Technology and Terminology of Knapped Stone - IRIT

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percussion o r pression point s Fig. 33 — Microburin blow technique. Production scheme of a microburin (4a) and a "piquant-trièdré" (4b) by percussion or pressure on one edge of a blade resting on an anvil (1, 2, 3). Using this technique to obtain a backed blade with a distal (5) or proximal (6) "piquant-trièdre" ', a trapeze, a crescent or a triangle (7, 8, 9). 10 : production of a triangle and a trapeze on the same blade ; from top to bottom : distal microburin, triangle, double microburin, trapeze, proximal microburin (Tixier et al., 1976b : fig. 16). is diagonal to the ridge. The near end of the tool is held in the hand, while the further end juts out over the ridge to the desired extent and falls off after fracture (fig. 33 : 1 to 3). With a small hammer, chosen relatively flat, small blows are repeatedly applied almost perpendicularly to the nearer edge of the blade or bladelet, level with the ridge of the anvil. A notch is thus created, which is deepened until spontaneous fracture occurs, slightly beyond the point of contact of the blade or bladelet with the anvil; not the slightest modulation in the blows or the path of the hammer is required during this operation. The fracture, which roughly follows the ridge of the anvil, is therefore oblique to the axis of the blade or bladelet. When the microburin blow is successful, the fracture is also oblique to the faces of the blade or bladelet. It can be seen on the upper face of the part that remains in the hand, which is a blade or bladelet with a "piquant-triedre" (fig. 33 : 4b) (the purpose of the operation), as well as on the lower face of the part that falls off, namely the microburin (fig. 33 : 4a). Such a result can also be acheived by applying pressure with a tool of wood, bone or antler. 83
If the microburin blow has removed the bulb-and-butt part, the microburin is termed proximal; the removal of the opposite end results in a distal microburin (fig. 33 : 5). On its upper face, a microburin displays part of a notch with direct retouches, while the lower face shows a fracture facet extending from the hollow of the notch to the opposite edge. A proximal microburin therefore often has a slightly asymmetrical, escutcheon-like morphology (fig. 33 : 6). The most important part of a microburin is the fracture facet, on which any diagnosis must be based. Besides being oblique both to the axis and the faces of the blade or bladelet, it must display all the characteristics of a fracture face : small to very small bulb, sometimes quite flat, common occurrence of hackles fanning out from the bulb, hardly noticeable fracture ripples. The facet is often twisted, and very slightly hinged where it meets the upper face of the blade or bladelet. The use of a stereoscopic microscope may be necessary to appreciate this tiny convexity, more prominent in its central part, to which corresponds, on the "piquant-triedre", a ridge that separates the fracture facet from the upper face. Running one's nail across the ridge is a useful trick : if the nail catches against the ridge, this will generally confirm the presence of a "piquant-triedre" (the nail does not catch against normal debitage arrises). Another characteristic of the fracture facet of the microburin is the frequent presence of fine direct retouches, or even of a shallow notch, located near the vertex of the angle formed by the fracture facet and what is left of the notch. Such "retouches" have often been used as an argument by those who insisted that the microburin was not a waste product, and who thus tried to prove it was used as a tool. Knapping experiments have shown that spontaneous removals could be generated by the very blow that produces the microburin. Reacting to the blow of the hammer, the microburin sometimes acts as a lever within a fraction of a second after fracture; the part formed by the fracture facet and the upper face presses down on the ridge of the anvil, and this is sufficient to produce a small continuous retouch, up to 1 cm long. A microburin can thus fall off already "retouched" by what really are spontaneous removals. Several types of blunders can occur : pronounced hinging, inverted angle of the fracture facet, fracture perpendicular to the axis and the two faces of the blank, etc. 2. Burin blow techniqu e This follows the same principles as debitage : using as a striking or pressure platform one of the surfaces (natural or prepared) of a blank, a usually elongated fragment, called "burin spall" (fig. 61), is removed by pressure or percussion along an edge or a line of preparation. By such means, one or more burin facets are produced. A burin blow can be applied by direct percussion of the hammer, or by striking the burin-to-be against a hammer held stationary in the hand, or even by pressure. Frequently, several burin facets can be produced on a single blank by means of the burin blow, and as any position is possible, combinations of surfaces are innumerable (see lexicon). Since a single burin blow can produce several spalls, sharpening by one or more burin blows can only be proved by means of refits and/or the presence of traces of use - except perhaps in the case of complete repair (for instance, a truncated burin with a new burin blow applied on the other edge, fig. 79 : 5). Although systematically recorded, the characteristics waste products of burins - spalls and sharpening spalls - are rarely included in the technological analysis of a lithic assemblage. Stylistic variations are virtually infinite, and in the west European Upper Palaeolithic some very special types of burins (e.g. : "carinated", "Noailles", "parrot's beak"), being short-lived, are characteristic of certain periods. The burin waste products - spalls and sharpening spalls - can be retouched, and thus become tools. For instance, such spalls can be excellent blanks for the production of drill-bits. The use of this technique does not necessarily imply the manufacture of a tool. Indeed, if it can be shown that the production of blanks is intended, the burin is referred to as a core. At the Neolithic site of Lagreich (Mali) 81 , all the burins are cores for the production of spalls, which were used for pecking holes in carnelian beads. It is quite plausible to consider that burins could be used both as tools and as cores. The idea that burins must be equated with tools, and spalls 81 Gaussen, Gaussen, 1965. 84
