A presente dissertação apresenta o estudo realizado sobre as cadeias operatórias da cultura material lítica coletada nos sítios Silva Serrote (Guimarânia) e Menezes (Perdizes), e a cerâmica coletada no segundo sítio. O objetivo é caracterizar aspectos culturais de populações pré-coloniais do vale do Paranaíba-MG, por meio da análise tecnológica dos vestígios materiais deixados no registro arqueológico, com o processamento de datações absolutas por Carbono 14 e Termoluminescência; Silva Serrote: 790± 190 AP (TL-FATEC-SP) e 760±50( C14-Gif-sur-Yvette) e Menezes 572±80 AP(TL-FATEC-SP). A análise tecnológica do material lítico do Silva Serrote (campanha 1985) versou sobre o estudo de 703 peças e 28 do Menezes (campanha 1991) e foram analisados 1939 elementos cerâmicos do sítio Menezes, coletados no âmbito do projeto arqueológico regional Quebra-Anzol. Por meio desta análise, foi possível a caracterização de alguns aspectos sócio-culturais sobre o modo de vida, assim como sobre o proceder e a escolha tecnológica destas populações. / This research presents a study about operational chains of lithic culture collected in the sites Silva Serrote and Menezes, and the pottery collected in the Menezes site. The goal is to establish some cultural aspects of the pre-colonial population that lived in the Paranaíba Valley (Minas Gerais State) using lithic and pottery technological analysis of this material, abandoned in the archaeological record. The material was dated by termoluminescence and Carbon 14. The lithic analysis of the Silva Serrote site was composed by 703(collected in 1985) pieces and Menezes 28 pieces(collected in 1991). The pottery analysis of the Menezes site embraced altogether 1939 pieces. This master thesis is related to a major sectional archaeological project named Quebra-Anzol. Through this work, it was possible to characterize some social and cultural aspects about the way of life, operational sequences and technological choices made by these groups.

O presente trabalho é um esforço metodológico ao tentar aplicar um modelo arqueológico preditivo em sítios do Amapá conhecidos como Alinhamentos de Pedra. Após serem feitas as análises de documentos históricos da década de 1920 e das pesquisas realizadas na década de 1940, juntamente com os levantamentos feitos pelo Museu Goeldi em 2005, foi possível testar em campo o modelo preditivo proposto. Para a sua construção foram utilizadas também as discussões sobre os processos de formação do registro arqueológico e o teste de hipóteses já levantadas sobre estes sítios oriundas desde as primeiras pesquisas em fins do século XIX. Os resultados alcançados, apesar de incipientes, permitiram um panorama da história da arqueologia amazônica e a avaliação que o uso de tecnologias como o Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG) podem trazer como resultados positivos para a pesquisa arqueológica na região. / This work is a methodological effort to apply an Archaeological Predictive Model on sites known as Stone Alignments at the State of Amapá-Brazil. After some analyses of historical documents from the 1920\'s and 1940\'s, and the last surveys realized by Goeldi Museum in 2005, was possible to test empirically the predictive model. To its construction were used the discussions on site formation processes and the use of previous hypotheses created since the end of the XIX century. The results achieved allowed a brief view on the history of Amazon archaeology and the evaluation of technologies as the Geographical Information System (GIS) as a positive archaeological tool to produce researches in the region.

O presente trabalho aborda uma região bem delimitada, circunscrita aos afloramentos calcários do alto curso do rio São Francisco no estado de Minas Gerais (1500km²). Depois de um período inicial exploratório com levantamentos de superfície intensivos, resultando na descoberta de 120 sítios, duas cavernas, a Loca do Suim e a Gruta do Marinheiro, foram escolhidas para receberem escavações. O objetivo foi comprovar a existência de uma ocupação caçadora-coletora arcaica na região estudada, utilizando como principal elemento descritivo a indústria lítica produzida por esses grupos, envolvendo aspectos como tipologia, tecnologia e cronologia do material. Buscou-se assim colocar em evidência algumas particularidades da região estudada, assim como apontar para eventuais semelhanças com as grandes tradições arqueológicas do período arcaico conhecidas no centro e sul do Brasil. / This project is located in the carstic region (1500km²) of the upper São Francisco river valley, in the southeastern portion of the Brazilian highlands, 250km to the southwest of the well known Lagoa Santa region, State of Minas Gerais. After a period (5 years) of intensive search for sites, discovering more than 120 of them, two caves (Loca do Suim and Gruta do Marinheiro) where excavated. The objective was to prove the existence, also in this area, of archaeological material related to arcaic hunter-gatherers. For being abundant, the lithic industry produced by these pre-historic groups was chosen as main descriptive element. The analysis, based on typological, technological and chronological characteristics of the sample, points out the similarities and differences that exist between this industry and the main lithic archaeological traditions of central and southern Brazil during the arcaic period.

