Lithic Economy

In the Dordogne region of France, the recent excavations of two Early Middle Paleolithic sites have revealed the coexistence of two different techniques of flint tool production: flake debitage and bifacial tool shaping.
At Cantalouette 1, large centripetal cores were reduced to produce flake blanks to be shaped into bifacial pieces according to functionally predetermined models. Flaking thus preceded shaping in a continuous reduction process. At the same time, smaller cores were reduced to produce smaller flake blanks that would be transformed into more diverse flake tools. The function of this site was associated with both tool production, bifacial or not, and in situ tool use.
At Combe Brune 3, certain blocks were successively reduced through flaking and shaping operations. The flaking operation consisted of short series of flake removals from two or three intersecting surfaces. These flakes were very robust and only slightly retouched, or used without retouch. The bifacial pieces produced were unique in their associations of active parts. Many of the bifacial pieces were present only briefly at the site, where they were used and/or resharpened, while the flake tools were consumed in situ.
These two occupations, like others in the Bergerac zone of the Dordogne region, reveal techno-economic relationships between flaking and shaping productions that are both functional and economic. A true collective anticipation of tool needs can thus be discerned at Cantalouette 1, with the predetermination of flakes and their shaping according to predetermined techno-types. At Combe Brune 3, these behaviors appear more individual, as is shown by the great variability of production schemes and the status of certain mixed blocks that were both flaked and shaped.

"At the recently excavated Middle Paleolithic sites of Combemenue in Corrèze and Chemin d’Herbe in Lot-et-Garonne, the exploitation of lithic raw materials reveals specific provisioning and exploitation strategies.
At Combemenue, the flint originating from the decayed rock of the Isle Valley was imported and flaked at a location that provided abundant alluvial quartz and quartzite cobbles. The flint reduction sequence was oriented toward the production of pseudo-Levallois points destined to be exported, while the cobbles were exploited to produce the heavy tools found in situ.
At Chemin d’Herbe, all the lithic materials were imported. Most of the flint originated from sources a few kilometers from the site, while the metamorphic cobbles came from the alluvial deposits of the Lot or Garonne rivers. The flint debitage was realized on cores that were imported and already partly exploited. The imported cobbles were used to produce heavy tools, as at Combemenue
These two occupations attest to anticipated techno-economic behaviors in terms of both the choice of raw materials imported and exploited and the utilization of blanks produced in situ, which in both cases were largely exploited. At both sites, the dynamic of the transport of lithic raw materials and the management of the lithic tool production reveal both an economy of raw materials—in the technical space covered—and of debitage—in the technical time."

In southwestern France, the lithic industries of the Late Solutrean and Badegoulian indicate significant shifts in technical and economic traditions. Our recent work on several Solutrean and Badegoulian stratigraphic sequences in the Aquitaine basin have introduced new elements into the debate. Relying on the dialectic relationships between the lithic-based hunting weapons and domestic tools, we try to assess the degree of techno-economic differentiation between Solutrean and Badegoulian assemblages. The reconfiguration of the rules governing the production of hunting weaponry between 21 and 24 ka cal. BP may have been accompanied by the emergence of new mobility strategies, changes in group dynamics and the way in which the territory was exploited.

616 pages including English summary/ captions and 137 colour illustrations, 171 figs., 141 tables, 94 plates, 25 appendices, paperback  [ISBN 978-3-944178-12-7]

Content

Kapitel 1 – Einleitung
1.1 Einleitung
1.2 Ziele und Fragestellungen
1.3 Aufbau der Arbeit
1.4 Der Naturraum der südlichen Levante und der Größeren Petra Region
1.5 Chronologischer Rahmen des südlevantinischen Frühneolithikums
1.6 Die frühholozäne Besiedlungsgeschichte der südlichen Levante

Kapitel 2 –Sozioökonomische Konzepte zur Analyse lithischer Industrien
2.1 Das Konzept der chaîne opératoire
2.2 Rohmaterialbeschaffung (procurement)
2.3 Prähistorischer Austausch
2.4 Organisation der Produktion und handwerkliche Spezialisierung
2.5 Communities of Practice und Bestimmung der Alltagsrelevanz
2.6 Fazit

Kapitel 3 – Methoden und research design
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Methoden

Kapitel 4 – Das Dargebot an Feuersteinen In der Grösseren Petra Region
4.1 Geologische Rahmenbedingungen des Untersuchungsgebietes
4.2 Feuersteinrohmaterialsurvey
4.3 Fazit

Kapitel 5 – Ail 4
5.1 Fundort und untersuchte Kontexte
5.2 Lithische Industrie
5.3 Andere Mineralien und Gesteine
5.4 Rekonstruktion der Rohmaterialversorgung, Produktionsbedingungen und Verbrauch

