Adrian A. Evans

Using metrology in early prehistoric stone tool research: further work and a brief instrument comparison.

Early prehistoric research aims to discover the activities of our ancestors and piece together the process of evolution and sociocultural development. A key element in this process is the study of stone tools, particularly how these tools functioned in prehistory. Currently, there are no established quantitative methods that address stone tool function. This article provides a summary of previous studies using metrological methods in stone tool research and details the use of laser scanning confocal microscopy to conduct areal surface analysis using three-dimensional data sets. Research to-date is preliminary but promising and shows that microscopic metrological approaches can provide a quantitative method to identify how stone tools were used. A limited comparison of two metrological systems is presented, the results of which highlight a need for caution and further investigation on the comparability of related data sets.

Technological Analysis of the World's Earliest Shamanic Costume: A Multi-Scalar, Experimental Study of a Red Deer Headdress from the Early Holocene Site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, UK

Shamanic belief systems represent the first form of religious practice visible within the global archaeological record. Here we report on the earliest known evidence of shamanic costume: modified red deer crania headdresses from the Early Holocene site of Star Carr (c. 11 kya). More than 90% of the examples from prehistoric Europe come from this one site, establishing it as a place of outstanding shamanistic/cosmological significance. Our work, involving a programme of experimental replication, analysis of macroscopic traces, organic residue analysis and 3D image acquisition, metrology and visualisation, represents the first attempt to understand the manufacturing processes used to create these artefacts. The results produced were unexpected—rather than being carefully crafted objects, elements of their production can only be described as expedient.

Lithic raw material sourcing and the assessment of Mesolithic landscape organization and mobility strategies in northern England

Analysis of the early evolution of cultural landscapes, particularly the regional organization of space by mobile hunter-gatherers, is often hampered by a lack of overt landscape marking and modification and/or a lack of sufficient biological material with which to assess regional affinity. This situation places a premium on the accurate sourcing of durable materials, such as stone for tool manufacture (commonly employed as proxy measures of space utilization), and including resource procurement, control, and movement. In an effort to understand the Mesolithic (10 000—5500 BP) organization of space in northern England, we undertake studies on black cherts, employing LA-ICP-MS, an efficient and minimally destructive geochemical technique. Comparisons between primary sources of black cherts, and archaeologically derived chert artefacts, from the site of Lismore Fields in Derbyshire, reveals that systematic application of this approach allows both the chemical differentiation of sources and an understanding of the chemical relationship between archaeological samples and specific analysed sources. These results are consistent with results of earlier studies employing different analytic methods and allow the partial testing of two alternative models of Mesolithic landscape organization in the region. We conclude that the use of LA-ICP-MS is a useful method to employ for chemical characterization of sources and results reinforce an interpretation of regional Mesolithic landscape organization being framed around east—west trending, upland-coastal transects consistent with natural drainage features.

New method development in prehistoric stone tool research: evaluating use duration and data analysis protocols.

Lithic microwear is a research field of prehistoric stone tool (lithic) analysis that has been developed with the aim to identify how stone tools were used. It has been shown that laser scanning confocal microscopy has the potential to be a useful quantitative tool in the study of prehistoric stone tool function. In this paper, two important lines of inquiry are investigated: (1) whether the texture of worn surfaces is constant under varying durations of tool use, and (2) the development of rapid objective data analysis protocols. This study reports on the attempt to further develop these areas of study and results in a better understanding of the complexities underlying the development of flexible analytical algorithms for surface analysis. The results show that when sampling is optimised, surface texture may be linked to contact material type, independent of use duration. Further research is needed to validate this finding and test an expanded range of contact materials. The use of automated analytical protocols has shown promise but is only reliable if sampling location and scale are defined. Results suggest that the sampling protocol reports on the degree of worn surface invasiveness, complicating the ability to investigate duration related textural characterisation.

