Projectiles and the abuse of the use-wear method in a search for impact

Journal of Archaeological Science

Volumn 48, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 154-165

  Rots, Veerle ^a   Plisson, Hugues ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LIÈGE   (Belgium)

^b UNIVERSITÉ DE BORDEAUX   (France)

Author keywords

Diagnostic impact fractures; Hafting; Lithic projectiles; Palaeolithic; Stone age; Use wear analysis

Indexed keywords

HUMAN BEHAVIOR; HUNTING; IDENTIFICATION METHOD; LITHIC FRAGMENT; PALEOLITHIC; STONE AGE; TOOL USE; WEAR;

EID: 84902547090     PISSN: 03054403     EISSN: 10959238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.027     Document Type: Article

References (72)

1. Barton R.N.E., Bergman C.A. Hunters at Hengistbury. Some evidence from experimental archaeology. World Archaeol. 1982, 14:237-248.
2. Bergman C.A., Newcomer M.H. Flint arrowhead breakage: examples from Ksar Akil. J.Field Archaeol. 1983, 10:238-241.
3. Bird C., et al. Edge damage distribution at the assemblage level on Middle Stone Age lithics: an image-based GIS approach. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2007, 34(5):771-780.
4. Bordes F. Apropos des outils à bord abattu. Quelques remarques. Bull. Soc. Préhist. Fr. 1952, 49:645-647.
5. Brown K.S., Marean C.W., Jacobs Z., Schoville B.J., Oestmo S., Fisher E.C., Bernatchez J., Karkanas P., Matthews T. An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa. Nature 2012, 491:590-593.
6. Browne J. Projectile points. Am. Antiq. 1940, 5:209-213.
7. Caspar J.P., De Bie M. Preparing for the hunt in the late paleolithic camp at Rekem, Belgium. J.Field Archaeol. 1996, 23:437-460.
8. Chadelle J.P., Geneste J.M., Plisson H. Processus fonctionnels de formation des assemblages technologiques dans les sites du Paléolithique supérieur. Les pointes de projectiles lithiques du Solutréen de la grotte de Combe Saunière (Dordogne, France). 25 ans d'études technologiques en Préhistoire. Bilan et perspectives 1991, 275-287. APDCA, Juan-les-Pins.
9. Chadelle J.P., Geneste J.M., Plisson H. Technologie fonctionnelle des pointes de projectiles solutréennes. Bilan Scientifique Aquitaine 1995 1996, 131-132. Ministère de la Culture, Bordeaux. S. l'archéologie (Ed.).
10. Chadelle J.P., Geneste J.M., Plisson H. Technologie fonctionnelle des pointes de projectiles solutréennes. Bilan Scientifique Aquitaine 1996 1997, 142-143. Ministère de la Culture, Bordeaux. S. l'archéologie (Ed.).
11. Churchill S.E., Rhodes J.A. The evolution of the human capacity for "killing at a distance": the human fossil evidence for the evolution of projectile weaponry. The Evolution of Human Diets. Integrating Approaches to the Study of Palaeolithic Subsistence 2009, 201-210. Springer. J.J. Hublin, M.P. Richards (Eds.).
12. Clarkson C. Testing archaeological approaches to determining past projectile delivery systems using ethnographic and experimental data. Multidisciplinary Scientific Approaches to the Study of Stone-Age Weaponry 2013, Springer, Mainz, (in press). R. Iovita, K. Sano (Eds.).
13. Costa A.G. Were there stone-tipped armatures in the South Asia Middle Paleolithic?. Quat. Int. 2012, 269:22-30.
14. Crombé P., Perdaen Y., Sergant J., Caspar J.-P. Wear analysis on early Mesolithic microliths from the Verrebroek site, East Flanders, Belgium. J.Field Archaeol. 2001, 28:253-269.
15. De Bie M., Caspar J.P. Rekem, a Federmesser Camp on the Meuse River Bank 2000, Leuven University Press, Leuven.
16. Dockall J.E. Wear traces and projectile impact: a review of the experimental and archaeological evidence. J.Field Archaeol. 1997, 24:321-331.
17. Fischer A., Vemming Hansen P., Rasmussen P. Macro and microwear traces on lithic projectile points. Experimental results and prehistoric examples. J.Dan. Archaeol. 1984, 3:19-46.
18. Geneste J.M., Plisson H. Technologie fonctionnelle des pointes à cran solutréennes: l'apport des nouvelles données de la grotte de Combe Saunière (Dordogne). Feuilles de pierre. Les industries à pointes foliacées du Paléolithique supérieur européen 1990, 293-320. Université de Liège, Liège. J.K. Kozlowski (Ed.).
19. Geneste J.M., Plisson H. Hunting technologies and human behavior: lithic analysis of solutrean shouldered points. Before Lascaux, the Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic 1993, 117-135. CRC Press, Boca Raton. H. Knecht, A. Pike-Tay, R. White (Eds.).
20. Guthrie R.D. Osseous projectile points: biological considerations affecting raw material and design among paleolithic and paleoindian people. Animals and Archaeology. Hunters and their Prey 1983, 273-295. B.A.R, Oxford. J. Clutton-Brock, C. Grigson (Eds.).
