Abstracts:
 

Francisco ALMEIDA (Instituto Português de Arqueología)

REFITTING AT LAPA DO ANECRIAL: STUDYING TECHNOLOGY AND MICRO SCALE SPATIAL PATTERNING THROUGH LITHIC RECONSTRUCTIONS.

Lapa do Anecrial is a cave site located in central Portuguese Estremadura. Three field seasons already completed have provided a stratigraphic sequence spanning the transition from the Gravettian to the Solutrean in Central Portugal. In layer 2 (Terminal Gravettian), the more extensively excavated, excellent post-depositional conditions have preserved several clusters of lithic artifacts and fauna, representing activities taking place around a hearth. The refitting studies, already concluded, reaffirm the excellent post-depositional preservation of the site: more than 51% (92% by weight) of the lithic assemblage was refitted, making possible an almost complete view of the reduction sequences and strategies used.
This paper presents the various advantages of the application of refitting to the Lapa do Anecrial layer 2 assemblage: both for lithic technology and spatial analysis. The main technological characteristics of the studied assemblage will be described. The reconstructions show how a carinated thick-nosed bladelet production strategy was often associated (in the same block) with traditional prismatic bladelet technology. Such association, which results in high core to cobble ratios, was detected not only for flint, but also for quartz, a raw material usually considered as having inferior knapping qualities.
The combination of the lithic reconstructions with the tri-dimensional spatial patterning of the artifacts makes possible a first attempt to interpret the micro-scale spatial organization of the short-term occupation of Lapa do Anecrial, during Terminal Gravettian times.
 
 

Nick ASHTON (British Museum)

REFITTING AND THE BRITISH LOWER PALAEOLITHIC: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Refitting is a well established but time-consuming and costly method of analysis, and in the context of the British Lower Palaeolithic has been criticised for telling us little about behaviour or cognition. This paper reviews the British evidence and the role refitting has played in enhancing our understanding of taphonomy, technology and behaviour. It is argued: that for taphonomy it is a basic and essential tool of analysis for assessing the integrity of assemblages; that for furthering our understanding of technology, its real potential has sometimes not been realised; and that for insights into behaviour, its real value lies in the recognition of repeated patterns of movement. Despite the costs it must remain an important tool for understanding fine-grained behavioural signatures.
 
 

Douglas BAMFORTH and Mark BECKER (University of Colorado. Boulder)

REFITTING AND SPATIAL STRUCTURE AT THE ALLEN SITE

This paper discusses patterns of lithic refits and artifact and feature distributions at the Allen site, a stratified Paleoindian camp in Nebraska.  Low refit frequencies within and between horizontally discrete artifact concentrations suggest that these concentrations are aggregates deposited as dumps during camp cleanup.  The similar locations of such concentrations throughout 2000 years of site occupation, and the lack of evidence in the refits for vertical movement of artifacts, suggest that old dumps were magnets for new ones.  Variation in refit patterns and in the relation between artifact and hearth frequencies in different levels suggests a long-term trend towards more temporary, and perhaps less frequent, site use that parallels trends in other aspects of the site assemblage.
 
 

Pierre BODU (Université Paris X – Nanterre)

DU BON USAGE DES REMONTAGES EN PRÉHISTOIRE? (INTÉRÊTS ET LIMITES) LE CAS DU GISEMENT MAGDALÉNIEN DE PINCEVENT.

Depuis près de 40 ans, le gisement magdalénien de Pincevent fait l’objet de fouilles scrupuleuses et développées tant au plan diachronique qu’au plan synchronique.
Claudine Karlin en 1964 lors de l’étude de l’habitation n°1 avait lancé « la mode » et systématisé ce qui devait devenir une véritable méthode d’étude des séries lithiques. Un peu moins de 40 ans plus tard et 4500 m2 fouillés plus loin, nous avons pu appliquer cette méthode au plus vaste sol d’occupation magdalénien du gisement de Pincevent, le niveau IV20. Les premiers résultats de cette réflexion avaient été présentés dans les actes du symposium : « The Big Puzzle » en 1990.
Dans le cadre d’une thèse soutenue en 1994, il nous a été donné de documenter plus encore les comportements techniques mais aussi économiques et spatiaux d’un groupe de magdaléniens. En réalisant un taux de remontages de plus de 90% sur le matériel lithique provenant d’une zone du niveau IV20, nous avons en effet pu sérieusement traiter des modalités techniques et économiques du débitage, inscrire l’outillage au sein de son système de production mais également discuter de l’organisation spatiale des activités concernant la taille du silex et l’utilisation des produits obtenus. Quelques inférences sur la composition du groupe ont également pu être avancées s’inspirant des travaux de Nicole Pigeot menés à Etiolles ou de ceux de Sylvie développés à Pincevent.
A travers quelques exemples pris dans cette étude particulière, nous discuterons ici de l’intérêt de la méthode des remontages mais également de ses limites fusse t’elle appliquée à hauteur de 90 % d’une industrie lithique.

