Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX227302.

The organizational (procurement, manufacture, maintenance/discard) and structural (composition, diversity, complexity) dimensions of contemporary hunter-gatherer technological strategies are discussed in terms of the selective advantages for limiting subsistence costs and/or risks. It is argued that where subsistence is primarily cost (energy) limited technological strategies differ from those employed where risk (time) is limiting. Anticipatory organizational strategies - embedded procurement and reduction, and curation - achieve their most significant role in time-stressed contexts where there are selective benefits in separating subsistence and technological schedules. Structural strategies-- function-specific tools, diverse tool-kits, complex tool design - offer selective benefits where the act of food procurement is time-stressed. If subsistence is time-stressed but cannot be effectively 'separated from technological schedules tools may be made both reliable (high component redundancy) and maintainable (readily repaired) - the latter being facilitated by limiting component design thereby enabling materials of varied quality to be employed. The implications of differing organizational and structural strategies for the formation of the archaeological record and for the lithic analyst are discussed. Evidence concerning the environment, chronology, economy, settlement and technology of the Mesolithic of mainland Britain is reviewed. For the Earlier Mesolithic an alternative to the Clark model of subsistence and mobility is developed, whilst multivariate analyses of stone tool inventories and evidence concerning the function, complexity and design of microlithic tools provides the basis for suggestions as to the character and significance of the Earlier-Later Mesolithic transition. Analyses of lithic debitage from sites in northern England provide evidence for embedded procurement and reduction strategies during the Earlier Mesolithic consistent with the expectations of a model where autumn was spent in upland valleys engaged in intercept hunting, winter was spent in lowland residences.

This study focuses on identifying the function of obsidian tools from the Late Neolithic archaeological site of Contraguda on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The information obtained from use-wear analysis can provide information about changes in subsistence patterns, craft specialization, social differentiation and technology. This research began by collecting geological samples of obsidian from two of the most exploited sources in the Monte Arci volcanic complex of Sardinia. Subsequently, an experimental set of tools was made from these samples, and they were used to work various raw materials that were presumably available in Sardinia during the Neolithic. Wear patterns were studied on the experimental set utilizing macroscopic and low-power microscopy techniques and were compared to the wear on artifacts excavated from the site of Contraguda. The data obtained from this study were used to identify the function of this site, and complement and refine prior interpretations of human activity in this region. Conducting this study in Sardinian obsidian use wear by utilizing the same geological sources that people during the Neolithic were exploiting provides exceptional data and a perspective that may not be otherwise obtained. Finally, general information may be gleaned from the experimental and analytical techniques used in this research by others. Macroscopic and low-power microscopy techniques are expedient, inexpensive, and easily used in the field; however, minimal research has been done using low-power techniques relative to high-power or higher-tech methods. This research also addresses the benefits, limits, and feasibility of low-power approaches on their own, as well as in conjunction with other lithic analysis methods.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Mar. 3, 2010). Thesis advisor: Boyce N. Driskell. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The transition from a hunter-gatherer way of life to sedentary food-producing societies was a pivotal shift in human prehistory, affecting social, political, economic and ideological structures. The Epipalaeolithic in the Levant precedes the "origins of agriculture" and is the key to understanding the beginnings of social and economic phenomena seen in the later periods. Excavations at the site `Uyun al-Hammâm, located in northern Jordan, has uncovered a large amount of lithic material, faunal remains, and several human burials suggesting this site was a place of importance on the Epipalaeolithic landscape. This thesis explores the lithic debitage from `Uyun al-Hammâm to determine the stages of reduction that are represented in the assemblage. Debitage analysis, in conjunction with other site data, contributes to a robust understanding of the site's unique function during the Epipalaeolithic.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2010. / Title from title screen (site viewed May 18, 2010). PDF text: viii, p. : ill. (some col.), map. Publication: Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references.