21. Hauck T., Connan J., Charrié-Duhaut A., Le Tensorer J.-M., Sakhel H.A. Molecular evidence of bitumen in the Mousterian lithic assemblage of Hummal (Central Syria). J.Archaeol. Sci. 2013, 3252-3262.
22. Ho Ho Committee The Ho Ho classification and nomenclature committee report. Lithic Use-Wear Analysis 1979, Academic Press, New York. B. Hayden (Ed.).
23. Hughes S.S. Getting to the point: evolutionary change in prehistoric weaponry. J.Archaeol. Method Theor. 1998, 5:345-408.
24. Hutchings W.K. Measuring use-related fracture velocity in lithic armatures to identify spears, javelins, darts, and arrows. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2011, 38:1737-1746.
25. Iovita R., Schönekeß H., Gaudzinski-Windheuser S., Jäger F. Projectile impact fractures and launching mechanisms: results of a controlled ballistic experiment using replica Levallois points. J.Archaeol. Sci 2013.
26. Kamminga J. Over the edge: functional analysis of Australian stone tools. University of Queensland Anthropology Museum 1982.
27. Keeley L.H. Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses: a Microwear Analysis 1980, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
28. Knecht H. Projectile Technology 1997, Plenum Press, New York and London.
29. Lazuén T. European Neanderthal stone hunting weapons reveal complex behaviour long before the appearance of modern humans. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2012, 39:2304-2311.
30. Bettencourt-Saint-Ouen (Somme). Cinq Occupations paléolithiques au début de la dernière glaciation 2002, Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'Homme, Paris, Documents d'archéologie française. J.-L. Locht (Ed.).
31. Lombard M., Pargeter J. Hunting with Howiesons Poort segments: pilot experimental study and the functional interpretation of archaeological tools. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2008, 35:2523-2531.
32. Lombard M., Parsons I., van der Ryst M.M. Middle Stone Age lithic point experimentation for macro-fracture and residue analyses: the process and preliminary results with reference to Sibudu Cave points. S.Afr. J. Sci. 2004, 100:159-166.
33. Magontier P., Geneste J.M. Le temps des chasseurs solutréens 1998, France, p. 52 minutes, ADDC Archéolud; Delta Image France 3 Aquitaine Vision Age., Retrieved from: http://www.canal-u.tv/video/cerimes/le_temps_des_chasseurs_solutreens.11542.
34. Moss E.H. Some comments on edge damage as a factor in functional analysis of stone artefacts. J.Archaeol. Sci. 1983, 10:231-242.
35. Moss E.H. The Functional Analysis of Flint Implements. Pincevent and Pont D'Ambon: Two Case Studies from the French Final Palaeolithic 1983, BAR, Oxford.
36. Moss E.H., Newcomer M.H. Reconstruction of tool use at Pincevent: microwear and experiments. Tailler! Pourquoi faire: Préhistoire et technologie lithique 1982, 289-312. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. D. Cahen, U. CRA (Eds.).
37. O'Farrell M. Les pointes de La Gravette de Corbiac (Dordogne) et considérations sur la chasse au Paléolithique supérieur ancien. Approches fonctionnelles en préhistoire 2004, 121-138. Société préhistorique française, Paris. P. Bodu, C. Constantin (Eds.).
38. Odell G.H. The Mechanics of use-breakage of stone tools: some Testable Hypotheses. J.Field Archaeol. 1981, 8:197-209.
39. Odell G.H., Cowan F. Experiments with spears and arrows on animal targets. J.Field Archaeol. 1986, 13:195-212.
40. Pargeter J. Howiesons Poort segments as hunting weapons: experiments with replicated projectiles. South Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 2007, 62:147-153.
41. Pétillon J.-M., Bignon O., Bodu P., Cattelain P., Debout G., Langlais M., Laroulandie V., Plisson H., Valentin B. Hard core and cutting edge: experimental manufacture and use of Magdalenian composite projectile tips. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2011, 38:1266-1283.
42. Pétillon J.-M., Plisson H., Cattelain P. Thirty years of experimental research on the breakage patterns of Stone Age osseous points. Overview, methodological problems and current perspectives. Multidisciplinary Scientific Approaches to the Study of Stone-age Weaponry 2013, Springer, Mainz, (in press). R. Iovita, K. Sano (Eds.).
43. Pétrequin A.M., Pétrequin P. Flèches de chasse, flèches de guerre. Le cas des Danis d'Irian Jaya (Indonésie). Bull. Soc. Préhist. Fr. 1990, 87:484-511.
44. Plisson H. Technologie et tracéologie des outils lithiques moustériens en Union Soviétique: les travaux de V.E. Shchelinskij. L'Homme de Neandertal 1988, 121-168. ERAUL, Liège. M. Otte (Ed.).
45. Plisson H. Examen tracéologique des pointes aziliennes du Bois-Ragot. La grotte du Bois-Ragot à Gouex (Vienne).Magdalénien et Azilien. essais sur les hommes et leur environnement 2005, 183-189. Société Préhistorique Française, Paris. A. Chollet, V. Dujardin (Eds.).
