Lithics 31

Recent years have seen a dramatic shift in the theoretical outlook of Palaeolithic archaeologists. As a result, the interpretive focus of archaeological investigations has begun to shift from the actions of hominin groups to the ways in which individual hominins influenced society. Some maintain that this 'bottom-up' approach is the analytical ideal, but others have suggested that the study of individuals is beyond the resolution of Palaeolithic archaeology. Furthermore, a solid methodological framework is still lacking. This paper discusses the extent to which the 'bottom-up' approach can be sustained. Focusing on the Lower Palaeolithic and using an experimental assemblage of stone tools coupled with the chaine operatoire approach to lithic reduction, it investigates whether individual knappers can be traced through the idiosyncratic signatures they leave in their knapping sequences. The possibility of distinguishing individuals in deep prehistory would grant new insights into hominin identity, interaction and specialisation beyond mere theoretical musings. However, as the results of this experiment show, Palaeolithic archaeologists are currently unable to accurately approach this fine-grained level of analysis, which has obvious implications for any discussion of the individual and their social relationships throughout prehistory.

This paper considers lithic raw material procurement strategies of hunter-gatherers in the Late Glacial Interstadial in Britain. It compares the Creswellian (13-12,000 radiocarbon years ago) with the Federmesser (12-11,000 radiocarbon years ago) and suggests on present evidence that the movement of prepared blades and cores by people, sometimes over long distances, was more prevalent in the earlier period. In contrast to the Creswellian, more variable behaviour is observed in the Federmesser, which might partly be a consequence of changes in the landscape, although other contributory factors are considered also.

This paper considers some possible avenues for new research into the study of lithics for British and Irish assemblages dating from the Mesolithic and Neolithic. While scholars have been successful in extracting detail on technological aspects of stone tools, it is argued that we now need to integrate other approaches. Firstly, the significance of colour in relation to stone tools is considered. Secondly, the paper discusses how specific research questions can help frame the methodologies used for both the collection and subsequent analysis of chipped stone assemblages. The research questions for the Southern Kintyre Project are briefly discussed, and new scientific techniques are outlined which could potentially answer these questions. It is also argued that by making our methods more accessible to the wider archaeological community via the World Wide Web, we can potentially enable others to run their own projects. Ultimately this could mean we could compare results across broad areas. This paper is thus offered as a starting point for thinking about new research priorities which can potentially revitalise our study of lithics.

In 2009 a stone tool of a type known as a biface was found during excavations for new housing in Cornelius Vale, Chelmer Village, Chelmsford. It is a fine example of the bout coupe biface associated with Mousterian contexts in Britain and its geological context supports deposition during the Early Middle Devensian glaciation. The Cornelius Vale biface is the first archaeological evidence of Neanderthal presence in the Chelmer Valley and may reflect a later migrationary episode of Neanderthals out of continental Europe. Au/LD

Nine Neolithic polished axe-heads of rhyolitic rock (Implement Petrology Committee classification 'Group VIII') were characterised non-destructively using portable X-ray fluorescence analysis in order to investigate the extent of variation in the composition of Group VIII axes, and to compare them with rhyolitic debris from two axe manufacturing sites in south-west Wales reported by David and Williams in 1995 (Glyn-y-Fran and Glandy Cross). Two additional Group VIII axes for which analyses have been published previously are also discussed here. Six axe-heads out of a total of eleven have compositions consistent with an origin at the axe factories; a further axe may be from Glandy Cross. The other four axes do not match the debris at the factory sites. Axes of Glyn-y-Fran and Glandy Cross compositions reached dispersed sites in central, southern, and eastern England, suggesting some human transport or trade.

This paper presents and discusses the results of a technological analysis of a sizeable chipped flint assemblage recovered from a recently excavated Middle Bronze Age (c.1600-1150 BC) settlement at Stansted Airport, Essex, England. Technological data for this assemblage attest to highly localised raw material procurement and a general lack of control, or concern over, both core reduction and tool production processes. On-site core reduction can be characterised as simple, unsystematic and generally wasteful. Dominated by miscellaneous retouched flakes and scrapers, the retouched component of the assemblage suggests a similarly expedient or informal approach to tool production on the site. Together, these findings are consistent with those of other Middle Bronze Age chipped flint assemblages from southern and eastern England. Existing explanatory models for assemblages of this period have emphasised progressive functional substitution and the changing social role of chipped stone artefacts as key influences on the organisation of lithic technology. Whilst recognising the major interpretive value of these models, it is argued here that two other critically important influences, namely, sedentism and raw material availability, have to date been overlooked.

Reworked lithic assemblages in open-air settings represent a significant component of the earlier Palaeolithic record. However, their derivation creates interpretative difficulties through the loss of primary spatial and environmental associations. The recognition of post-depositional alteration and its effect on a lithic assemblage is an important aspect of Palaeolithic research. This paper reports on a recently instigated project that is using a plastic tumbling barrel to rotate experimentally manufactured core and flake assemblages and handaxe sets in order to observe the resultant abrasion and breakage patterns. The experiments aim to develop datasets for broader applications by testing the effects of a range of variables in detail. LD

Obituary for Sjeuf Felder, a pioneering member of the Limburg branch of the Netherlands Geological Association as well as a protagonist in its Prehistoric Flint Mines Working Group. Sjeuf was closely involved with work at the Neolithic flint mining site at Rijckholt and worked for many years as a curator at the Maastricht Museum of Natural History. He also worked with the British Museum team at Grimes Graves in Norfolk in the 1970s, where his insight and experience threw light on the methods and behaviours of his Neolithic predecessors. LD