Knowledge transmission and apprentice flint-knappers in the Acheulo-Yabrudian: A case study from Qesem Cave, Israel

Quaternary International

Volumn 398, Issue , 2016, Pages 70-85

  Assaf, Ella ^a   Barkai, Ran ^a   Gopher, Avi ^a  

^a TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY   (Israel)

Author keywords

Acheulo Yabrudian Cultural Complex; Knapping skills; Knowledge transmission; Qesem Cave

Indexed keywords

CAVE; FLINT; KNOWLEDGE; LEARNING; LITHIC FRAGMENT; PALEOLITHIC; TYPOLOGY;

CENTRAL DISTRICT; ISRAEL; QESEM CAVE;

EID: 84925355276     PISSN: 10406182     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.02.028     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Alperson-Afil N., Hovers E. Differential use of space in the Neanderthal site of Amud Cave, Israel. Eurasian Prehistory 2005, 3(1):3-22.
2. Assaf A. The Transmission of Knowledge and Apprentice Flint-knappers in the Acheulo-Yabrudian? a Case Study from Qesem Cave, Israel 2014, (M.A. thesis Submitted to the Archaeology Department), Tel Aviv University, Israel, (in Hebrew).
3. Assaf E., Parush Y., Gopher A., Barkai R. Intra-site variability in lithic recycling at Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary International 2015, 361:88-102.
4. Audouze F., Cattin M.I. Flint wealth versus scarcity. Consequences for Magdalenian apprenticeship. Lithic Technology 2011, 36:109-126.
5. Barkai R., Gopher A., Lauritzen S.E., Frumkin A. Uranium series dates from Qesem Cave, Israel, and the End of the Lower Palaeolithic. Nature 2003, 423:977-979.
6. Barkai R., Gopher A., Shimelmitz R. Middle Pleistocene blade production in the Levant: an Amudian assemblage from Qesem Cave, Israel. Eurasian Prehistory 2005, 3(2):39-74.
7. Barkai R., Lemorini C., Shimelmitz R., Lev Z., Stiner M., Gopher A. A blade for all seasons? Making and using Amudian blades at Qesem Cave, Israel. Human Evolution 2009, 24:57-75.
8. Barkai R., Lemorini C., Gopher A. Paleolithic cutlery 400,000-200,000 years ago: tiny meat-cutting tools from Qesem Cave, Israel. Antiquity 2010, 84(325). (Online).
9. Barkai R., Gopher A. Cultural and biological transformations in the Middle Pleistocene Levant: a view from Qesem Cave, Israel. Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans: Cultural Perspectives, Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans 2013, 115-137. Springer, Japan. T. Akazawa (Ed.).
10. Baxter J.E. The Archaeology of Childhood: Children, Gender and Material Culture 2005, 39-56. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.
11. Ben-Dor M., Gopher A., Hershkovitz I., Barkai R. Man the fat hunter: the demise of Homo erectus and the emergence of a new hominin lineage in the Middle Pleistocene (ca. 400 kyr) Levant. PLoS One 2011, 6(12):e28689.
12. Blasco R., Rosell J., Domínguez-Rodrigo M., Lozano S., Pastó I., Riba D., Carbonell E. Learning by heart: cultural patterns in the faunal processing sequence during the Middle Pleistocene. PloS one 2013, 8(2):e55863.
13. Blasco R., Rosell J., Gopher A., Barkai R. Subsistence economy and social life: a zooarchaeological view from the 300 ka central hearth at Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2014, 35:248-268.
14. Chazan M. Handaxes, concepts and teaching. Mind, Brain and Education 2012, 6:197-203.
15. Debénath A., Dibble H.L. Handbook of Paleolithic typology. The Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Europe 1994, vol. I. The University Museum: University of Pennsylvania.
16. Eren M.I., Bradley A.B., Sampson G.C. Middle Paleolithic skill level and the individual knapper: an experiment. American Antiquity 2011(a), 76(2):229-251.
17. Eren M.I., Lycett S.T., Roos C.I., Sampson G.C. Toolstone constraints on knapping skill: Levallois reduction with two different raw materials. Journal of Archaeological Science 2011(b), 38:2731-2739.
18. Falguères C., Richard M., Tombret O., Shao Q., Bahain J.J., Gopher A., Barkai R. New ESR/U-series dates in Yabrudian and Amudian layers at Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary International 2016, 398:6-12.
19. Ferguson J. An experimental test of the conservation of raw materials in flintknapping skill acquisition. Lithic Technology 2003, 28(2):11-131.
