The purpose of this study is to understand how prehistoric people moved around the landscape and used major stone tool resources throughout the last 10,000 yr. B.P. in southern Idaho. Similar research has been reported in the Great Basin and western Wyoming and this study continues to fill the map with data about how large regions of the western United States were used prehistorically. This study specifically examined whether or not prehistoric mobility changed according to wet and dry climatic shifts. Based on these shifts archaeologists expect the regions people used to expand or shrink using an economic model of decision-making when foragers were confronted with the choice to stay in one resource area or move to another while pursuing plants and animals for food. To measure this decision prehistorically, obsidian projectile points and tools left behind throughout time were analyzed to determine where the stone originated geologically, a concept known as conveyance. The data were gathered from many regional studies and new sourcing of 139 artifacts from southeastern Idaho regional collections and excavations at the Fox Site near Thatcher, Idaho. In the compiled dataset are 4,440 artifacts from 640 archaeological sites in southern Idaho that originate from 37 obsidian sources. Analysis of this dataset grouped archaeology sites based on the percentage of different obsidian sources used, creating conveyance zone sets that were encompassed by statistically created ovals in mapping software. Four trans-Holocene conveyance zones are proposed and described: the Malad Conveyance Zone (MCZ), Timber Butte Conveyance Zone (TBCZ), Big Southern Butte Conveyance Zone (BSBCZ), and Snake River Conveyance Zone (SRCZ). These zones are then separated into four wet or dry climate periods and changes in mobility are compared to the economic decision model. Overall the MCZ and TBCZ both met the expectations of the model, while the BSBCZ and SRCZ did not. Another test of the data reveals that the number of obsidian sources used and the evenness of their use is not correlated with conveyance zone size, which helps confirm that these zones reproduce prehistoric behavior and are not a statistical product of the availability of obsidian in a region. The conveyance zones described in this study are comparable in size to those proposed in neighboring regions. Research also finds that southern Idaho conveyance zones were firmly established in the Early Holocene and shows that conveyance zones can be created from large datasets in a statistically robust manner and enable researchers to look at changes in forager mobility across large spatial and temporal scales. Expectations for forager mobility are partially supported by the variability wet and dry climate during the last 10,000 years B.P.

One of the most significant finds at the site of Blackman Eddy, Belize, is a series of superimposed structures that date between 1200 B.C.-A.D. 600 (calibrated). Because it was continuously occupied for over 1800 years, this site provides a unique opportunity to examine long-term socio-economic changes in the eastern Maya lowlands. This thesis is a diachronic study of the chipped stone tool artifacts of Blackman Eddy using technological, attribute, and use-wear analysis. The data collected for this study were examined to see what types of raw materials were used in tool production, what types of tools were produced, how they were produced, and what they were used for during the Middle Preclassic, Late Preclassic, and Classic periods. Each of the attributes studied in this thesis creates different opportunities and constraints for the various chipped stone tool industries of Blackman Eddy, and changes in chipped stone artifact attributes between the different structures may be indicative of socio-economic change over time.

