Microwear study of quartzite artefacts: preliminary results from the Middle Pleistocene site of Payre (South-eastern Fra
- PDF / 12,189,340 Bytes
- 20 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 66 Downloads / 201 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
Microwear study of quartzite artefacts: preliminary results from the Middle Pleistocene site of Payre (South-eastern France) Antonella Pedergnana 1,2,3 & Andreu Ollé 1,2 & Antony Borel 3 & Marie-Hélène Moncel 3
Received: 16 November 2015 / Accepted: 22 July 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract Preliminary functional results obtained from the quartzite assemblage of the Early Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (South-eastern France) are presented. In an area rich in flint, hominins at Payre also collected quartzite in their local environment, specifically along the Rhône River banks. Although the Payre lithic assemblage is largely composed of flint, quartzite was introduced in the site mainly as large cutting tools knapped outside. This fact pointed out an apparently highly differential treatment of the raw material types available in the region. A major concern is to understand the reason why. Is there any functional reason for the introduction of those artefacts, perhaps to perform specific activities related to the toughness of quartzite? Or is there any functional differentiation among the various raw materials? Use-wear analysis is a useful tool for better understanding human technological choices and strategies of lithic raw material management. Before attempting to extensively apply use-wear analysis on the quartzite assemblage, we analysed a limited sample to evaluate the general surface preservation. A specific experimental programme with the same local quartzite was carried out in order to provide a reliable comparative reference for interpreting use-wear evidence on archaeological implements. * Antonella Pedergnana [email protected]
1
IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Zona educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edif. W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
2
Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Fac. de Lletres, Av. Catalunya, 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
3
Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Université Perpignan Via Dominica, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France
Methodological difficulties related to use-wear analysis applied to quartzite artefacts are also discussed. Both Optical light microscopy (OLM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were employed in this study; however, interpretations were elaborated considering principally SEM micro-graphs. The analysis of the archaeological material showed a good state of preservation of the surfaces with a low incidence of post-depositional alterations. The documented use-wear allowed us to identify the active edges, the kinematics and, more rarely, the worked material. Chopping activities were documented on two large artefacts suggesting a specific utility of those tools. Keywords Lithic use-wear analysis . Quartzite . France . Payre . Early Middle Palaeolithic
Introduction As several authors have pointed out (Cristiani et al. 2009; Gibaja et al. 2002; Gibaja and Carvalho 2005; I
Data Loading...
