SYLLABUS LITHIC ANALYSIS ( ) Rutgers University Fall 2010

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1 SYLLABUS LITHIC ANALYSIS ( ) Rutgers University Fall 2010 Lecture days/hours: Wednesday, 2:155:15 PM Lecture location: BIO 315, Douglass Campus Instructors: Dr. J.W.K. Harris J.S. Reti, MA Office: BioSci, Room 203B Office: BioSci, Room 204C Office Hours: Friday 11:00 1:00 Office Hours: Wed. 12:00 2:00 COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is an integrated course that incorporates theoretical, behavioral, and practical aspects of lithic technology. Lithic Analysis is an advanced undergraduate course in human and nonhuman primate stone technology. Each student is expected to already have taken an introductory course in human evolution, primatology, and/or archaeology. Lithic Analysis is a subdiscipline of archaeology. The focus is on the inferential potential of stone tools with regard to human behavior. Early human ancestors first realized the utility of sharp stone edges for butchery and other practices. Arguably, without the advent of stone tools human evolution would have taken a different path. Stone tools allowed early hominins efficient access to meat resources and provided as avenue for cognitive development and threedimensional problem solving. This course will provide a threefold approach to lithic analysis: 1) study of archaeological sites and behavioral change through time relative to lithic technological changes, 2) insight into the art of laboratory lithic analysis and methods employed to attain concrete, quantitative behavioral conclusions, and 3) extensive training in stone tool replication. Such training will provide students with both an appreciation for the skills of our ancestors and with personal skills that will allow for further research into replication and human behavior. Each week the course will be structured with an introductory lecture, which may include or be followed by a lab demonstration by the instructor(s) and a concluding practical component involving all students. Therefore, this course builds on the rudimentary knowledge of students to focus on handson laboratory analysis and focused research projects. Instructors and student interns are conducting original research in this subject area and all enrolled class members will participate in this research seminar (both in seminar presentations, research design and implementation). This course format allows students to participate in actual experimental studies and to learn research design.

2 Experimental work will be designed to learn more about the structure and function of the hand, arm, and shoulder and how that anatomy impacts stone tool function and design. Stone tools of differing size, weight, and shape will be utilized in experimental archaeological projects so that the influences of these different attributes can be quantified and recorded. Required and Recommended Texts Supplemental Readings Required Text Flint Knapping by J.S. Whittaker This text is at the Campus Bookstore and can also be ordered from Amazon Recommended Supplementary Text 1) Making Silent Stones Speak, by Kathy Schick and Nick Toth (1993) There is one required text for this course. The text is very handson and gives a through background for the laboratory portion of the course. In addition to the required text there are several recommended books that we will be using during the semester. Copies of the books will be available for students to borrow shortterm or to be read in the Holt Lab. Each of the recommended texts has important information to contribute to the course. One of the recommended texts is Making Silent Stones Speak, by Kathy Schick and Nick Toth (1993). This text explores in more depth the archaeological record for Human origins. In addition, there will be a series of published papers that comprise essential readings. In many instances, we will post these readings on the SAKAI web site for students convenience. Otherwise the readings will be placed in the Holt Laboratory for students to read. The readings are important as they supplement student s readings from the required text in constructing essays as part of the midterm exam (see below). Course and Student Objectives To expand on student s basic paleoanthropology knowledge by providing students with compressive knowledge of stone tool technology and stone tool analyses from a handson actualistic and experimental approach. To enable students to produce and manufacture the basic tool types in the lithic sequence Early Stone Age, Middle Stone Age, and Late Stone Age. Students should be able to describe general attributes, functional utility, and to quantify variables relating to various stone tools. Additionally students should be able to record and describe reduction sequences, thereby providing insight into technological approaches to stone tool usage. These technological classifications should supplement and provide students with insights that are different from the typological approaches students study in their introductory courses. To introduce students to laboratory and handson analyses of archaeological materials, to teach through actualistic and experimental work the basic tenants of research design, methodology, and the communication of research results through the final term paper and presentation.