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This thesis examines the practice of hunting within the Neolithic community of Çatalhöyük by focusing on its stone projectile points. Wild faunal remains indicate that hunting remained in practice, even though domesticated animals and plants comprised the staple diet of the Neolithic people of Çatalhöyük. Hunting and the “wild” are venerated in the site's iconography (wall paintings, wild bull skull mural installations, zoomorphic figurines), while obsidian projectile points—the dominant hunting weapons— were carefully executed artifacts that seem to have served more than one purpose. In studying the projectile points I consider the role of hunting at Çatalhöyük and its significance in shaping personal and communal identities. By employing an attribute analysis I examined the projectiles’ deposition in varied contexts (caches, burials, building infills, middens etc). Differences in use-wear traces as well as in technological and morphological traits suggest that the Çatalhöyük point assemblage consists of two groups that were used and treated in very distinct ways. The first group comprises projectile weapons that were used in hunting, exhibiting clear signs of actual use; whereas the second group consists of bifaces that were in all likelihood reserved for ceremonial purposes given their pristine condition and special deposition. This thesis argues that hunting was not merely an alternate subsistence strategy but an arena where symbolic expression and social identities could be performed and negotiated. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis researches the role of hunting in one of the earliest agricultural societies with livestock, Çatalhöyük in Turkey (7th-6th millennium cal BCE). For this purpose I studied the stone tips of projectile weapons, i.e. arrows and spears. The results of this work show that apart from the actual hunting weapons, the people of Çatalhöyük also had weapons reserved for ceremonial purposes. Indeed other evidence also shows that hunting and the “wild” was revered at the site: wall paintings, wall decorations with wild animal skulls, large feasting events, and animal figurines. In this thesis I argue that hunting was not only a strategy for the farmers of Çatalhöyük to acquire extra food resources but it also played a significant role in their symbolic and religious life, which is why this tradition persisted even after the domestication of animals.

Les études de provenance sur l’obsidienne se développent depuis 1964 quand ont été publiés les premiers travaux de Renfrew et Cann. Ces deux chercheurs ont démontré que chaque complexe volcanique possède une signature chimique propre permettant l’attribution d’artefacts archéologiques en obsidienne à un complexe volcanique présentant la même signature. Cette attribution fondée sur la géochimie permet d’envisager des routes de diffusion de l’obsidienne soulignant les contacts et les déplacements de populations préhistoriques. De nombreux sites archéologiques situés au Proche-Orient comportent en effet des assemblages lithiques présentant des artefacts en obsidienne. La synthèse dirigée par Cauvin et al., en 1998 suggère, pour le Proche-Orient, deux grandes régions d’approvisionnement en obsidienne : l’Anatolie centrale et l’Anatolie orientale. Or, pour des raisons liées à l’histoire intérieure de la Turquie dans les années 1980-1990, peu de données de terrain ont pu être rassemblées sur les sources d’Anatolie orientale jusqu’à ces toutes dernières années. Pourtant, les comparaisons entre affleurements repérés et prélevés avant les années 1980 montrent déjà clairement l’importance de la région pour les études de provenance d’artefacts collectés lors de fouilles de sites archéologiques en Anatolie orientale (ex : Çayönü, Körtik Tepe etc.), en Syrie (Tell Brak, Tell Zeidan, Khazna) et en Irak (Tell Arpachiyah, Tell Hamoukar, Um Dabaghiyah). Cette thèse, réalisée dans le cadre de l’ANR GeObs dirigée par D. Mouralis (Univ. Rouen, IDEES) en association avec C. Kuzucuoğlu (Univ. Paris 1, LGP) et L. Astruc (Univ. Paris 1, ArScan) et E. Akköprü (Univ. Van, Turquie), se concentre sur quatre régions volcaniques d’Anatolie orientale : le Meydan-Gürgürbaba, le Nemrut, et les massifs de dômes de Solhan et Alatepe. Ce travail de recherche a exploré : 1) l’identification et la caractérisation de plusieurs gisements (= « sources ») d’obsidienne, dont certains inconnus jusque-là ; 2) la discrimination de ces affleurements en fonction de leurs caractéristiques physiques et chimiques ; 3) la reconstitution de leur mode de mise en place lorsque cela a été rendu possible. Notre travail, basé sur l’importance incontournable de la connaissance experte du terrain, constitue une méthode novatrice dans les études de provenance. / Obsidian sourcing began in 1964 with studies by Renfrew and Cann. These authors demonstrated that one given volcano there is only one chemical signature. Based on this principle, it is possible to attribute one archaeological artefact to one volcano. This attribution allows then to develop studies on the contacts/exchanges/movements between prehistorical populations which are a key to understand past socio-cultural contexts from the Paleolithic