Surface analysis of stone and bone tools

Microwear (use-wear) analysis is a powerful method for identifying tool use that archaeologists and anthropologists employ to determine the activities undertaken by both humans and their hominin ancestors. Knowledge of tool use allows for more accurate and detailed reconstructions of past behavior, particularly in relation to subsistence practices, economic activities, conflict and ritual. It can also be used to document changes in these activities over time, in different locations, and by different members of society, in terms of gender and status, for example. Both stone and bone tools have been analyzed using a variety of techniques that focus on the observation, documentation and interpretation of wear traces. Traditionally, microwear analysis relied on the qualitative assessment of wear features using microscopes and often included comparisons between replicated tools used experimentally and the recovered artifacts, as well as functional analogies dependent upon modern implements and those used by indigenous peoples from various places around the world. Determination of tool use has also relied on the recovery and analysis of both organic and inorganic residues of past worked materials that survived in and on artifact surfaces. To determine tool use and better understand the mechanics of wear formation, particularly on stone and bone, archaeologists and anthropologists have increasingly turned to surface metrology and tribology to assist them in their research. This paper provides a history of the development of traditional microwear analysis in archaeology and anthropology and also explores the introduction and adoption of more modern methods and technologies for documenting and identifying wear on stone and bone tools, specifically those developed for the engineering sciences to study surface structures on micro- and nanoscales. The current state of microwear analysis is discussed as are the future directions in the study of microwear on stone and bone tools.

Arrow poisons in the Palaeolithic

In a previous issue of PNAS, d’Errico et al. (1) reported interesting findings from Border Cave in South Africa, including the presentation of a “poison applicator,” directly dated to ∼24,000 y ago. The fragmented wooden stick with perpendicular incisions appears, although smaller in diameter, not too indistinct from some poison applicators recovered in the Kalahari. Residues found on the item were studied using gas chromatography, and the authors interpreted the results as evidence for the toxin ricin. This was used to substantiate the claim that this “applicator” is direct evidence of the use of poisons in hunting.

Gristhorpe man: an early bronze age log-coffin burial scientifically defined

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

Evaluating Surface Cleaning Techniques of Stone Tools Using Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy

Introduction Stone tool use-wear analysis reconstructs how tools were used in the distant past. This is accomplished through the identification of microscopic traces of polish, striations, and fractures left on the tool’s surface. Use-wear analysis is based on the hypothesis that different contact materials (e.g., wood, wheat, or meat) and different motions (e.g., cutting, scraping, or drilling) produce distinct microscopic traces on the used tool including microfractures, polish, and striations. Understanding the function of tools gives archaeologists insight into the behaviors of past peoples, allowing for the reconstruction of ancient ways of life. Traditional use-wear analysis uses light microscopy to visually identify wear traces [1, 2, 3]. However, this qualitative analysis can lead to interpretive conflicts between researchers. In recent years, new methods for measuring usewear have been developed that quantify functional traces on stone tools [4-12]. Many of these methods quantify the surface roughness of the polished areas, measuring topographic features at small scales to understand variation in surface texture created by contact materials such as antler, meat, and wood. One method that shows particular promise uses a laser scanning confocal microscope (in this case, the OLYMPUS LEXT OLS4000) to characterize surface texture. Outlined here are the results of measurements taken with the above instrument to understand the effects of various cleaning methods on the surface roughness of experimental stone tools used to cut wheat. Currently, there is little consensus among use-wear analysts on how to adequately clean stone tools prior to analysis. Standardization is integral to the development of use-wear analysis and for continued research into the quantification of wear traces as it allows for comparability of the results from different researchers. In the research presented here, experimental stone tools were subjected to three levels of cleaning: (1) with alcohol, (2) alcohol followed by soap and water, and finally (3) chemical cleaning with potassium hydroxide (10%) and hydrochloric acid (10%). These three stages of cleaning represent commonly used techniques of sample preparation and are increasingly invasive. The results of this study contribute to the standardization of sample preparation and show the application of the LEXT OLS4000 for archaeological use-wear studies. This article describes measurements that indicate how different commonly used cleaning protocols affect surface roughness measurements.

A Post-Roman Sequence at Carlisle Cathedral

Excavations in 1988 revealed a stratigraphic sequence extending from the later Roman period to the twelfth century. Of particular interest and importance is a collection of Viking-Age metalwork which, with other material, sheds light on settlement in Carlisle before the arrival of the Normans in 1092.