3 To undertake an experimental and actualistic approach to the uses and functions of tool technology for the performance of different tasks, such as chopping, pounding, etc. and for students to develop the ability to relate differing technology and functional usage to differing resource exploitation those gaining insight into changing diets of nonhuman primates and in human past. To replicate, as well as study nonhuman primate (particularly chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys) use of tools (both stone and nonstone) as analogs useful for the acquisition and consumption of various nut and plant foods Course Requirements Evaluation Scheme: Midterm 25% Final Practical 20% Final Term Paper 30% Labs 10% Weekly Practical Quizzes 15% Students are expected to read all of the assigned readings. There will be a midterm and a final term paper as well as ongoing laboratory assignments. The midterm exam will be comprised of a practical identification portion, short answer questions and essay prompts. The essay titles will be given out in advance of the exam date but the exam is closed book. The term paper will take the form of an experimental research paper with a previous research review, development of a testable hypothesis, experimental methodology and design. A bibliography and research design outline will be reviewed and approved two weeks after the midterm (November 3). Weekly practical quizzes will be given on previously covered material. These quizzes will be progressively cumulative such that each quiz can encompass any material previously covered. Because this is a handson class and we will be working with stone material and doing experimental work, students are required to purchase some additional equipment. Safety goggles and leather gloves must be worn during knapping exercises and an injury waiver must be completed before participating in labs. A materials fee for stone may be assessed and students may need to assist in the collection of stone materials. Extra access time to Lab 315 will be provided as necessary to allow students to complete labs, review stone tool types, and work on projects. Course Rules Attendance: Because this is an upperlevel course, attendance and participation are required. You are expected to attend all class meetings. We cover a lot of material in class, all of which may appear on the exams and quizzes. You are allowed two excused absences during the semester; thereafter, you are required to have a Dean s absence note for each subsequent absence (each unexcused absence will lower your grade by 10 points). If you know now that you will be missing a class because of a prior commitment, see me during the first week of classes. This will count towards your two excused absences. Makeups for missed exams and quizzes will only be permitted with a Dean s absence form. P olicy on Religious Holidays: If you will be observing any religious holidays this semester which will prevent you from attending a regularly scheduled class or interfere

4 with fulfilling any course requirement, I will offer you an opportunity to make up the class or course requirement if you make arrangements by informing me of the dates of your religious holidays during the first week of the semester. Academic Integrity: The Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences mandates that instructors immediately report all cases of suspected plagiarism and cheating to the Dean of Douglass College. All students must strictly adhere to the Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy For details see: Safety and Laboratory Housekeeping: Students must maintain a high level of safety while working in the lab. Students are not permitted to work alone on any flint knapping projects, must wear safety goggles and may only do experimental work when one of the course instructors or student teaching interns is present. Students must follow the instructors guidelines for bagging, labeling and data recordation. Students are also responsible for maintaining a clean working environment in the lab. Classroom expectations: All cell phones must be turned off No headphones or listening to music Read the assigned readings before the class Arrive on time Lithic Analysis: Course Outline

5 Week 1 Sept. 1 Introduction Syllabus: introduction to the course Requirements Safety Texts /Reading List Discussion of Readings for next week Glossary Handout Week 2 ***WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 = MONDAY CLASSES Week 3 Sept. 15 Conchoidal Fracture Mechanics Introduction Flaking and Diagrams Morphology and Diagnostics Chaine Operatoire Life History Models Stage Approaches Behavioral Reconstruction Evolution of Manipulation Hand, power and precision grip Modeling NonHuman Primate Behavior Tool Use Lab Activity Introduction to lithic manufacture techniques Sellet, F. (1993). Chaine Operatoire. Whittaker, J. (1994). Flintknapping: Basic Principles. Trinkhaus, E. Evolution of Manipulation article Haslam et al. (2009). Primate Archaeology. Week 4 Sept. 22 Pounding Pounding industry (PreOldowan) Role of nonhuman primates as models for early hominin tone tool use and resource acquisition Nature and Character Lab Demonstration Digging Sticks (Haslam Article) Case Studies: Apes and Monkeys using Stone Tools Background and description of the Rutgers Pounding Tool Project Anvil and Pounding: Nut cracking Practical Component: I.D. of Anvils and Surface Modification