to the Chalcolithic. Lithic assemblages in archaeological sites in the Near East contain indeed obsidian artefacts. As there is no volcano emplaced south of the Eastern Anatolian highlands, the nearest volcanic areas with obsidian outcrops that would attract near-eastern populations are located in Central and Eastern Anatolia (Cauvin et al., 1998). Taking advantage of the opening of Eastern Anatolia to field researches after 2000, and aiming at collecting scientific field data about obsidian sources in that region (especially on the volcano/outcrop scales geological and geomorphological contexts), the GéObs Project has obtained a 3 to 4 years ANR support for the study of the volcanic regions of Eastern Anatolia. Among these regions, four are concerned by our study: the Meydan-Gürgürbaba, Nemrut, Solhan and Alatepe regions. The ANR project GéObs, led by D. Mouralis (Rouen Univ./IDEES), associated with C. Kuzucuoglu (Paris 1 Univ./LGP) and L. Astruc (Paris 1 Univ./ArScan) enhances: 1) the identification of obsidian outcrops (some of which had not yet been identified), 2) the discrimination of these outcrops according to their characteristics (accessibility and types), 3) the characterization of obsidian glass (micro facies; geochemistry; mineralogy), and consecutive reconstruction of their emplacement modes. This research, based on the necessary completeness of data collection in the field, demonstrates the importance of such a new approach in the domain of “obsidian sourcing” researches.

En Méditerranée occidentale, l’obsidienne a été dès le début du Néolithique une matière première recherchée en raison de sa grande aptitude à la taille. Originaire d’îles de la zone tyrrhénienne (Sardaigne, Pantelleria, Lipari et Palmarola) elle a circulé dans cette région et elle est considérée comme un important marqueur culturel de diverses formes de communication et d'échanges entre les différentes communautés de la Préhistoire récente. En ce qui concerne la Sardaigne, nous disposons aujourd'hui d'une cartographie des dépôts primaires et secondaires de quatre types d’obsidienne du Monte Arci et il est donc possible de mieux comprendre les systèmes d'approvisionnement de cette matière première dans l'Île et dans le secteur nord-tyrrhénien de la Méditerranée occidentale, zone de diffusion majeure de l'obsidienne sarde. En raison de ses propriétés physiques, l'obsidienne est une roche très apte à la taille et qui enregistre de manière optimale les stigmates de taille. L’objectif de la thèse a consisté essentiellement en l’'analyse d'un référentiel expérimental en obsidienne réalisé par différents tailleurs avec différentes techniques (percussion directe, indirecte et pression). Cette étude a permis de reconnaitre les caractères morphométriques et les stigmates techniques, essentiels pour la discrimination des techniques de débitage, surtout quand elles donnent de pièces ambigües, compatibles avec plusieurs techniques. Elle a aussi permis de comprendre les différences avec le débitage sur silex, à partir de données connues dans la littérature. Sur cette base nous avons fait un premier essai de diagnose technique sur une série en obsidienne (sarde) d'un site du Néolithique sarde ayant livré un mobilier très abondant, avec plusieurs chaînes opératoires et techniques mises en œuvre. / In the western Mediterranean, obsidian is a demanded raw-material since the earliest phases of the Neolithic due to its good knappability. Its main sources are located in the tyrrhenian islands (Sardinia, Pantelleria, Lipari, and Palmarola); obsidian goods have been circulating in the region and they are considered a significant cultural marker of different forms of exchange and interaction networks between prehistoric groups. For what concerns Sardinia, nowadays four different types of both primary and secondary obsidian deposits from Monte Arci are known. It is therefore possible to better understand the exploitation system of this raw-material in Sardinia and in the north-tyrrhenian sector of the western Mediterranean, which roughly corresponds to its main area of diffusion. Due to its physical characteristics, obsidian is extremely suitable for knapping and it bears a detailed record of the knapping stigmata. b The heart of this thesis consists of the analysis of an obsidian reference collection made by different knappers with different techniques(direct, indirect percussion, and pressure). As result, it has been possible to identify the morphometric characters and the technical stigmata associated with each one of the considered techniques. This represents an essential information in order to recognize the different techniques of obsidian débitage used in Prehistory, especially because resulting blanks are often characterize by ambiguous traits, compatible with different techniques. In addition, this study has allowed to understand the differences between obsidian and chert knapping, thanks to the integration of the data available from literature. On these basis, a first technological analysis of an archaeological obsidian collection from Sardinia has been carried out, choosing a Neolithic site (Coddu is Abionis, Terralba, Or) characterized by an abundant assemblage and a diversity of chaînes opératoires and techniques.