Kapitel 6 – Shkârat Msaied
6.1 Fundort und untersuchte Kontexte
6.2 Lithische Industrie
6.3 Andere Mineralien und Gesteine
6.4 Rekonstruktion der Rohmaterialversorgung, Produktionsbedingungen und Verbrauch

Kapitel 7 – Beidha
7.1 Fundort und untersuchte Kontexte
7.2 Lithische Industrie
7.3 Andere Mineralien und Gesteine
7.4 Rekonstruktion der Rohmaterialversorgung, Produktionsbedingungen und Verbrauch

Kapitel 8 – Basta
8.1 Fundort und untersuchte Kontexte
8.2 Lithische Industrie
8.3 Andere Mineralien und Gesteine
8.4 Rekonstruktion der Rohmaterialversorgung, Produktionsbedingungen und Verbrauch

Kapitel 9 – Baʿja
9.1 Fundort und untersuchte Kontexte
9.2 Lithische Industrie
9.3 Andere Mineralien und Gesteine
9.4 Rekonstruktion der Rohmaterialversorgung, Produktionsbedingungen und Verbrauch

Kapitel 10 – Die lithische ÖkonomIe der Grösseren Petra Region
10.1 Rohmaterialversorgung und Rohstofftransfer
10.2 Produktionsbedingungen und handwerkliche Organisation
10.3 Verbrauch lithischer Grundformen
10.4 Austauschnetzwerke
10.5 Communities of Practice, Alltagsrelevanz und Wissenstransfer
10.6 Fazit

Zusammenfassung

Summary

Bibliografie

Abbildungsverzeichnis

Tabellenverzeichnis

Appendices
Appendix 1 - Beschreibung der Feuersteingruppen (FRMG)
Appendix 2 - Begehungsgebiete und Koordinaten der Probenentnahmestellen
Appendix 3 - Beschreibung der Rohmaterialproben
Appendix 4.1 - Ail 4, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 4.2 - Ail 4, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 5.1 - Shkârat Msaied Unit K, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 5.2 - Shkârat Msaied Unit K, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 5.3 - Shkârat Msaied Unit U (Phase 2), Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 5.4 - Shkârat Msaied Unit U (Phase 2), Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 5.5 - Shkârat Msaied Locus 90307, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 6.1 - Beidha, Primärprodukte nach Phase und Fundkontext
Appendix 6.2 - Beidha, Sekundärprodukte nach Phase und Fundkontext
Appendix 6.3 - Beidha Phase A, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 6.4 - Beidha Phase A, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 6.5 - Beidha Phase B, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 6.6 - Beidha Phase B, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 6.7 - Beidha Phase C, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 6.8 - Beidha Phase C, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 7.1 - Basta S1 (1984), Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 7.2 - Basta S1 (1984), Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 8.1 - Ba‘ja Gebäude BI, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 8.2 - Ba‘ja Gebäude BI, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 8.3 - Ba‘ja Gebäude BIII, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 8.4 - Ba‘ja Gebäude BIII, Sekundärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse
Appendix 8.5 - Ba‘ja Locus B74:2, Primärprodukte nach Rohmaterialklasse

Katalogteil

Teil a Ail 4
(Katalog-Nr. a1-a84)

Teil b-d Shkârat Msaied
Gebäude K (Katalog-Nr. b1-b81)
Gebäude U (Katalog-Nr. c1-c70)
Locus 90307 (Katalog-Nr. d1-d123)

Teil e-g Beidha
Phase A (Katalog-Nr. e1-e86)
Phase B (Katalog-Nr. f1-f50)
Phase C (Katalog-Nr. g1-g142)

Teil h-j Ba‘ja
Gebäude BI (Katalog-Nr. h1-h70)
Gebäude BIII (Katalog-Nr. i1-i77)
Klingendepot Locus B74:2 (Katalog-Nr. j1-j24)

This paper reports the results of a recent geological and archaeological survey conducted in the Sarab district (Sabalan area) in Northwestern Iran. This survey aimed to identify potential obsidian outcrops in the region and to investigate archaeological sites in the vicinity to assess their obsidian exploitation patterns. We located a new obsidian source, Ideloo, and surveyed the previously known archaeological sites of Tepe Qalehjoogh, Kultepe Asbfrooshan, Tepe Emam Chay and Qaleh Tepe Abarghan. Here, we describe the methods and results of our surveys, along with the geochemical characterisation, using portable XRF and LA‐ICP‐MS, of both the new outcrop and the obsidian artefacts found on the sites. Our analyses have revealed the consumption of Ideloo obsidian on three of the four sites surveyed, confirming its exploitation by local communities. While validating previous assumptions regarding the existence of potential obsidian sources in Northwestern Iran, our study also highligh...