20. Ferguson J. The when, where, and how of novices in craft production. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 2008, 15:51-67.
21. Finlay N. Kid knapping: the missing children in lithic analysis. Invisible People and Processes: Writing Gender and Childhood into European Archaeology 1997, 203-212. Leicester University Press, London. J. Moore, E. Scott (Eds.).
22. Finlay N. Blank concerns: issues of skill and consistency in the replication of Scottish later Mesolithic blades. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 2008, 15:68-90.
23. Fischer A. A Late Paleolithic "school" of flint- knapping at Trollesgave, Denmark. Acta Archaeologica 1989, 60:33-49.
24. Geribas N., Mosquera M., Verges J.M. What novice knappers have to learn to become expert stone toolmakers. Journal of Archaeological Science 2010, 37:2857-2870.
25. Gopher A., Barkai R., Shimelmitz R., Khalaly M., Lemorini C., Hershkovitz I., Stiner M. Qesem Cave: an Amudian site in central Israel. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 2005, 35:69-92.
26. Gopher A., Ayalon A., Bar-Matthews M., Barkai R., Frumkin A., Karkanas P., Shahack-Gross R. The chronology of the Late Lower Paleolithic in the Levant: U series dates of speleothems from Middle Pleistocene Qesem cave, Israel. Quaternary Geochronology 2010, 5(6):644-656.
27. Grimm L. Apprentice flintknapping. Relating material culture and social practice in the Upper Paleolithic. Children and Material Culture 2000, 53-71. Routledge, London. J. Sofaer Derevenski (Ed.).
28. Henry D.O. Intra site spatial patterns and behavioral modernity: indications from the Late Levantine Mousterian site rockshelter of Tor Faraj, south Jordan. Neandertals and Modern Humans in Western Asia 1998, 127-142. Plenum Press, New York. T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.).
29. Hershkovitz I., Smith P., Sarig R., Quam R., Rodríguez L., García R., Arsuaga J.-L., Barkai R., Gopher A. Middle Pleistocene dental remains from Qesem Cave, Israel. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 2011, 144(4):575-592.
30. Hogberg A. Playing with flint: tracing a child's imitation of adult work in lithic assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 2008, 15:112-131.
31. Hovers E. Learning from mistakes: flaking accidents and knapping skills in the assemblage of A. L. 894 (Hadar, Ethiopia). The Cutting Edge: New Approaches to the Archaeology of Human Origins 2009, 137-150. Stone Age Institute, Gosport. K. Schick, N. Toth (Eds.).
32. Karkanas P., Shahack-Gross R., Ayalon A., Bar-Matthews M., Barkai R., Frumkin A., Gopher A., Stiner M.C. Evidence for habitual use of fire at the end of the Lower Paleolithic: site formation processes at Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 2007, 53:197-212.
33. Lemorini C., Assaf E., Parush Y., Barkai R., Gopher A. The function of recycled lithic items at late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel: an overview of the use-wear data. Quaternary International 2015, 361:103-112.
34. Lemorini C., Bourguignon L., Zupancich A., Gopher A., Barkai R. A scraper's life history: Use-Wear analysis of Amudian and Yabrudian scrapers from Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary International 2015, 398:86-93.
35. Loshe J.C. Evidence for learning and skill transmission in Clovis blade production and core maintenance. International Monographs in Prehistory No. 17 2010, 157-177. Ann Arbor, Michigan. B. Bradley, M.B. Collins, A.C. Hemmings (Eds.).
36. Maul L.C., Smith K.T., Shenbrot G., Bruch A., Barkai B., Gopher A. Palaeoecological and biostratigraphical implications of the microvertebrates of Qesem Cave. Quaternary International 2016, 398:219-232.
37. Mercier N., Valladas H., Falguères C., Shao Q., Gopher A., Barkai R., Bahain J.J., Vialettes L., Joron J.L., Reyss J.K. New datings of Amudian layers at Qesem Cave (Israel): results of TL applied to burnt flints and ESR/U-Series to teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 2013, 40:3011-3020.
38. Nichols J., Allstadt D.A. Hinge fracture of novice flintknappers. Lithic Technology 1978, 7(1):1-2.
39. Nonaka T., Bril B., Rein R. How do stone knappers predict and control the outcome of flaking? Implications for understanding early stone tool technology. Journal of Human Evolution 2010, 59:155-167.
