The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies

432 Pages·2020·134.795 MB·English

by  Steven L. Kuhn

THE EVOLUTION OF PALEOLITHIC

TECHNOLOGIES
The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies provides a novel perspective on long-t erm
trajectories of evolutionary change in Paleolithic tools and tool- makers.
Members of the human lineage have been producing stone tools for more than
3 million years. These artefacts provide key evidence for important evolutionary
developments in hominin behaviour and cognition. Avoiding conventional
approaches based on progressive stages of development, this book instead examines
global trends in six separate dimensions of technological behaviour between
2.6 million and 10,000 years ago. Combining these independent trends results
in both a broader and a more finely punctuated perspective on key intervals of
change in hominin behaviour. To draw this picture together, the concluding section
explores behavioural, cognitive, and demographic implications of developments in
material culture and technological procedures at seven key intervals during the
Pleistocene.
Researchers interested in Paleolithic archaeology will find this book invaluable.
It will also be of interest to archaeologists researching stone tool technology and to
students of human evolution and behavioural change in prehistory.
Steven L. Kuhn is Riecker Distinguished Professor in the School of Anthropology,
University of Arizona. He has conducted research on Paleolithic sites and stone
artefacts in Turkey, Mediterranean Europe, the Levant, Morocco, and China. With
his wife and frequent collaborator, Dr. Mary Stiner, Dr. Kuhn has also published on
the evolution of human societies and symbolic behaviour during the Pleistocene.

THE EVOLUTION

OF PALEOLITHIC
TECHNOLOGIES
Steven L. Kuhn
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Steven L. Kuhn
The right of Steven L. Kuhn to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Kuhn, Steven L., 1956– author.
Title: The evolution of Paleolithic technologies / Steven L. Kuhn.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020003124 (print) | LCCN 2020003125 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138188877 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367140540 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781315642024 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Paleolithic period. | Tools, Prehistoric. |
Stone implements. | Technology and civilization. | Human evolution. |
Prehistoric peoples–Historiography.
Classification: LCC GN772 .K85 2020 (print) |
LCC GN772 (ebook) | DDC 930.1/2–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020003124
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020003125
ISBN: 9781138188877 (hbk)
ISBN: 9780367140540 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781315642024 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
CONTENTS

