Lithic Technology

The classification of stone tool debitage features as right- or left-oriented has become an increasingly common method for assessing knapper handedness in experimental and archaeological lithic assemblages. Replication attempts using these published methodologies, however, have been unsuccessful. We tested the validity of eight flake feature categories, from Bargallo et al. (2017) and Dominguez-Ballestros & Arrizabalaga (2015), assessing their predictive accuracy with an inter-rater reliability analysis on an experimental assemblage of Oldowan flakes produced by 18 knappers (9 left-handed). Three experienced raters independently made blind predictions of knapper handedness using directional skew for each of the eight features, on 344 complete flakes from 43 isolated knapping events. Inter-rater reliability measures (Fleiss’ Kappa) showed fair agreement for only two flake features (eraillure scar and impact point locations), with moderate (hackles, ripples, parabolic crack) to poor (ridge, extraction axis, platform inclination) agreement for all other features. All three raters failed to perform significantly better than chance for predicting handedness. These results suggest not only that these flake features are unreliable predictors of a knapper’s handedness, but also, that some of these features do not represent objective categories. We therefore urge caution in applying this method to archaeological assemblages pending further independent replication.

Sedan 2013 genomför Lunds universitet semi-nariegrävningar i Uppåkra väster om Gamla Trelle-borgsvägen i Staffanstorps kommun, söder om Lund. Syftet är att undersöka lämningar från yngre och äldre järnålder, och ett antal förhisto-riska ugnar, stenpackningar, härdar och kokgro-par har grävts och dokumenterats (se t ex Lars-son et al. 2018). I september 2017 påträffades ett antal flintföremål som typologiskt tillhör en sen-glacial/tidig preboreal jägarkultur. En tångespets i flinta-en så kallad Lyngbyspets-tillvaratogs i vad som bedömdes vara steril morän (fig. 1). Geo-logen Svante Björck (Lunds universitet) inspek-terade fyndplatsen och konstaterade att lagret bestod av eroderad morän och att ytan sannolikt utgjort en markyta efter det att inlandsisen drag-it sig tillbaka från området för cirka 16 000 år sedan (Björck 1996; Stroeven et al. 2015). Detta antagande styrks av iakttagelsen att större stenar i moränen uppenbarligen har vindslipats. Plat-sen för fynden ligger relativt högt i landskapet i en västsluttning. Uppåkraplatån utgör idag den högsta punkten mellan Sege å och Höje å, och utsikten över dagens öppna odlingslandskap är mycket god. Det var den också under senglacial tid när landskapet utgjordes av en tundra, tids-mässigt följt av en halvöppen björkskog och se-nare, under yngre Dryas, av en öppen parktundra med björkträd i skyddade lägen. En sank yta i åkern cirka 200 m västerut skulle kunna vara res-terna efter ett dödishål som under den aktuella perioden möjligen utgjort ett vattenhål för mig-rerande renar. Lagret där spetsen hittades i innehåller inga fynd från senare perioder. Till skillnad från de stenpackningar från järnåldern som överlagrar fyndplatsen saknas obrända ben av tamdjur, kera-mik och metallartefakter i lagret. Den cirka 10 cm långa spetsen är tillverkad av ett robust, spetsigt spån. Tången har formats av en konsekvent, uni-facial retusch från den ventrala sidan vid spånets plattformsrest. Detta innebär att den tydliga slag-bulan är bevarad, något som är diagnostiskt för den sydskandinaviska brommetraditionen (Riede 2017 och där anf. litt.). En liten tungfraktur (lan-guette) (Inizan et al. 1999, s. 172) vid spetsen har 47 Korta meddelanden Fornvännen 114 (2019)

Skillful knapping requires both explicit, strategic knowledge (connaissance) and implicit, practical know-how (savoir-faire). Although much work in cognitive archaeology has focused on the former, researchers working from a perception-action perspective emphasize the latter. Controlled experiments show extensive knapping experience is required to acquire the know-how to predict and control flake shapes and whereas abstract strategic understanding develops more quickly. However, the process of acquiring these abilities, their relationship to each other, and their practical contribution to success with Paleolithic technologies remains poorly known. To address these issues, we conducted a flake prediction experiment as part of a multidisciplinary study of Late Acheulean handaxe-making skill acquisition involving twenty-six naïve subjects with up to 90 hours training over several months and 3 expert knappers with several years’ experience in handaxe production. All participants were asked to mark and attempt to detach 5 flake predictions (outline & point of percussion) from a flint core. The results show that novice flake success rates increase with training along a learning curve paralleling that for handaxe-making success in the same subject population. Striking accuracy increases with training and is key for successful flake production. Comparisons of prediction errors on success flakes show novices perform well, but experts are slightly better at matching predictions with outcomes. We fit two multivariate logistical regression models to the expert and novice data to understand the factors that influence both successful and unsuccessful flake production and their differences in novice and expert groups. The application of a model built on expert flake data and applied to novice flakes show that novices make reasonable predictions, but fail to deliver on them. Despite the fact that empirically-derived predictors of novice flaking success in our sample match the expectations of good flakes and the observation that novices perform similarly to experts, they still failed to make successful handaxes even after ~90 hours of intensive training. We show that novices achieve this “success” using compensatory flaking strategies that target overall smaller and easier flake detachments (< EPA, < Platform thickness) that deviate from expert larger and more difficult flaking targets (> EPA, > Platform thickness). We conclude that simple flake detachment is a challenging skill (stabilizing only after ~40hrs training) that is central to improvements in handaxe-making and depends on perceptual-motor control of the basic flaking gesture.

We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850-1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. Our preliminary data contribute to the growing literature on the role market economies played in the Maya area, and the increased opportunities this afforded coastal peoples as circum-peninsular trade became more common through time. En este trabajo utilizamos información sobre la cerámica y la obsidiana del antiguo puerto Maya de Vista Alegre, Quintana Roo, México, para discutir el intercambio a larga distancia durante el periodo Clásico terminal (ca. 850-1100 dC). Dicho periodo es frecuentemente asociado con el incremento de las relaciones comerciales internacionales y el crecimiento de Chichén Itzá como centro regional dominante en las tierras bajas Mayas del norte. Los comerciantes que transportaban bienes a lo largo de la costa de Yucatán en grandes canoas comerciales fueron fundamentales para el aumento del volumen del comercio internacional. Combinando la examinación macroscópica de la cerámica con el estudio visual, por fluorescencia de rayos X y por análisis instrumental de activación neutrónica (XRF e INAA, respectivamente, por sus siglas en inglés) de los artefactos de obsidiana, se obtuvo información sobre las diversas fuerzas socio-económicas involucradas en el transporte de mercancías alrededor de la península. Dada la escasez de asentamientos del Clásico terminal en el interior de la región de Yalahau, Vista Alegre parece haber sido un sitio aislado durante este periodo, localizado a aproximadamente 40 km del asentamiento costero más cercano. Esto permite enfocarnos en el intercambio costero como el único medio por el cual las mercancías llegaron al sitio. La información preliminar aquí presentada contribuye al creciente conjunto de investigaciones sobre el papel que desempeñaron las economías de mercado en el área Maya y las mayores oportunidades que esto brindó a los pueblos costeros.