6 Readings: Marchant, L and McGrew, W. (2005) Chapter 23: Percussive Technology Boesch and Boesch (2000). Chapter 9. Schick and Toth (1993). Pan the Toolmaker, p W eek 5 Sept. 29 Procurement Foraging Models Preferences Relation to hominin evolution Examples: Olduvai Gorge Typologies F. Bordes and French History Binford debates Culture vs. Function vs. Technology Oldowan Industry Sites Behavioral Inferences Technological Reconstruction Reduction Sequences Toth vs. Leakey Typologies Oldowan Application Oldowan Reduction sequences: Choppers, bifaces, discoids, polyhedrons Practical Component: I.D. of Oldowan tools Toth, N. (1987). Behavioral inferences from Early Stone artifact assemblages: an experimental Model. Delagnes, A. and Roche, H. (2005). Late Pliocene hominid knapping skills: The case of Lokalalei 2C, West Turkana, Kenya. Week 6 Oct. 6 Transport Exponential Decay Behavioral Implications Comparative discussion of Oldowan Sites: Gona, W. Turkana, E. Turkana, Olduvai, Swartkrans Hominin Producers A closer look at Homo habilis Morphology Hunting vs. Scavenging Technological and Behavioral Replication

7 Models and application Controlled Oldowan production Lab analysis of flakes Practical Component: I.D. of Toth Types Blumenschine, R., Cavallo, J. and Capaldo, S. (1994). Competition for carcasses and early hominid behavioral ecology: A case study and conceptual framework. Blumenschine, R., Masao, F., Tactikos, J. and Ebert, J. (2008). Effects of distance from stone source on landscapescale variation in Oldowan artifact assemblages in the PaleoOlduvai Basin, Tanzania. Semaw, S. et al. (1997). 2.5millionyearold stone tools from Gona, Ethiopia. Potts, R. (1991). Why the Oldowan? Pliothe transport of Pleistocene toolmaking and resources. Week 7 Oct. 13 Manufacture Changes in production techniques o Movements toward Developed Oldowan technology Timing: H. erectus? Developed Oldowan Production techniques o Olduvai o Koobi Fora Status: H. habilis vs. H. erectus o Site associations and behavior Bipolar manufacture Utils ecailles Spheroids Measurements and Theory Selecting variables Making hypotheses and predictions Testing these hypotheses Butchery practice: o Skinning, defleshing and cracking o Assemblage composition Measurement practice of previously produced assemblages

8 Rogers, M., Harris, J.W.K. and Feibel, C. (1994). Changing patterns of land use by PlioPleistocene hominids in the Lake Turkana Basin. Kimura, Y. (2002). Examining time trends in the Oldowan technology at Beds I and II, Olduvai Gorge. Mora, R. and de la Torre, I. (2005). Percussion tools in Olduvai Beds I and II (Tanzania): Implications for early human activities. DominguezRodrigo, M. et al. (2001). Woodworking activities by early humans: a plant residue analysis on Acheulian stone tools from Peninj (Tanzania). Week 8 Oct. 20 MIDTERM EXAM Week 9 Oct. 27 Tool Use Traces and Usewear Traditional and Modern lab approaches Middle Range Research Early Acheulian and Pounding Tools Earliest Stone Tools: pounding tools (reading discussion) Experimental Studies: Quantifying traces o Kanzi o Lab Studies at Rutgers: pounding, usewear and traces o Gesher Benot Ya aqov: pounding tools o Technology of Fire: Koobi Fora, Gesher Benot Ya aqov Developed Oldowan manufacture: technological recording of flake morphology and differences from Oldowan assemblages Practical Component: I.D. of Developed Oldowan stone tool types Gowlett, J. (1988). A case of Developed Oldowan in the Acheulean? Mora and de la Torre (2005). Olduvai Gorge GorenInbar et al. (2002). Gesher Benot Ya aqov Schick and Toth (2006). Oldowan Overview (p. 2426)