L'industrie lithique du Néolithique final provençal demeure relativement insaisissable si elle est n'est abordée que d'un point de vue technique et selon une typologie établie à partir d'observations effectuées à l'oeil nu. Ses caractéristiques, c'est-à-dire une dichotomie représentée par des productions laminaires standardisées issues d'ateliers spécialisés, et une production domestique techniquement peu investie dont la finalité n'est pas évidente à déterminer, nécessitent que l'on augmente l'échelle des observations des objets de silex. Ces dernières, alors d'ordre pétrographiques et tracéologiques, permettent de reconstituer les chaînes opératoires avec davantage de fiabilité, et d'identifier les outils qu'elles visent à produire. lI est alors possible de proposer une typologie plus adaptée à partir de l'ensemble de l'outillage et de percevoir les normes existantes. La comparaison des données issues de trois sites complémentaires permet d'illustrer les avantages de la méthode d'étude développée dans ce travail de doctorat et de proposer une ébauche de caractérisation des industries lithiques de cette période. / The lithic industry from the Late Neolithic of Provence stays quite imperceptible if studied by a classic technique and typology approach. Its caracteristics, a dichotomy represented by standardized long blade productions coming from specialized workshops on one hand, and a technically simplified domestic production of wich standards aren't easy to find on the other, need a higher resolution improvement in the observations that are made. Those ones, then of a petrographical and traceological nature, allow a better understanding of the operating chains as well as to identify the tools they are destinated to produce. It then is possible to propose a more adapted typology and to show the existing standards. The comparison of the lithic industries of three complementary occupations illustrates the advantages of the methodology developped in this work and suggests, at last, a sketch of the caracteristics of the lithic industry from this period.

This thesis examines artefacts, raw materials and lithic technology between c. 9200–6200 cal BC in Eastern Central Sweden. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate when people first came to Eastern Central Sweden and where they came from. More precisely, it provides a typological, geo­graphical and chronological survey of artefacts and the use of different raw materials. The study deals with assemblages with artefacts from more than thirty archaeologically excavated sites and loose finds in Eastern Central Sweden. The objects consist of chubby pecked axes, core axes, flake axes, shaft hole picks, microliths and micro burins, points, burins, rulers, uni­facial blade core, conical cores, micro blade cores, blades, drills, re­touched blades and micro blades. The artefacts have been compared with established typologies and chronologies for the rest of the Nordic countries and to some extent Russia and the Baltic States. An analysis of different raw mater­ials present at Early and Middle Mesolithic sites in Eastern Central Sweden was also carried out. The materials are put into a chronological and geo­graphical context. The raw materials included in the study are the non-local rocks flint and Cambrian flint, as well as local raw materials such as quartz, greenstone, local vulcanite, mylonite and red porphyry. From 9200 cal BC there is evidence of the first groups of people in the area, just shortly after that the Weichselian ice cap had withdrawn. Throughout the period studied the artefacts as well as the non-local raw materials exhibit great similarities to those found in the western part of Sweden. The study also shows, regar­ding the use of different raw materials and presence of certain artefacts, that some major events took place, suggesting a new chronological time frame for the Early- and Middle Mesolithic periods. In addition, a discussion re­gar­­ding mobility and migration in Eastern Central Sweden during Early Post Glacial time is carried out.

Polished-edge discoidal knives are part of the lithic material culture from the British Isles with an approximate Late Neolithic date. These artefacts are manufactured in three basic shapes: circular to D-shaped, triangular, and broad leaf to lozenge (Clark 1929). The aim of this project was to explore the function of polished-edge discoidal knives. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were completed: Objective 1: Develop a broad understanding of the literature surrounding polished-edge discoidal knives; Objective 2: Develop a database containing all the available information regarding the known knives for study in this project and as a tool to help further research and select archaeological samples for study based on type, condition, find location, and current location; Objective 3: Understand how these tools were used; and Objective 4: Review all data and produce a narrative about polished-edge discoidal knives’ function in Late British Neolithic Society. This project has revealed that these knives were possibility used for activities involving birch bark, clay, or other wood types. This research has also produced a database of knives, a modern distribution map, a revised typology, an archaeological date and possible contexts, and an object itinerary.

