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A Core Reduction Experiment Finds No Effect of Original Stone Size and Reduction Intensity on Flake Debris Size Distribution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sam C. Lin ,
Cornel M. Pop ,
Harold L. Dibble ,
Will Archer ,
Dawit Desta ,
Marcel Weiss  and
Shannon P. McPherron
Sam C. Lin*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
Cornel M. Pop
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
Harold L. Dibble
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Will Archer
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
Dawit Desta
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
Marcel Weiss
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
Shannon P. McPherron
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
*
(sam_lin@eva.mpg.de, corresponding author)
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Abstract

Studies have long noted the influence of stone package size and reduction intensity on lithic assemblage composition, particularly in the form of flake size distributions. However, it remains difficult to distinguish objectively the effect of either factor in archaeological contexts without controlling for the variation in one of the two variables. Here we report on an experimental study designed to test the null hypotheses that original stone size and reduction intensity have no impact on the size distribution of lithic flake debris produced during core reduction. Results indicate statistically significant influence from original stone size but not reduction intensity, although the effects from the former are low enough to be considered trivial. In reviewing a sequence of archaeological assemblages from a Middle Paleolithic site, all exhibit an excess of smallsized materials in comparison to the experimental data. When exceptionally high frequencies of the smaller size classes occur, taphonomic processes are clearly responsible.

La influencia del tamaño y de la intensidad de reducción de los núcleos sobre la composición de colecciones líticas, especialmente con respecto a la distribución del tamaño de las lascas, ha sido señalada y discutida en varios estudios a lo largo del tiempo. Sin embargo, distinguir objetivamente entre los efectos de uno de estos factores en contextos arqueológicos, sin controlar la variación entre una de las dos variables, sigue siendo difícil. En este trabajo presentamos los resultados de un estudio experimental diseñado para evaluar dos hipótesis nulas que postulan que el tamaño original y la intensidad de reducción de los nódulos líticos no afectan la distribución del tamaño de los productos de la talla. Nuestros resultados indican una influencia significativa del tamaño original de los nódulos, aunque con efectos mínimos, pero no de la intensidad con la que estos son reducidos. Una evaluación de colecciones líticas de un sitio del Paleolítico Medio revela que todas ellas exhiben un exceso de materiales de pequeñas dimensiones en comparación con nuestros datos experimentales. En casos extremos, esto refleja claramente la influencia de procesos tafonómicos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , July 2016 , pp. 562 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016 

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