9 Week 10 Nov. 3 ***Initial Bibliography and Paper Topic Due at Beginning of Class Resharpening/Retouch What happens after tool use? Application to butchery experiments o Condition of tools? o Options Rise of the Acheulian H. erectus behavioral changes o Landscape usage including raw material selection Theories regarding body changes and possible effects on lithic manufacture Out of Africa: a technological process? Handaxe Production: Initial Stages and Refining Flake blanks and boulder spalling Physics of bifacial thinning o Midline and Convexity Platform preparation: abrasion Softhammer billet usage and physics Spalling and initial bifacial preparation Practical Component: I.D. of Acheulian stone tool types Handout: MIDTERM REVIEW SHEET Whittaker, J. (1994). Softhammer percussion and bifaces. Aiello, L. and Wheeler, P. (1995). The expensive tissue hypothesis: The brain and the digestive system in human and primate evolution. Gabunia, L. et al. (2001). Dmanisi and Dispersal. GorenInbar, N. et al. (2000). Pleistocene milestones on the outofafrica corridor at Gesher Benot Ya aqov. BarYosef, O. and BelferCohen, A. (2001). From Africa to Eurasia early dispersals. Week 11 Nov. 10 Discard Site formation processes Stone and bone preservation/context Effects: edgewear, size sorting Middle Stone Age and Middle Paleolithic

10 Hominin producers: geographical expansion and exposure MSA vs. MP: why? Production Techniques Levallois and prepared core technologies: growth out of handaxes The muffin top technique: production methods of tortoise shell Levallois The Y scar pattern: production methods Mousterian Technology Loaded terms and cultural sequences o Back to the Bordian paradigm Neandertal technology: brutish and primitive or efficient and refined? Levallois core manufacture: Tortoise shell and Y scar techniques Practical Component: I.D. of MSA/MP technology GorenInbar, N. and Saragusti, I. (1996). An Acheulian Biface Assemblage from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel: Indications of African Affinities Kuman, K. (2001). An Acheulean factory site with prepared core technology near Taung, South Africa. Dibble, H. (1987). The interpretation of Middle Paleolithic scraper morphology. Dibble, H. (1991). Mousterian assemblage variability on an interregional scale. Lycett, S. (2009). Are Victoria West cores proto Levallois? A phylogenetic assessment. Week 12 Nov. 17 Recycling Parsimonious procurement Evidence of recycling Fishing Technology Barbed harpoons, nets and weights Late Stone Age and Upper Paleolithic Rise of Homo sapiens and the advent of advanced technology o Controversies: teaching the Neanderthals or learning from them? Who reigns in efficiency?

11 Geographical discussion of technology o Similarities, differences and the name game Production Techniques Blade cores and raw material Hammerstones, soft hammers and punches o Accuracy of blows and erasure of mistakes o Wooden billets? Long distance, light weight spears Blade cores and obsidian Fashioning spearpoints Practical Component: I.D. of UP technology Kusimba, S.B. (1999). Huntergatherer land use patterns in Later Stone Age East Africa. Eren, M. et al. (2008). Are Upper Paleolithic blade cores more productive than Middle Paleolithic disoidal cores? A replication experiment. BarYosef, O. (2002). The Upper Paleolithic revolution. McBrearty, S. and Brooks, A. (2001). The revolution that wasn t (excerpt). Week 13 ***MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22 = WEDNESDAY CLASSES Excavation Techniques and Recording of artifact provenience Typologies, correlation and relative chronologies: historic aspects of archaeology Pottery Implications for lifestyle change Proxy for movements/migrations of populations Neolithic Technology Modern human behaviors Implementation of more complex lithic technological complexes o Rise of microliths and compound tools o Agricultural applications New World Technologies Clovis Points and the populating of the Americas Folsom points and great plains technology Spearpoints and arrows Production Techniques

12 Hafting spearpoints and arrow points Clovis and Folsom production Microlith production o European examples o South African examples o Compound tool manufacture Spear making: using points from previous week and practicing different hafting methods Microlith manufacture and hafting techniques Practical Component: I.D. of Projectile Points and Neolithic technology Patten, B. (1999). Old Tools New Eyes, Chapter 9 (Ancient spearpoint recipes). Clemente, I. and Gibaja, J. (1998). Working Processes on Cereals: An Approach Through Microwear Analysis. Barton, C. (1997). Stone Tools, Style, and Social Identity: an Evolutionary Perspective on the Archaeological Record. Bisson, M. (2000). Nineteenth Century tools for TwentyFirst Century archaeology? Why the Middle Paleolithic typology of Francois Bordes must be replaced. Week 14 Dec. 1 Student Oral Presentations Week 15 Dec. 8 First Half of Class: Student Oral Presentations Second Half of Class: Final Practical Examination FINAL TERM PAPER DUE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10 FINAL PRACTICAL EXAM: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8