Bibliographie indicative
 
 

Marc DE BIE (Instituut voor het Archeologisch Patrimonium, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven & Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

BENEFITING BY REFITTING AT LATE PALAEOLITHIC REKEM (BELGIUM)

The procedure of refitting is most benefited from when fully embedded in an integrated research program. Refitting can then help to entangle a wide variety of research topics also touched upon with other approaches (petrography, attribute analysis, usewear, etc.). The late Palaeolithic site of Rekem serves as a case study in this respect. The lithic material from this large camp site offered excellent refitting potential (some 2500 artefacts conjoined so far), permitting a detailed study of reduction strategies and spatial distributions. With regard to lithic technology, the refitting data provided better insights into both flint reducing methods and knapping styles as well as into the processes of tool manufacture, use, maintenance and discard. Derived from these data, the method also informed on social aspects (skills of the artisans) and economic features (the material ‘output’ of the various sequences and its role in further activities). On a spatial scale the results of refitting could be used to measure the degree of vertical dispersal and to assess the disturbance on the site by natural post-depositional processes. Most importantly, however, the mapping of refits supplied important insight into the horizontal patterning of human activities both in and between the various loci of the site. At Rekem, such patterning shows the relationship between manufacturing process and artefact discard and elucidates the transport patterns of various kinds of artefacts and tool types.
 
 

Anne DELAGNES (Université Paris X – Nanterre)

L’APPORT DES REMONTAGES DANS L’APPROCHE DE LA COMPLEXITÉ TECHNIQUE ET ÉCONOMIQUE DES CHAÎNES OPÉRATOIRES DU PALÉOLITHIQUE MOYEN.

La complexité des chaînes opératoires de production lithique au Paléolithique moyen est un phénomène que l’on perçoit depuis un certain nombre d’années au travers de pratiques telles que le débitage sur éclats. Grâce à l’exploitation de l’information dynamique apportée par l’étude d’ensembles remontés, on est désormais en mesure de cerner les mécanismes et la logique technique d’une telle complexité. Dans les deux gisements qui sont pris en exemple ici (Le Pucheuil et Etoutteville, Haute-Normandie, France), les remontages dévoilent l’existence de chaînes opératoires longues et ramifiées, avec plusieurs objectifs techniques clairement hiérarchisés. La chaîne opératoire principale fait appel dans les deux sites aux principes du débitage Levallois, sur lequel repose l’essentiel de l’investissement technique. Les chaînes opératoires secondaires sont réalisées à partir des sous-produits de la chaîne opératoire Levallois. A partir d’un même bloc de silex, 2 voire 3 principes de débitage ont été indépendamment mis en œuvre, pour autant de types de produits obtenus. Le débitage Levallois, généralement considéré comme très dispendieux en matière première, serait-il au contraire dans certains contextes l’un des champions toutes catégories de l’économie de la matière première ?
 
 

Berit Valentin ERIKSEN (Aarhus Universitet)

SICKLE MANUFACTURE IN BRONZE AGE DENMARK – PUZZLING FLINTS FROM BJERRE.

This contribution presents the results of an ongoing research project aiming at a contextual "chaîne opératoire" analysis of Early Bronze Age flint sickle production technology. The lithic inventories examined belongs to a cluster of seven settlement sites from Bjerre, situated in the flint-rich region of Thy, Northern Jutland. The analyses presented involve a reconstruction of core reduction sequences (through refitting) as well as technological studies (through attribute analyses) aiming at a dynamic reconstruction of primary production sequences. The following discussion will assert the "chaîne opératoire", complexity and completeness of assemblages, technological skills, and degree of specialization in tool production (pressure flaked artifacts versus simple retouched tools) as well as the resulting sociocultural and behavioral implications for our interpretation of Early Bronze Age lithic technology.
 
 

Peter HISCOCK (Australian National University)

AUSTRALIAN POINT AND CORE REDUCTION: A REFITTING CASE STUDY

Refitting of knapping floors in Queensland Australia is used to analyze the production technology employed during the mid-late Holocene. Examination of refits at quarries is the basis of a study not only of the general sequence of reduction but also the solutions that knappers apply to solve problems they encounter. A series of refitted knapping floors at increasing distances from quarries reveals the progressive modification of bifacial points and cores as material is transported through the landscape. Some general principles are explicated.
 