The transition from a hunter-gatherer way of life to sedentary food-producing societies was a pivotal shift in human prehistory, affecting social, political, economic and ideological structures. The Epipalaeolithic in the Levant precedes the "origins of agriculture" and is the key to understanding the beginnings of social and economic phenomena seen in the later periods. Excavations at the site `Uyun al-Hammâm, located in northern Jordan, has uncovered a large amount of lithic material, faunal remains, and several human burials suggesting this site was a place of importance on the Epipalaeolithic landscape. This thesis explores the lithic debitage from `Uyun al-Hammâm to determine the stages of reduction that are represented in the assemblage. Debitage analysis, in conjunction with other site data, contributes to a robust understanding of the site's unique function during the Epipalaeolithic.

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

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

This thesis explore the technological role of bone and antler artifacts from two contact period southern Northwest coast archaeological sites, the Cathlapotle site (45CL1) and the Meier site (35CO5). Technological measures of sedentism are based on lithics, and predict residential sedentism promotes technological expediency in hunter-gatherers (Parry and Kelley 1987). Cathlapotle and Meier lithic assemblages consist of expedient and opportunistic assemblages and raw material stockpiles, with the exception of highly curated projectile points and endscrapers (Hamilton 1994). The expectation that residential sedentism promotes technological expediency in hunter-gatherers was tested on the Cathlapotle and Meier bone and antler artifact assemblages in two ways. First, curation and expediency were recorded for each artifact by measuring level of energy investment in manufacture or degree of working. Second, a spatial analysis was used to explore methods of artifact storage and disposal. Results revealed both Cathlapotle and Meier osseous assemblages are highly curated, except for expedient awls and flakers. Specifically, artifact classes related to subsistence procurement, modification including woodworking, and ornamentation were highly curated. Both sites contain stockpiles of unmodified bone and antler. The spatial analysis showed level of curation did not affect artifact disposal method. Despite this, some patterns were evident. At Cathlapotle, curated procurement and modification artifacts, expedient awls as well as worked fragments were concentrated outside the houses, specifically in Sheet Midden. Broken modification artifacts, ornaments, and detritus were randomly distributed. At the Meier site, curated procurement and modification artifacts, as well as expedient awls were randomly distributed. Broken modification artifacts, detritus and worked fragments were concentrated outside the houses. Ornaments were concentrated in the northern segment (elite area) of the house. There were also significantly more curated complete tools recovered from the cellar facility, while significantly fewer curated complete tools were recovered from the midden facility at Meier. In this thesis, the effects of contact on osseous assemblages were examined. It is an assumption of North American archaeologists that European-introduced metals replace and/or change the character of traditional technologies such as lithic and osseous technologies. Few quantitative studies comparing pre and postcontact artifact assemblages exist (Bamforth 1993, Cobb 2003). In some parts of northeast North America, European contact is followed by a proliferation of osseous tool working, and over time osseous artifacts drop out of the archaeological record (Snow 1995, 1996). Cathlapotle and Meier were occupied from AD 1400 to AD 1830, spanning European contact. People at Cathlapotle were in direct contact with Europeans and Euro-Americans since 1792 (Boyd 2011). Previously, it was assumed Cathlapotle was more involved in the fur trade than Meier, because Cathlapotle was mentioned several times in ethnohistoric accounts, while Meier was never mentioned. Also Cathlapotle contains far more historic trade items than Meier (Ames 2011). The assumption that European-introduced metals replace and/or change the character of traditional technologies was tested on the Cathlapotle and Meier assemblages by comparing artifact frequency, density, and assemblage diversity of pre and postcontact assemblages. Results show contact is reflected in the osseous assemblages at both Cathlapotle and Meier. Contact is evident, but is reflected in different ways. At Cathlapotle, artifact frequencies, densities, and assemblage diversity decrease postcontact. In contrast at Meier, artifact frequencies and densities increase postcontact, with some artifact classes tripling or quadrupling in frequency. The introduction of metal could have enabled people to work osseous materials faster and easier, decreasing manufacture time, cost, and overall energy investment. The gain in efficiency promoted the proliferation of bone working and an abundance of osseous tools at the Meier site. These results encourage a reevaluation of Meier's role in the fur trade. At Cathlapotle, metal objects may have replaced osseous tools resulting in the decline of bone and antler working and/or activity patterns shifted away from activities requiring osseous tools. The results of this thesis deviate from typical Northwest Coast bone and antler assemblages, challenge technological models of sedentism that are based on lithics, and contradict assumptions of Lower Columbians involvement in the fur trade.