No description available.

No description available.

In this thesis the pioneer settlement of northern Dalarna is investi­gated by means of a local study of lithic technology and raw material use on the Orsa 527 site in the area. This newly excavated site will be presented, for the first time in completion, in this thesis. The technological traits and raw material distribution on the site, which directly relate to the prehistoric people moving in this area during the Middle Mesolithic, are subsequently put into a larger regional perspective by comparing these results with other Middle Mesolithic sites in northern Dalarna and eastern Norway.             Through the theoretical framework of chaîne opératoire and methods, such as dynamical classification of blades, the study of knapping properties of local raw materials and the study of raw material composition on five other sites in the area, questions regarding cultural transition, mobility and contacts can be discussed.             The results of this work indicate that both technological and raw material parallels exist between eastern Norway and northern Dalarna during the Middle Mesolithic. This places these areas in a larger cultural sphere that was based on contacts and mobility during the pioneer settlement of the area.

Réalisé en collaboration avec Arkéos Inc. / Ce projet de recherche tente de mieux comprendre le phénomène des supports sur plaquette en quartzite du site ElFs-010 situé en Jamésie. Aucun travail de cette ampleur n’avait encore été réalisé sur ce type d’outil. Il y avait donc un vide à combler. Afin de répondre le plus adéquatement possible à cette problématique, nous avons divisé notre travail en trois objectifs. Dans un premier temps, déterminer si les plaquettes en quartzite sont le produit d’une technologie lithique ou bien d’un processus géologique naturel. En second lieu, démontrer si nous sommes en présence d’un épiphénomène propre au site ElFs-010. Finalement, définir si une période chronologique correspond à cette industrie. Les résultats de nos recherches nous démontrent que les supports sur plaquette en quartzite du site ElFs-010 se retrouvent naturellement sur le talus d’effondrement de la Colline Blanche. Leur faible épaisseur moyenne ainsi que leurs pans abrupts ont sans doute été les facteurs qui ont le plus influencé leur sélection. En nous basant sur ces deux caractéristiques, nous suggérons qu’ils auraient pu être utilisés comme des lames interchangeables ou bien des burins. Nous avons recensé 33 sites jamésiens qui comportaient au moins un fragment de plaquette en quartzite. Malgré quelques indices archéologiques, il est encore trop tôt pour affirmer que cette industrie est diagnostique d’un groupe culturel jamésien. Les données chronologiques suggèrent que cette industrie a connu un essor vers 1300 ans A.A. De plus, il semble que les régions géographiques que nous avons attribuées aux sites correspondent à des séquences culturelles bien définies. Finalement, nos hypothèses portent sur des recherches futures concernant un ensemble d’événements qui, tout comme les supports sur plaquette en quartzite, sont révélateurs de changements dans le mode de vie des groupes préhistoriques de la Jamésie. Mots-clés : Archéologie, Jamésie, ElFs-010, Colline Blanche, plaquette en quartzite, technologie lithique. / This research project seeks to better understand the phenomenon of tabular quartzite tools from the archeological site Elfs-010. No detailed work had yet been carried out on this type of tool, leaving a void to fill. To respond as adequately as possible to this problem, we focused our work on three main objectives. First, determine if tabular pieces of quartzite were the product of a particular lithic technology or of a natural geological process. Second, evaluate whether we are dealing with a unique phenomenon that is specific to site Elfs-010. Third, and finally, define if a specific time period corresponds to this industry. The results of our research show that tabular pieces of quartzite from site Elfs-010 occur naturally on the talus slope of the Colline Blanche. Their low average thickness and their steep sides were probably the factors that most influenced their selection. Based on these two characteristics, we suggest they could be used interchangeably as blades or burins. We identified 33 Jamesian sites that had at least one fragment of tabular quartzite. Despite some archaeological evidence, it is still too early to say that this industry is diagnostic of a Jamesian cultural group. Our chronological data suggest that this industry flourished around 1300 years BP. In addition, it appears that the geographic areas that we have attributed to the sites correspond to culturally well-defined sequences. Finally, our proposed hypotheses for future research concern the events that took place around 1300 years BP and which, like the tabular pieces of quartzite, are indicative of changes in the lifestyle of prehistoric groups of the James Bay region. Keywords: Archaeology, James Bay, ElFs-010, Colline Blanche, tabular pieces, quartzite, lithic technology.