archaeological, experimental and ethnographic datasets: 46,000 years of Melo (Gastropoda: Volutidae) shell knife manufacture in northern Australia

We investigate archaeological evidence for the early production of Melo (or commonly named ‘baler’) shell knives recovered from Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island. The site is in the Country of Thalanyji people in northwestern Western Australia. The oldest shell knife fragments were recovered from units dated to 46.2–42.6 ka, making this one of the oldest Homo sapiens sapiens shell tool technologies currently described. We situate this early and ongoing tradition of shell tool manufacture within recent discussions of the early development of shell industries from both Island Southeast Asia and globally. Although shell knives have been previously reported from Pilbara and Gulf of Carpentaria surface middens in northern Australia, systematic analysis of the manufacturing process and associated debris, and especially from pre-Holocene contexts, has not been previously conducted. This research explores the shell knife chaîne opératoire through the integration of three data sets derived from archaeology, ethnography, and experimental archaeology. This study highlights the significance of shell tool industries in the northwest of Australia, and globally, from the Pleistocene and into the Late Holocene in areas with limited access to hard rock geology where shell reduction represents a unique technological strategy

An indentation in a 33,000-year-old right calcaneus of the ground sloth Lestodon (Xenarthra, Folivora) from Uruguay and its possible human agency

Several sites in the Americas are proposed to have evidence of human occupation before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The timing of human colonisation of the Americas is a matter of debate due to its intrinsic interest, but also because of the implications of that arrival for the extinction of the megafauna. Here, we study a notable indentation in the right calcaneus of a giant extinct ground sloth Lestodon armatus from the Arroyo del Vizcaíno site, Uruguay, dated to ~ 33 cal kyBP. We use a combination of 3D CT-scan modelling, high-resolution silicone casting, and microscopic wear and residue analysis to describe the morphology of the lesion, its associated residues, and the possible mechanisms behind its formation. Considering the indentation’s features, including its shape, depth, and the presence of organic residues, we argue that it could have been created by a penetrating object with a rounded tip, possibly a bone, ivory or hardened wood tip attached to a shaft. This evidence contributes to discussions on the dates of human arrival in South America and the potential interactions with the megafauna.CSIC: I+D 2018, ID 33

Tool-use experiments to determine the function of an incised ground stone artefact with potential symbolic significance

Ground stone implements are found across most Australian landscapes and are often regarded as Aboriginal tools that were used for processing or modifying other items such as plant foods, plant fibres, resins, bone points, pigments and ground-stone axes and knives. Less common are ground stones modified for non-utilitarian, symbolic purposes; for example, polished and carved stone ornaments; ritual implements such as cylcons and tjuringa sacred stones; and unused, well-crafted ground-stone axes. In this paper, we report on the function and potential significance of an unusual ground stone artefact from a site near Bannockburn, southwestern Australia. A set of regularly spaced, shallow grooves has been cut into the surface of each side of the stone. Use-wear, residues and experimental replica tools indicate that the grooves were probably made with a stone flake and then used to shape or sharpen wooden implements such as spear points or the edges of boomerangs or other weapons. The microscopic wear outside the grooves indicates contact with soft wood or other plant material, possibly a soft plant fibre bag. We suggest that the Bannockburn artefact primarily functioned as a woodworking tool, but the even spacing of the incisions suggests that they were intentionally placed, perhaps to convey a special meaning, perhaps as a tally system or other form of communication

Tool-use experiments to determine the function of an incised ground stone artefact with potential symbolic significance

Ground stone implements are found across most Australian landscapes and are often regarded as Aboriginal tools that were used for processing or modifying other items such as plant foods, plant fibres, resins, bone points, pigments and ground-stone axes and knives. Less common are ground stones modified for non-utilitarian, symbolic purposes; for example, polished and carved stone ornaments; ritual implements such as cylcons and tjuringa sacred stones; and unused, well-crafted ground-stone axes. In this paper, we report on the function and potential significance of an unusual ground stone artefact from a site near Bannockburn, southwestern Australia. A set of regularly spaced, shallow grooves has been cut into the surface of each side of the stone. Use-wear, residues and experimental replica tools indicate that the grooves were probably made with a stone flake and then used to shape or sharpen wooden implements such as spear points or the edges of boomerangs or other weapons. The microscopic wear outside the grooves indicates contact with soft wood or other plant material, possibly a soft plant fibre bag. We suggest that the Bannockburn artefact primarily functioned as a woodworking tool, but the even spacing of the incisions suggests that they were intentionally placed, perhaps to convey a special meaning, perhaps as a tally system or other form of communication

STONE TOOL-USE EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE FUNCTION OF GRINDING STONES AND DENTICULATE SICKLES

Within a broader study of early Chinese agriculture, stone tool-use experiments were undertaken to document usewear on sandstone and tuff implements used to process Quercus acorns, Avena oats and Setaria millet. In other experiments, we examined usewear on denticulate slate sickles used to harvest Quercus acorns, Poaceae grass and Typha reeds. Results support other studies that indicate different patterns of abrasive smoothing, striation formation and polish development together provide a basis for distinguishing some of these tasks. This research is aimed to establish a database for functional analysis of grinding stones and sickles from the early Neolithic Peiligang culture. Controlled experiments are required to identify critical variables (e.g. silica in husks) that affect usewear patterns

Open science in archaeology

No abstract available