This study evaluates how prehispanic central Mexicans made stone tools—primarily from obsidian—and used them in their homes over a period of 3,000 years. Mesoamerican scholars have often assumed the functional purposes of different lithic tools based on their material or technological attributes. Most limit their studies to single sites and extrapolate broader reconstructions of economic activities. I assess stone tool functions and associated economic activities through technological analyses of more than 43,000 lithic artifacts and, in addition, a feasibility study for high magnification use-wear analysis utilizing 589 of these artifacts from multiple household contexts in the central Mexican villages of Amomoloc (900-650 B.C.), Tetel (750-500 B.C.), and Mesitas (600-500 B.C.); the town of La Laguna (600 B.C.-A.D. 150); the city of Teotihuacan (A.D. 200-550); and the Aztec village of Cihuatecpan (A.D. 1150-1550). I determine that pressure blades—the most common tool form—were multifunctional. They were regularly modified via pressure trimming or notching and recycled through bipolar percussion to suit specific tasks. Blade production error rates decreased consistently, especially after the invention of core platform grinding near the end of the Classic period (A.D. 100-600). Preliminary results of the use-wear feasibility study suggest that certain tools became associated with specific tasks. Scrapers were mainly used to produce goods of maguey, wood, and hide. People came to use hafted atlatl dart points and bifacial knives almost exclusively for hunting and meat butchering tasks, respectively, and smaller bifacial drills mostly for shell craft production. Bipolar tools created through anvil percussion were more common during the Formative period (1500 B.C.-A.D. 100), when they were probably used as expedient kitchen utensils. Obsidian tools in central Mexico were not exclusively staple goods. Ritual bloodletting implements are spatially associated with communal altars and commoner and elite residences, but after the Epiclassic period (A.D. 600-900) bloodletting was restricted primarily to temples. Likewise, although weaponry was common during the Classic through Postclassic periods, and jewelry was relatively common during the Late Postclassic period (A.D. 1325-1521), in prehispanic times their spatial distributions were much more restricted across site contexts compared to obsidian staple goods. I demonstrate that in prehispanic central Mexico stone tools were produced and used primarily in household spaces, contrary to models that have emphasized sponsorship by elites or religious institutions. Residents produced stone tools in their homes primarily to satisfy their own needs during the Formative period. As rising populations contributed to urban densities and the development of marketplace economies, household lithic production increased to satisfy broader consumer demand. Producing households often specialized in blade production or followed a multicrafting strategy, in which the scale of production exceeded their own needs.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 260 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The study of prehistoric trade and exchange networks in the Western Mediterranean is directly linked to the identification and location of commodities available to Neolithic communities in that region. One of these commodities is a volcanic glass commonly known as obsidian. This investigation focused on the procurement, processing, and distribution of obsidian from the island of Pantelleria, situated between the southwestern coast of Sicily in the Straits of Sicily and the northeastern coast of Africa near Cape Bon, Tunisia. Previous studies indicate that there are several chemically different source areas on the island. Research involved the identification of primary obsidian deposits and the collection of samples from primary and/or secondary sources. / ABSTRACT: The position of each collection point was recorded using GPS coordinates, photographs, and physical descriptions, including accessibility and geological matrix. Additional information regarding the size, frequency, and grade (i.e. quality for tool production) was also noted. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Ascent of magma results in drastic drops of pressure and temperature during eruption. Exsolution or dissolution of water changes the physical and chemical properties of the magma and can promote or inhibit the formation of bubbles, crystals and cracks. The microstructural relations between bubbles, crystals and cracks are important records of processes immediately before and during volcanic eruptions and during deposition of volcanic products. This is an integrated study of analyses, conceptual and numerical models of textural relations, and water distribution patterns of natural and experimentally altered samples. Synchrotron Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and focal plane array detectors open new possibilities for the analysis of the spatial distribution of volatiles in volcanic rocks. New ways of sample preparation, measurements and data analyses helped to create water distribution maps with spatial resolutions that are close to the diffraction limit (~3 μm). In order to constrain eruptive processes and mechanisms of lava emplacement, I describe textural features in volcanic glasses including bubbles, flow bands of crystals or bubbles, spherulites and different generations of cracks. In experiments, bubbles were grown under isobaric conditions, at one or two cooling steps, their textures were described and volume changes tracked. Water distribution patterns in the glass around the textures were described and categorized, and where possible, diffusion modeling was used to infer temperature- and timescales of formation. Rocks that are quenched within short periods of time after bubble growth preserve negative gradients of water toward the bubble margins. These gradients are generally not observed if the sample is kept at high temperatures for extended periods. If, however, a second step of cooling is added, water may be re-dissolved into the surrounding melt, which may lead to the complete resorption of bubbles. A conceptual of water redistribution during bubble resorption or collapse is used to interpret water heterogeneities across linear flow banding. These heterogeneities can be caused by shearing of bubbly magma, leading to collapse, degassing and resorption of water into the melt, creating a bubble free melt. Anhydrous spherulitic crystals grow both above and below the glass transition temperature (Tg) redistributiong water into the surrounding melt. Below Tg, cracks form and are successively hydrated by magmatic water from crystal growth or by meteoric water at temperatures far below Tg. The hydrated perlitic cracks in the samples of this study formed at elevated temperatures and are distinct from cracks formed at ambient temperatures without hydrated margins. This study shows that the heterogeneous distribution of water in volcanic rocks preserves the complex and non-linear degassing and cooling history of eruptive products. The timescales and temperatures discovered here provide new ways to interpret textural observations, water distribution patterns and signals of shallow volcanic unrest.

Similar projectile point types were used by groups living over a wide geographic region in central and southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries A.D. Substantial changes that occurred in southeastern Arizona at this time include population aggregation, the arrival of northern migrant groups, and an increase in obsidian use. An analysis focusing on two sub-regions, the Tucson Basin and the San Pedro Valley, was conducted to explore how social, technological and environmental factors influenced projectile point technology during the Classic period (A.D. 1150–1450) in southeastern Arizona. Projectile point metric and morphological attributes and obsidian source data were used for comparisons within both of the sub-regions. Despite differences in social relations, obsidian exchange networks, and access to large game, comparisons between sites in the northeastern and northwestern Tucson Basin did not reveal significant differences in projectile point types. However, a good deal of variation in base morphology is evident regardless of type among the Tucson Basin sites. Projectile points from Kayenta enclaves in the Lower San Pedro Valley are overwhelmingly made of obsidian, but do not possess significantly different attributes from those used by local groups. Notable variation was seen in the small sample from the Upper San Pedro Valley, which may be attributed to the lack of influence from groups living to the north. Overall, the similarities in projectile point forms correspond with the growth of social networks during the Classic period. Although the small size of these points restricts their usefulness for signaling group identity, variation in base morphology, serrated blade edges, and other small details may continue to inform on the learning traditions or cultural preferences of groups in the region. Future research should expand the study area to include the Upper Gila region of New Mexico, where groups were living close to the extensive Mule Creek obsidian source.