46. Plisson H., Beyries S. Pointes ou outils triangulaires? Données fonctionnelles dans le Moustérien levantin. Paléorient 1998, 24:5-24.
47. Plisson H., Geneste J.M. Analyse technologique des pointes à cran solutréennes du Placard (Charente), du Fourneau du Diable, du Pech de la Boissière et de Combe Saunière (Dordogne). Paléo 1989, 1:65-105.
48. Rots V. Towards and Understanding of Hafting: the macro- and microscopic evidence. Antiquity 2003, 77(298):805-815.
49. Rots V. Prehensile wear on flint tools. Lithic Technol. 2004, 29(1):7-32.
50. Rots V. Prehension and Hafting Wear on Flint Tools. A Methodology 2010, Leuven University Press, Leuven.
51. Rots V. Projectiles and hafting technology. Multidisciplinary Scientific Approaches to the Study of Stone-age Weaponry 2013, Springer, Mainz, (in press). R. Iovita, K. Sano (Eds.).
52. Rots V. Insights into early Middle Palaeolithic tool use and hafting in Western Europe. The functional analysis of Level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-Saint-Vaast (France). J.Archaeol. Sci. 2013, 40:497-506.
53. Rozoy J.G. Les derniers chasseurs. L'Epipaléolithique en France et en Belgique. Essai de synthèse 1978, Société archéologique champenoise, Reims.
54. Schoville B., Brown K.S. Comparing lithic assemblage edge damage distributions: examples from the late Pleistocene and preliminary experimental results. Explor. Anthropol. 2010, 10:34-49.
55. Semenov S.A. Prehistoric Technology; an Experimental Study of the Oldest Tools and Artefacts from Traces of Manufacture and Wear 1964, Cory, Adams & Mackay, London.
56. Shea J.J. The origins of lithic projectile point technology: evidence from Africa, the Levant, and Europe. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2006, 33:823-846.
57. Shea J., Sisk M. Complex projectile technology and Homo sapiens dispersal into western Eurasia. Paleoanthropology 2010, 2010:100-122.
58. Shea J., Davis Z., Brown K. Experimental tests of Middle Palaeolithic spear points using a calibrated crossbow. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2001, 28:807-816.
59. Sigaut F. Un couteau ne sert pas à couper mais en coupant. Structure, fonctionnement et fonction dans l'analyse des objets. 25 ans d'études technologiques en Préhistoire. Bilan et perspectives 1991, 21-34. APDCA, Juan-les-Pins.
60. Simondon G. Du mode d'existence des objets techniques 1958, Aubier, Paris.
61. Sisk M.L., Shea J.J. Experimental use and quantitative performance analysis of triangular flakes (Levallois points) used as arrowheads. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:2039-2047.
62. Soriano S. Les microgravettes du Périgordien de Rabier à Lanquais (Dordogne), analyse technologique fonctionnelle. Gall. Préhist. 1998, 40:75-94.
63. Vaughan P. Use-wear Analysis of Flaked Stone Tools 1985, University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
64. Villa P., Lenoir M. Hunting weapons of the Middle stone Age and the Middle Palaeolithic: spear points from Sibudu, Rose Cottage and Bouheben. South. Afr. Humanit. 2006, 18:89-122.
65. Villa P., Lenoir M. Hunting and hunting weapons of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Europe. The Evolution of Hominid Diets: Integrating Approaches to the Study of Palaeolithic Subsistence 2009, 59-85. Springer Science & Business Media B.V. J.-J. Hublin, M. Richards (Eds.).
66. Villa P., Boscato P., Ranaldo F., Ronchitelli A. Stone tools for the hunt: points with impact scars from a Middle Paleolithic site in southern Italy. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:850-859.
67. Villa P., Soressi M., Henshilwood C.S., Mourre V. The still Bay points of Blombos Cave (South Africa). J.Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:441-460.
68. Villa P., Soriano S., Teyssandier N., Wurz S. The Howiesons Poort and MSA III at Klasies river main site, Cave 1A. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2010, 37:630-655.
69. Wadley L., Mohapi M. ASegment is not a Monolith: evidence from the Howiesons Poort of Sibudu, South Africa. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2008, 35:2594-2605.
70. Wilkins J., Schoville B., Brown K.S., Chazan M. Evidence for early hafted hunting technology. Science 2012, 338:942-946.
71. Yaroshevich A., Kaufman D., Nuzhnyy D., Bar-Yosef O., Weinstein-Evron M. Design and performance of microlith implemented projectiles during the Middle and the Late Epipaleolithic of the Levant: experimental and archaeological evidence. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2010, 37:368-388.
72. Cemehob C.A. 1957 Hayk CCCP, Mockba