List of figures vi

List of tables x

Acknowledgements xi

1 Introduction 1

2 Thinking about technological evolution 13

3 Parts and wholes 38

4 Raw material economies 68

5 Artefacts as information 111

6 Identifying design 145

7 Diversity 202

8 Artefact complexity 252

9 Synthesis – trends, tendencies and entrenchments 286

Bibliography 323

Index 408
FIGURES

3.1 Schematic diagram showing the role of a Magdalenian backed
bladelet in a larger hunting system. 39
3.2 Some of the diverse applications for microlithic inserts based on
ethnographic and archaeological evidence. 41
3.3 Flake with lump of birch- bark pitch on the proximal end, from
Campitello Quarry, Italy. 44
3.4 Examples of hafting Mode A. Ethnographic Leilira blades from
Australia. 45
3.5 Examples of hafting Mode B; experimental versions of tanged
Aterian artefacts with different kinds of socket haft. 46
3.6 Examples of hafting Mode C. Mesolithic arrow with five
microlithic inserts in place. 47
3.7 The world’s earliest hafted spear points (for now), from Kathu Pan,
South Africa. 49
3.8 Possible wooden haft from Schöningen site, Germany. 51
3.9 Bifacial “leaf” points from various contexts dating to MIS 4 or
early MIS 3. 53
3.10 Sample of tanged artefacts from Aterian deposits at Bizmoune Cave,
Morocco. 54
3.11 Hypothetical hafting positions for backed segments from Howiesons
Poort layers at Umhlatuzana Rockshelter, South Africa. 56
3.12 Middle Paleolithic artefacts with traces of bitumen adhesive on
proximal ends, Hummal, Syria. 57
3.13 Impact scars on pointed artefacts from early Middle Paleolithic
layers at Misliya Cave, Israel. 58
3.14 Bladelets from proto- Aurignacian layers at Grotta Fumane, layers A1
and A2. 61
List of figures vii
3.15 Pressure micro- blades and cores, late Pleistocene Dyuktai complex,
northeast Asia. 62
3.16 Retouched and backed bladelets and cores, early Epipaleolithic
(Kebaran) from Meged Rockshelter, Israel. 63
3.17 Schematic illustration of microburin “notch and snap” technique for
sectioning small blades and bladelets. 64
3.18 Summary of developments in hafting and composite tools. 66
4.1 Schematic version of “concentric-ring” model of raw material
exploitation, Grotte Vaufrey, France. 76
4.2 Example of a “spider diagram” showing direct distances between a
site and sources of lithic raw materials, Gargas, France. 77
4.3 Potential raw material exploitation zones expressed as travel time
around the Côa Valley, Portugal. 78
4.4 Kaletepe obsidian deposits and workshop, central Turkey. 81
4.5 Diagram of raw material movement at Olduvai Gorge between 1.9
and 1.65 ma. 88
4.6 Acheulo- Yabrudian artefacts had diverse life histories. 93
4.7 Graph illustrating typical negative correlation between proportion
of flakes transformed by retouch and density of lithic artefacts in
archaeological deposits, Mousterian levels, Riparo Mochi, Italy. 96
4.8 Example of early long- distance movement of obsidian in Middle
Stone Age assemblages at the Sibilo School Road Site (SSRS) in
Kenya. 98
4.9 Extensively modified and reduced transverse scraper and limace
from the Middle Paleolithic site of Champ Grand, France. 100
4.10 Map showing lithic raw material displacements in early Upper
Paleolithic (Aurignacian) sites in Central Europe. 104
4.11 Ju/ ’hoansi “zem” or tortoise- shell compact case, decorated
with ostrich eggshell beads. 106
4.12 Early ground- edge tools from Madjedbebe Rockshelter, Australia. 109
4.13 Summary of trends in raw material economics. 110
5.1 Serrated bifacial Dalton points from the late Paleoindian Sloan site,
Arkansas, USA. 114
5.2 Very symmetrical, partially shaped handaxe on flint slab from
Tabun Cave, Israel. 124
5.3 Large, very symmetric Acheulean handaxe, with close- up of tip,
Isimila, Tanzania. 126
5.4 Handaxes of different sizes but very similar forms, Tabun Cave. 128
5.5 Large retouched Levallois point from the early Mousterian at
Tabun Cave. 131
5.6 Red ochre pieces from the MSA site of Porc Epic, Ethiopia. 132
5.7 Nassarius shell beads from Taforalt Grotte des Pigeons, Morocco. 133
5.8 Ostrich eggshell fragments decorated with incised lines from late
MSA layers at Diepkloof Rockshelter, South Africa. 134
viii List of figures
5.9 Solutrean shouldered point; cast of largest known Solutrean laurel
leaf; and cast of large Clovis point. 136
5.10 Map showing general distributions of earliest European Upper
Paleolithic “cultures:” LRJ, Szeletian, Chatelperronian, Uluzzian, and
Bohunician or Initial Upper Paleolithic. 138
5.11 Likely points from earliest European Upper Paleolithic complexes. 138
5.12 Distributions of different forms of Solutrean point within
three parts of the Iberian peninsula. 140
5.13 Summary of developments in signalling and symbolic content
of artefacts. 143
6.1 Metal cast of the underground chamber and passage system
constructed by the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius. 146
6.2 Typological Mousterian points and retouched Levallois points from
early Mousterian layers at Tabun Cave. 151
6.3 Alternative trajectories for reduction of Mousterian scrapers
proposed by H. Dibble (1987, 1995). 153
6.4 Schematic illustration of progressive reduction in Dalton points
from the southern United States. 155
6.5 Schematic illustration of reduction of “Tongatis” from Sibbudu
Cave, South Africa. 156
6.6 Ficron handaxe, East Sussex, England. 157
6.7 Schematic illustration of the geometry of a Levallois core. 162
6.8 Heavily battered quartz semi- spheroid, Isimila, Tanzania. 173
6.9 Early bifaces and protobifaces, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. 175
6.10 Trihedral Acheulean pick, Isimila, Tanzania. 176
6.11 Two handaxes produced by different methods. 178
6.12 Alternative views of handaxe design. 180
6.13 Pointed handaxe from bed 73, Tabun Cave. 181
6.14 Backed handaxe from bed 75, Tabun Cave. 182
6.15 Symmetrical and asymmetrical cleavers on flakes. 183
6.16 Schematic diagram of Tabelbala- Tachengit technique for
manufacturing cleaver flakes. 185
6.17 Handaxe on large obsidian flake, Level 6’AM, Kaletepe
Deresi 3, Turkey. 187
6.18 Large scrapers and blade tools from Yabrudian and Amudian
assemblages, Tabun Cave. 189
6.19 Schematic illustration of uni- and bidirectional laminar Levallois
production. 192
6.20 Range of geometric segments from Howiesons Poort levels
at Klasies River Mouth, South Africa. 194
6.21 Unilaterally barbed Magdalenian antler points or harpoons from the
site of La Vache, France. 199
6.22 Summary of developments in design of artefacts and production
methods. 200
List of figures ix
7.1 Schematic illustration of alpha diversity. 205
7.2 Schematic illustration of beta diversity. 206
7.3 Schematic illustration of gamma diversity. 208
7.4 Trends in diversity in sub- Saharan and North Africa. 248
7.5 Trends in diversity in Europe and southwest Asia. 249
7.6 Trends in diversity in Asia. 250
8.1 Aranda throwing sticks, Hopi throwing sticks, and Inuit
toggle- headed harpoon. 254
8.2 E. Callahan’s schematic illustration of the production of early
Paleoindian bifaces in eastern North America. 257
8.3 Non- hierarchical Oldowan knapping. 262
8.4 Example of simple hierarchical Kombewa technology from
Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. 267
8.5 Victoria West cores from the Canteen Kopje Acheulean site,
South Africa. 268
8.6 Schematic illustration of preparation and exploitation of Levallois
cores, illustrating several hierarchically organized stages. 269
8.7 Diagram of blade/ bladelet core production, Upper Paleolithic site
of Nahal Nizzana XIII, Israel. 274
8.8 Schematic diagram of production of blades from flat flint slabs,
Qesem Cave, Israel. 276
8.9 Reconstruction of the latter phases of microblade core shaping and
production, Kakuniyama site, Japan. 282
8.10 Magdalenian harpoons from Laugerie Haute and Laugerie Bas,
France. 283
8.11 Summary of developments in artefact complexity. 284
9.1 Global temperature trends from 3.0 ma to the present. 287
9.2 Summary of trends in composite tools, raw material economy
information content, design, and complexity. 288
9.3 Summary of trends in diversity in different regions. 289