40. Nowell A., White M. Growing up in the Middle Pleistocene: life history strategies and their relationship to Acheulian industries. Stone Tools and the Evolution of Human Cognition 2010, 67-78. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. A. Nowell, L. Davidson (Eds.).
41. Parush Y. Looking for Sharp Edges: Flint Recycling at Qesem Cave 2014, M.A. Thesis Submitted to the Archaeology Department, Tel-Aviv University.
42. Parush Y., Assaf E., Gopher A., Barkai R. Looking for sharp edges: modes of flint recycling at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary International 2015, 361:61-87.
43. Parush Y., Gopher A., Barkai R. Amudian versus Yabrudian under the rock shelf: a study of two lithic assemblages from Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary International 2015, 398:13-36.
44. Pigeot N. Technical and social actors. Flintknapping specialist and apprentices at Magdalenian Ettiolles. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 1990, 9(1):126-141.
45. Shahack-Gross R., Berna F., Karkanas P., Lemorini C., Gopher A., Barkai R. Evidence for the repeated use of a central hearth at Middle Pleistocene (300 ky ago). Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 2014, 41:12-21.
46. Shelly P.H. Variation in lithic assemblages: an experiment. Journal of Field Archaeology 1990, 17(2):187-193.
47. Shimelmitz R., Barkai R., Gopher A. Systematic blade production at late Lower Paleolithic (400-200 kyr) Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 2011, 61:458-479.
48. Shimelmitz R., Barkai R., Gopher A. Regional variability in Late Lower Paleolithic Amudian Blade Technology: analyzing new data from Qesem, Tabun and Yabrud I. Quaternary International 2016, 398:37-60.
49. Shipton C. Imitation and shared intentionality in the Acheulean. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2010, 20(2):197-210.
50. Sholts S.B., Stanford D.J., Flores L.M., Warmlander S.K.T.S. Flake scar patterns of Clovis points analyzed with a new digital morphometrics approach: evidence for direct transmission of technological knowledge across early North America. Journal of Archaeological Science 2012, 39:3018-3026.
51. Stapert D. Neanderthal children and their flints. Pal Arch's Journal of Archaeology of Northwest Europe 2007, 1(2):16-39.
52. Stapert D. Youngsters knapping flint near the campfire: an alternative view of Site K at Maastricht-Belvedere (the Netherlands). Archaologisches Korrespondenzblatt 2007, 37:19-34.
53. Sternke F., Sorensen M. The identification of children's flintknapping products in Mesolithic Scandinavia. Mesolithic Horizons: Papers Presented at the Seventh International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe, Belfast 2005 2009, 722-729. S.B. Mccartan, R. Schulting, G. Warren, P. Woodman (Eds.).
54. Stiner M., Gopher A., Barkai R. Cooperative hunting and meat sharing 400-200 ka at Qesem Cave, Israel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A 2009, 106:13207-13212.
55. Stiner M., Gopher A., Barkai R. Hearth-side socioeconomics, hunting and paleoecology during the late Lower Paleolithic at Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 2011, 60(2):213-233.
56. Takakura J. Using lithic refitting to investigate the skill learning process: lessons from Upper Paleolithic assemblages at the Shirataki sites in Hokkaiso, northern Japan. Cultural Perspectives 2013, vol. 1:151-173. Springer Science & Business Media. T. Akazawa, Y. Nishiaki, K. Aoki (Eds.).
57. Wilson L., Agam A., Barkai R., Gopher A. Raw material choices in Amudian versus Yabrudian lithic assemblages at Qesem Cave: a preliminary evaluation. Quaternary International 2015, 398:61-69.
58. Winton V. A Study of Palaeolithic Artefacts from Selected Sites on Deposits Mapped as Clay-with-flints of Southern England: with Particular Reference to Handaxe Manufacture 2004, 89-113. Archaeopress, Oxford.
59. Winton V. An investigation of knapping-skill development in the manufacture of Palaeolithic handaxes. Stone Knapping: the Necessary Conditions for a Uniquely Hominin Behavior 2005, 109-116. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England. V. Roux, B. Bril (Eds.).