Stone Tools in Human Evolution - Behavioral Differences among Technological Primates

252 Pages·2016·13.24 MB·English

by  John J. Shea

STONETOOLSINHUMANEVOLUTION:BEHAVIORALDIFFERENCES
AMONGTECHNOLOGICALPRIMATES
InStoneToolsinHumanEvolutionJohnSheaarguesthatoverthepastthreemillion
yearshominins’technologicalstrategiesshiftedfromoccasionaltooluse,muchlike
that seen among living non-human primates, to a uniquely human pattern of
obligatory tool use. Examining how the lithic archaeological record changed
overthecourseofhumanevolution,hecomparestoolusebylivinghumansand
non-human primates, and predicts how the archaeological stone tool evidence
should have changed as distinctively human behaviors evolved. Those behaviors
include using cutting tools, logistical mobility (carrying things), language and
symbolic artifacts, geographic dispersal and diaspora, and residential sedentism
(livinginthesameplaceforprolongedperiods).Sheathenteststhosepredictions
by analyzing the archaeological lithic record from 6500 years ago to 3.5 million
yearsago.
John J. Shea is Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University. He is the
authorofStoneToolsinthePaleolithicandNeolithicNearEast:AGuide(2013),and
co-editorofOutofAfrica1:TheFirstHomininColonizationofEurasia(2010).Sheais
also an expert flintknapper whose demonstrations of stone tool production and
other “ancestral technology” skills appear in numerous television documentaries
and in the United States National Museum of Natural History in Washington,
D.C.,aswellasintheAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistoryinNewYorkCity.
STONE TOOLS IN HUMAN
EVOLUTION
ff
Behavioral Di erences among Technological Primates
john j. shea
AnthropologyDepartment
StonyBrookUniversity
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,ny10006,USA
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
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©JohnShea2017
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Firstpublished2017
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabySheridanBooks,Inc.
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Shea,JohnJ.(JohnJoseph)author.
Stonetoolsinhumanevolution:behavioraldifferencesamongtechnologicalprimates/JohnJ.Shea,
AnthropologyDepartment,StonyBrookUniversity.
Cambridge,UnitedKingdom:CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge,
[2017]|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
LCCN2016028973|ISBN9781107123090|ISBN9781107554931(paperback)
LCSH:Tools,Prehistoric.|Stoneimplements.|Humanevolution.|Socialevolution.
LCCGN799.T6S542017|DDC930.1/2–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016028973
isbn978-1-107-12309-0Hardback
isbn978-1-107-55493-1Paperback
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For Pat,Bianca,andBoudicca

