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Exploring variability in lithic armature discard in the archaeological record.
Claudine Gravel-Miguel1, John K Murray2, Benjamin J Schoville3
1Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; Département d'anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Journal of Human Evolution
|April 13, 2021
Summary
The invention of projectile technology is key to human evolution. This study uses a model to show that most stone points were lost during hunting, not discarded at camps, suggesting rare finds indicate widespread use.
Area of Science:
- Archaeology
- Paleoanthropology
- Computational Modeling
Background:
- Projectile technology significantly impacted hominin evolution.
- Fluctuations in stone point assemblages complicate understanding the adoption and evolution of projectile use.
Observation:
- An agent-based model simulated hunter-gatherer foraging systems to analyze lithic armature distribution.
- Simulations explored human behavior, environmental constraints, population size, hunting rates, and tool curation.
Findings:
- Most projectile armatures are lost at hunting sites, with only ~4.5% discarded at habitation camps.
- Rarely found armatures in Early and Middle Stone Age sites may indicate established projectile tool use.
Implications:
- Lithic armature counts in assemblages are influenced by site reoccupation, population, hunting rates, and curation.
- Archaeological interpretations of armature counts must consider demographic and environmental contexts to understand hunting behavior changes.
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