In the boreal forests of northeastern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan, one of the most abundant and reliable sources of lithic material was the Quarry of the Ancestors. This Quarry is located 50 km northwest of Ft. McMurray, AB and is the primary source of Beaver River Sandstone; a lithic raw material that dominates the archaeological stone tool and debitage assemblages in this region. Other lithic materials, such as quartzite, chert, and quartz, were accessible in gravel and glacial tills and in lakeshore and river beds scattered across northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The analysis of stone tools from 31 archaeological sites spanning 260 km from the Quarry into the Descharme River system, in northwestern Saskatchewan, suggests that as pre-contact people moved across the landscape and away from the Quarry, they maintained and recycled their tools and used whatever other lithic resources were available. In contexts where there were issues with the availability, quality and abundance of lithic raw materials, the mobility of pre-contact hunter-gatherers may have been strongly influenced by the distribution of these lithic sources. However, the availability of food resources may have also been a strong influence over mobility patterns in circumstances where these lithic raw material issues were less marked. Northern Dene groups of this region are known to have travelled hundreds of kilometers seasonally following barren-ground caribou whose wintering grounds extended well into northwestern Saskatchewan. Through the distribution of lithic raw material and the analysis of lithic tool technology, I explore the role these two important resources had in shaping the overall organization of pre-contact hunter-gatherer mobility strategies employed in these two regions.

Previous archaeological research in southern Tanzania has focused on Plio-Pleistocene sites documenting early hominid evolution, or alternatively, the late Holocene Later Stone Age and Iron Age sites documenting the transition from foraging to food production. However, recent surveys and test excavations conducted by Dr. Pamela Willoughby in Iringa have revealed the regions potential for also contributing to the study of the Middle Stone Age, the time period and technological system that coincides with the appearance of anatomically modern humans. Analysis of lithics recovered from two 1m2 test pits during 2006 test excavations at Magubike rockshelter demonstrate the site contains sequences yielding Middle Stone Age, Later Stone Age, and Iron Age materials. Michael Mehlmans lithic typology is used to place the lithics within a relative cultural historical context. Further analysis documents patterns and intensity of lithic reduction, raw material utilization, and other aspects of lithic production at Magubike throughout time.

Early phases of Kolomoki’s occupation have been characterized as relatively egalitarian, with little evidence for status differentiation. However, patterned variability in lithic raw material use and intensity of production in domestic areas suggests heterogeneity in the community at multiple scales. In light of Kolomoki’s emphasis on communal ceremony, internal divisions between groups of households highlight the tension between public and private expressions of status and social solidarity. New radiocarbon dates from the southern margins of the village have allowed us to assess the contemporaneity of this pattern, and by extension, the chronology of village aggregation.

The research presented in this thesis examines a lithic assemblage from the multi-component habitation site Gorelyi Les in the Belaia river valley, Cis-Baikal region, Siberia. The distinctive traits of this collection are the relatively small size of the lithic assemblage and the large proportion of debitage. The chosen methodological framework for this research concentrates on obtaining maximum information from the available materials through application of typological, technological, use-wear, and spatial analyses. The results suggest that there were differences in the organization of the technological process of lithic tool manufacture during the Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic. During the Early Neolithic, lithic tool manufacture and use were rather intensive and diversified, while during the Late Neolithic, tool manufacture and use were limited to a narrower range of technological operations and functions.

No description available.

This study of lithic analysis shifts attention from typological studies to explicitly behavioral analyses, complimenting studies of both intrasite and intersite patterns of variability and change. Analysis of several assemblages from the Placitas Arroyo site complex reveals changing patterns of raw material procurement and selection, core reduction strategies, as well as tool production and discard. The most striking result thus far is the quite uniform emphasis on flake production from well-prepared cores, and the near absence of manufacture or maintenance of bifacial tools, especially projectile points. Associated with common ground stone artifacts, the flaked stone materials may well represent intensive food processing. Regardless, the technological patterns being revealed by this approach illustrate a productive new means to gain insights into changing behaviors in the Jornada Mogollon cultural tradition.