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Technology and Terminology of Knapp
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In the same collection Préhistoire
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Authors Marie-Louise Inizan*, Mich
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Chapter 4 : Debitage 59 The core De
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List o f illustration s Fig. 1 Raw
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Foreword Many students and research
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Why? Technology has its place withi
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In blade debitage 17 , for instance
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Chapter 1 Raw material s Knapped ha
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2. Knappin g suitability o f hard r
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• A single block of raw material
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Raw material procuremen t strategie
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unmodified block roughed ou t or pr
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Knapping, shaping, flaking, retouch
Page 33 and 34: could not be reached with such othe
Page 35 and 36: ipples, hackles (see p. 142). Parad
Page 37 and 38: • Languette 31 breaks occurring o
Page 39 and 40: - distinguish intentional from unin
Page 41 and 42: Fig. 9 — Blade debitage carried o
Page 44 and 45: Chapter 3 Shaping We use the term s
Page 46 and 47: to another in the course of roughin
Page 48 and 49: Fig. 13 — Example of bifacial sha
Page 50 and 51: aspects be from now on taken into c
Page 52 and 53: Polyhedral and spheroidal shaping a
Page 54 and 55: Fig. 18 — Preforms. 1 : experimen
Page 56 and 57: (fig. 18 : 3), using indirect percu
Page 58: As a rule, the part played by shapi
Page 61 and 62: study should not be dissociated fro
Page 63 and 64: Fig. 21 62 1 — Relatively simple
Page 65 and 66: Fig. 22 — Volumetric representati
Page 67 and 68: 66 Fig. 23 — Levallois debitage o
Page 69 and 70: 1. Recurrent unipolar Levallois met
Page 71 and 72: 0 1 2 3 9 Fig. 26 — Various examp
Page 73 and 74: 72 Fig. 28 — Phonolite cleaver on
Page 75 and 76: In the repeated production of blade
Page 77 and 78: Indirect percussion Strangely enoug
Page 79 and 80: Fig. 31 — Pressure debitage of bl
Page 81 and 82: method was invented in a Sibero-Mon
Page 83: These seven characteristics, as wel
Page 87 and 88: Fig. 34 — Various examples of spe
Page 90 and 91: Chapter 6 Technology a s a means to
Page 92 and 93: 1. Observation o f surface conditio
Page 94 and 95: 3. Framework fo r th e readin g o f
Page 96 and 97: Fig. 36 — Refitting. Centripetal
Page 98 and 99: hammer, the stability of the core o
Page 100 and 101: Only the major milestones in the co
Page 102 and 103: Chapter 7 0 I ~"~2 3 4 o Graphic re
Page 104 and 105: 103 Fig. 37 — Acheulean handaxe,
Page 106 and 107: Fig. 39 — Pressure-flaked bladele
Page 108 and 109: Fig. 41 — Examples of orientation
Page 110 and 111: 1 I Fig. 43 — Two layouts of view
Page 112 and 113: 4. Graphi c desig n an d techniqu e
Page 114 and 115: Fig. 46 — Tracing the outline and
Page 116 and 117: Fig. 47 — Uncompleted laurel leaf
Page 118 and 119: Fig. 48 — Graphical treatment of
Page 120 and 121: Fig. 50 — Large convex Mousterian
Page 122 and 123: 6. Symbol s Although multiple views
Page 124 and 125: Clean breaks are indicated by two s
Page 126 and 127: Fig. 54 — Schematic representatio
Page 128: indicated by numbered arrows. The p
Page 131 and 132: ANVIL. A block of relatively hard s
Page 133 and 134: produced at the very moment the fla
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Fig. 60 — Inclination of a burin
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Fig. 62 — Various types of butts.
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If the morphology of the raw materi
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7 8 9 11 1 2 13 1 4 1 5 Fig. 65 —
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- or from a cobble, a slab, a core,
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INVERSE. A term defining a position
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distinguish the types of certain to
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Fig. 72 — The stone-knapper's set
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5 Fig. 74 — Various examples of p
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1 2 3 Fig. 75 — Position of remov
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0 1 cm Fig. 78 — Proximal fragmen
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conventionally applied to "the fash
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AKAZAWA T., ODA S., YAMANAKA I. 198
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CRABTREE D.E. 1966 A stone worker's
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LAPLACE G. 1964 Essai de typologie
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SEMENOV S. A. 1964 Prehistoric tech
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Multilingual vocabulary
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pressure platfor m : proximal: f i
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ENGLISH : FRENCH abrasion : abrasio
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Levallois (méthode, éclat, etc.)
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punctiform : punktförmi g refittin
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ENGLISH : GREEK translated by A. Mo
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epiklinήV (epexergasίa) : low ang
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punch : punzone punctiform : puntif
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ENGLISH : PORTUGUESE translated by
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face : fac e faceta: buri n face t
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pressure platform : plano de presi
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