Technology and Terminology of Knapped Stone - IRIT

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1. Observation o f surface condition s Any reading of an object must begin with the careful examination of the surface condition(s), bearing in mind that: - by the word "cortex" we understand a natural surface; - by the word "patina" we understand an alteration of an intentionally worked (or used) surface; - by the word "neocortex" we understand a surface of original cortex that has been altered by natural causes, such as fluvial transport. The presence of neocortex is therefore indicative of a secondary deposit of raw material. Once the specimens showing only cortical surfaces have been set aside, technological analysis entails examining the entire appearance of a tool as it has come down to us. The indelible marks of its history must be deciphered according to their chronology. Take the case of a core whose removal negatives have fresh arrises and ridges, others being blunted and striated as if by fluvial transport. Such a core carries several informations : it was first used as an "active" core, then rolled around, subsequently picked up (away from the point where it was found) and then flaked again before being discarded for good. There are even documented examples of tools having undergone three series of retouches, each showing a different patina. Further sorting out may be necessary, in order to set aside "pseudo-tools". Amongst others, these are most frequently pseudo-bifaces or "pebble-tools" fractured by frost or by a wide variation in temperature and humidity (the latter being common in desert settings); also, cobbles "knapped" by surf or glacial compression, and the (sometimes prehistoric) pieces crushed by cryoturbation or by mechanical devices ("denticulates", "scrapers", "raclettes", "borers", etc.). For any assemblage studied, it is therefore absolutely necessary to know the exact physical context of the site of origin : - surface site; - buried site; - thickness and lithology of the archaeological layer; - angle of dip; - origin of the sediments (volcanic, metamorphic, sedimentary - aeolian or fluvial, glacial); - cliff-base, talus slope, etc. It should be kept in mind that, even in a living zone, trampling is far from negligible; it can become quite intense around springs where large animals have come to drink. In all instances the accumulation of observations is essential. 2. Types o f surface condition s The following examples are intended simply as an indicative list. 2.1. Natural alteration s • Cortex is an integral part of the raw material in its natural condition, before being knapped. Its presence or absence on flakes provides information about the management and origin of the raw material. • Patina, due to physical and chemical interactions, consists of a modification of the surface, which does not notably change its morphology. The degree of modification is eminently variable : it entails a change in colour - with or without modification of the granularity of the texture - either solely on the surface (film) or more deeply, sometimes throughout the body of the piece, which can then become considerably lighter. The causes are so numerous and varied (even within a single layer), and their study so complex that no chronological classification based on patina has yet been successfully developed, even when only one site is involved. • Wind gloss is less glassy than that due to the swirling of sand in artesian springs. Both weathering phenomena can wear down an artefact to the point where its morphology is substantially modified, so that all traces of knapping may be obliterated. 91
• Thermal damage mainly covers : frost fractures, which can range from simple cracks to frost pits, or even to total fracture; variations in temperature combined with those of ambient humidity, giving more or less the same results (fig. 35); unintentional heat-altering, which produces "pot lid" fractures, crazed surfaces sometimes mimicking retouch on an edge, or clean fractures, accompanied by change of colour and lustre when the temperature exceeds 250°C. Such traces may be the only clues to accidental conflagrations or to ancient hearths. 2.2. Mechanical device s Ranging from the plough to the bulldozer, present human activities cover ever larger surfaces, and affect ever deeper layers of the soil; lithic objects disfigured by mechanical contact with metal and often simulating retouch are therefore more and more common. Fortunately, such pieces are rarely free of specks or streaks of rust, and can also generally be detected owing to their multiple patinas. 2.3. Humanly induce d alteration s Whether intentional or unintentional, heating can bring about the same visible alterations. There again, interpretation must rely on the chronological order of the facts : the systematic occurrence or high frequency of pieces altered by heating prior to retouching is strongly suggestive of heat treatment. However, there are documented examples of artefacts picked up (in the same way as tools with a double patina) after having been accidentally heat-altered because they happened to lie next to or under a hearth. Such artefacts can then have been used as cores or tool blanks. Intentional heat-treating of siliceous rocks in order to improve pressure debitage or retouch can at present only be inferred from the greasy lustre visible only on the part retouched after thermal treatment (fig. 68). Some alterations correspond to technical procedures : for instance, the blunting of the edge of a striking platform (see p. 131), the pecking or polishing of a pressure platform or of the debitage surface of a core, or even of the edge of a handaxe in the course of being shaped. The edge of a bifacial piece can also be deliberately blunted to prevent it from cutting, as is common in North America. Other alterations can be classified together with traces of use, such as the glosses and polishes formed as a result of utilization, or the blunting of some Upper Palaeolithic burins. 2.4. Addition s One must keep in mind that wood, resin, bitumen, leather and pigments, while not always visible, can be detected and analysed by means of microsampling (fig. 51). On the other hand, such elements may have resisted long enough for a double patina to develop, as in the case of some hafted implements. One should therefore proceed with caution when washing the pieces and applying varnish in the course of marking. To conclude, there are unlimited possible combinations of such modifications, alterations and additions. The importance and complexity of surface conditions, often impossible to unravel during field-work, require minute observation during the laboratory phase, as well as extreme caution in dealing with archaeological material during and immediately after excavation. Blunders can irretrievably jeopardize certain observations and characterizations, particularly those concerning additions. 92
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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
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could not be reached with such othe
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ipples, hackles (see p. 142). Parad
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• Languette 31 breaks occurring o
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- 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 and 84: These seven characteristics, as wel
Page 85 and 86: If the microburin blow has removed
Page 87 and 88: Fig. 34 — Various examples of spe
Page 90 and 91: Chapter 6 Technology a s a means to
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
Page 135 and 136: Fig. 60 — Inclination of a burin
Page 137 and 138: Fig. 62 — Various types of butts.
Page 139 and 140: If the morphology of the raw materi
Page 141 and 142: 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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