This study assesses the organization and intensity of hide processing from sequential occupations at the Late Fort Ancient (A.D. 1400-1680) Hardin Site located in the central Ohio Valley. Historical and archaeological sources were drawn on to develop expectations for production intensification: 1) an increase in production tool quantity, 2) an increase in production debris quantity, and 3) an increase in tool utilization intensity. Many Native groups situated on the periphery of early European colonies intensified hide production to meet demand generated by an emerging global trade in hides. As this economic activity intensified in the 16th and 17th centuries it incorporated and ever greater network of native communities. By documenting production intensification at the Hardin Site, this study evaluates the degree to which global markets incorporated regions beyond the colonial periphery before A.D. 1680. This study also examines the social dimensions of economic activity by asking who processed hides, who may have benefited from the products of this labor, and whether or not either of these were influenced by participation in the tumultuous interaction sphere of the eastern North American Contact Period.

La découverte du site Nepress (BiEr-21) en 2004 et les saisons de fouilles subséquentes ont permis de découvrir de nombreux vestiges archéologiques. Ce mémoire a donc pour objectif de déterminer l’identité culturelle des occupants qui ont fréquenté le site, en prenant en considération les activités rituelles et la stratégie d’approvisionnement en matière lithique. Pour y parvenir, une analyse morpho-métrique de l’assemblage lithique a été effectuée. La distribution intra-site des artéfacts a également été prise en considération lors de l’analyse. Une séquence chronologique du Nord-Est américain remontant au Sylvicole inférieur est présentée dans ce mémoire. Une période d’occupation semble dominer sur le site Nepress, soit le Sylvicole inférieur. Cette manifestation est caractérisée par la présence d’artéfacts diagnostiques de la culture Meadowood. Ces objets sont un grattoir triangulaire bifacial Meadowood, ainsi qu’une imitation de pointe de type box-base. / The discovery of the Nepress site (BiEr-21) in 2004 and the subsequent excavations have revealed many archaeological remains. This thesis has seeks to determine the cultural identity of the site’s occupants, taking into account their ritual activities and their lithic procurement strategy. To achieve this, a morpho-metric analysis of the lithic assemblage was undertaken. The intra-site artifact distribution was also taken into account. A chronological sequence for Northeastern North America going back to the Early Woodland is presented. The Early Woodland appears to dominate the occupation of the Nepress site. This is characterised by the presence of diagnostic artifacts of the Meadowood culture. These objects are a triangular bifacial Meadowood scraper, as well as an imitation of a projectile point.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Parmi la grande quantité de témoins culturels découverts sur le site Droulers/Tsiionhiakwatha (BgFn-1), la pierre taillée et polie forme un assemblage bien modeste. Les Iroquoiens de Droulers ont habité un village semi-permanent daté du Sylvicole supérieur, plus précisément entre l’an 1430 et 1500 ap. J.-C. Ils ont fabriqués des grattoirs, des pointes de flèches, des forets, des polissoirs et des meules à mains, en plus d’outils en quartz hyalin dont la fonction n’est pas bien définie. Parmi les 3595 objets lithiques, nous trouvons 18 outils et 1085 déchets de taille en cristal, ce qui représente près de 30% du total. Le quartz hyalin fut utilisé durant la préhistoire québécoise, mais jamais en aussi grande quantité que sur Droulers. Nous présentons la chaîne opératoire du quartz hyalin, de son extraction à son rejet sur les sites archéologiques. Nous explorons également son utilisation et sa symbolique chez les habitants du village Droulers, une enquête basée sur des données archéologiques et ethnographiques des Amérindiens actuels et de ceux de la période de Contact du nord-est de l’Amérique du nord. / Among the large number of artefacts found on the Droulers/Tsiionhiakwatha Iroquoian village (BgFn-1), the assemblage of stone tools is very small. The Iroquoians at Droulers produced scrapers, arrowheads, drills, whetstones and manos, and also shaped tools with crystal quartz. Among the 3595 lithic objects, we find 18 tools and 1085 pieces of debitage in crystal quartz, which compose over 30% of the total lithic assemblage. Cristal quartz was worked during Québec prehistory, but never to this extent. This thesis is about the chaîne opératoire of crystal quartz and its uses throughout prehistory of Québec and among prehistoric Iroquoians.