CONTENTS
ListofFigures pageix
ListofTables xi
ListofBoxes xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
LittleQuestionsvs.BigQuestions 1
WhyArchaeologistsMisunderstandStoneTools 5
2 HowWeKnowWhatWeThinkWeKnowAboutStoneTools . . . 10
SourcesofInformationaboutLithicTechnology 10
APre-industrialModelofLithicTechnology 13
Non-humanPrimateStoneToolUse 17
3 DescribingStoneTools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
EssentialTermsandConcepts 20
InessentialTermsandConcepts 25
ANewDescriptiveFramework 29
4 StoneCuttingTools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
StoneToolsasArtificialTeeth/Nails 39
ThePlio-PleistoceneEvidence 44
StoneCuttingTools:PredictionsEvaluated 52
5 LogisticalMobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Residentialvs.LogisticalMobility 56
Early-MiddlePleistoceneEvidence 62
LogisticalMobilityandStoneTools:PredictionsEvaluated 74
6 LanguageandSymbolicArtifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Languagevs.Non-humanPrimateCommunication 84
TheMiddle-LatePleistoceneEvidence 90
LanguageandSymbolicArtifacts:PredictionsEvaluated 101
vii
viii Contents
7 DispersalandDiaspora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Diasporavs.Endemism 110
TheLatePleistoceneandEarlyHoloceneEvidence 117
DiasporaandStoneTools:PredictionsEvaluated 133
8 ResidentialSedentism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Sedentismvs.Mobility 146
TheSouthernLevantintheLatePleistoceneandEarlyHolocene:
ACaseStudy 153
ResidentialSedentismintheLevant:PredictionsEvaluated 165
9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Overview 179
StrategicChangesinHomininStoneToolUse 183
ConcludingThoughts 191
AppendixTraditionalArchaeologicalAge-stagesandIndustries 194
Glossary 198
Bibliography 205
Index 232
FIGURES
1.1 Industrialvs.pre-industrialandnon-humanprimatemodels
ofstonetooluse. page6
2.1 Chimpanzeestonetooluse.(PhotobyTetsuroMatsuzawa,Kyoto
University,usedwithpermission.) 18
3.1 Basictermsforlithicartifactsandlithicartifactproduction. 22
3.2 Indexfossils,age-stages,industries,andtechnocomplexes. 26
3.3 ModesA–E. 30
3.4 ModesF–I. 31
3.5 Illustrationconventionsusedinthisbook. 36
4.1 Contrastsinmalehumanvs.chimpanzeeteeth. 41
4.2 Humanvs.bonobohandsshownwithfingersextendedandgripping
astonepercussor. 42
4.3 LocationsofimportantPlio-Pleistocenesites. 45
4.4 Plio-Pleistocenehomininfossilcrania. 48
4.5 Plio-Pleistocenestonetools. 51
4.6 Stonetoolsmadebyabonobo. 55
5.1 LocationsofEarly-MiddlePleistocenesites. 62
5.2 CraniaofEarly-MiddlePleistoceneHomo. 64
5.3 Early-MiddlePleistocenelongcore-tools. 69
5.4 Early-MiddlePleistocenelargeflakecoresandlongcore-tools
madeonflakes. 70
5.5 Early-MiddlePleistocenebifacialhierarchicalcoretechnology. 71
5.6 Early-MiddlePleistocenebladecores,blades,andretouchedblades. 73
5.7 StrategicCacheandRoutedForagingModelsforEarly-Middle
Pleistocenesiteformation. 77
5.8 AvarietyofhandaxesfromPleistocenecontexts. 81
6.1 LocationsofMiddle-LatePleistocenesites. 91
6.2 Middle-LatePleistocenehominincrania. 92
6.3 Middle-LatePleistoceneretouchedtoolsandunretouchedflakes
fromhierarchicalcores. 97
6.4 ElongatedbifacesfromMiddle-LatePleistocenecontextsinEurasia
andAfrica. 99
6.5 Middle-LatePleistocenehierarchicalcoresandflakes. 100
ix
x ListofFigures
6.6 Middle-LatePleistoceneflakesandretouchedpieces. 103
6.7 ConjecturalhaftingarrangementsforMiddle-LatePleistoceneartifacts. 104
6.8 Behavioralmodernityvs.behavioralvariability. 108
7.1 Populationmovements:Migrationanddispersal. 111
7.2 LatePleistocene/EarlyHolocenehumandispersals. 118
7.3 LocationsofearlySahulianarchaeologicalsites. 119
7.4 StonetoolsassociatedwithhumandispersaltoSahul. 120
7.5 GeographicgroupsofnorthernEurasianLatePleistocene
archaeologicalsitesincludedinthisstudy. 123
7.6 StonetoolsassociatedwithhumandispersaltonorthernEurasia. 125
7.7 LocationsofBeringianandearlyAmericanarchaeologicalsites. 129
7.8 StonetoolsassociatedwithhumandispersaltotheAmericas. 130
7.9 Pressure-flakedartifacts. 140
7.10 ArtifactsfromEarlyHoloceneEurope,LatePleistocene/Early
HoloceneSouthwestAsia,andHoloceneSouthAfricagenerally
acceptedasmicroliths. 141
7.11 SmallartifactsfromEurope>17KaandAfrica>40Kanotgenerally
acceptedasmicroliths. 142
7.12 StonetoolsfromLiangBuaandMataMenge,Indonesia. 144
8.1 LocationsofLevantineTerminalPleistocenearchaeologicalsites. 154
8.2 LocationsofLevantineEarlyHolocenearchaeologicalsites. 155
8.3 RepresentativeLevantineTerminalPleistocenestonetools. 158
8.4 RepresentativeLevantineEarlyHolocenestonetools. 159
8.5 LevantineTerminalPleistocene/EarlyHolocenegroundstonetools. 164
8.6 LevantineTerminalPleistoceneandEarlyHolocenelithicprojectile
armatureswithconjecturalhaftingarrangements. 167
8.7 LevantineTerminalPleistocene/EarlyHolocenecelts,conjectural
haftingofaxes,adzes,andtheuseofachisel. 169
8.8 Functionalspecializationamongsickleinserts,perforators,and
seed-grindingequipment. 170
8.9 “Simple”and“overdesigned”stonepoints,knives,sickleinserts,celts,
andvessels. 172
8.10 Prehistoricexamplesofextremeflintknapping. 176