 

Lykke JOHANSEN (Københavns Universitet)

THE HAMBURGIAN SITE AT OLDEHOLTWOLDE (NL): THE MULTIFACETED OUTPUT OF REFITTING

Refitting analysis of flint artefacts resulted in insights concerning a multitude of aspects. Its most rewarding contribution is the creation of dynamic pictures, e.g. showing movements of flint implements from production centres to activity areas. In total, 850 flint artefacts are involved in 179 refitgroups (containing up to about 100 artefacts). The Hamburgian chaîne opératoire for blade production could be reconstructed; the en éperon technique is not part of it.  Because of differences in knapping skill, revealed by larger refitgroups, three flintknappers were identified: a master knapper (probably an adult man), an advanced pupil (probably an older boy) and a totally unskilled knapper (probably a young boy). Only a minority (about a quarter) of the tools were manufactured at the site. The many imported tools include all the points and most of the scrapers. Especially notched tools and ‘Zinken’ were made, used and discarded on the site. The final occupation phase saw the production of many tools and blades that were taken away from the site. By combining refitting results with ring and sector analysis, it can be shown that the occupants probably rotated around the outdoors hearth, in response to changes in wind direction.
 
 

Utsav SCHURMANS, Peter MCCARTNEY, Muyong Soo BAE, and Anshuman RAZDAN (Arizona State University)

TOWARDS AUTOMATED LITHIC REFITTING: DREAM OR REALITY?

The multidisciplinary “Partnership for Research in Stereo Modeling” (PRISM) at Arizona State University conducts research on various topics in 3D modeling. One of the pilot projects involves an attempt to (partially) automate the lithic refitting process. Lithic refitting has proven to be a tremendous tool for prehistorians to reconstruct lithic technology, study taphonomy, and investigate spatial patterning. The drawback to lithic refitting, as one of many lines of evidence drawn upon to study the prehistoric past, is the enormous time investment it requires. Furthermore, due to understandable limitations in the access to lithic collections imposed by the various antiquities departments throughout the world, lithic refitting is often left out of the research agenda altogether. These problems point to a need for automated lithic refitting.
We have scanned the products of an experimental lithic collection to serve as test data for creating a refitting program. The results of these tests and prospects for future development will be presented in this paper. Although numerous difficulties remain, we are optimistic that as 3D scanning technologies improve and research within computer "puzzling" applications advances, the initial difficulties in the development of automated lithic refitting will be overcome.
 
 

Philip VAN PEER (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)

THE CONTRIBUTION OF REFITTING TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE LEVALLOIS REDUCTION STRATEGY

At the Middle Palaeolithic workshop site of Taramsa-1 in Upper Egypt, a number of dense lithic scatters were found in primary context. Raw material volumes exploited from nearby Nilotic gravels were reduced here according to the Levallois strategy. For one of the scatters, dated around 65 ky, all the reduction sequences present were completely refitted.
Analysis of the temporal patterns present in these reductions shows a clear clustering of patterns. The latter are interpreted as implementations of individual design patterns by specialist-chertknappers. Spatial distribution patterns seem to support that interpretation. The paper concludes with a discussion of some wider implications of these results in terms of  the nature of Middle Palaeolithic lithic reduction systems and behaviourial complexity.
 
 

Manuel VAQUERO (Universitat Rovira i Virgili)

THE INTERPRETIVE POTENTIAL OF LITHIC REFITS IN A MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC SITE: THE ABRIC ROMANÍ (CAPELLADES, SPAIN).

The Abric Romaní (Romaní rockshelters) has provided a thick stratigraphic sequence including several Middle Paleolithic archaeological levels dated between 40 and 70 ka BP. These levels have been exposed over large surfaces and are characterized by a high temporal resolution. Moreover, many structures, including hearths, have been documented. This allows spatial analysis to be developed. Refitting of lithic artifacts forms a substantial part of this analysis. The refits obtained at a series of levels excavated in recent years and dated between 45 and 52 ka BP have provided some interesting results especially concerning three main issues: a) the definition of spatial units, especially in hearth-related assemblages; b) the organization of campsites and the connection between activity areas; and c) the temporal relationships between the artifacts and spatial units.
 
 

Discussants:

Anthony MARKS (Southern Methodist University)
Boris VALENTIN (Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne)
 
 
 

back	Utsav - Home