Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary and Climate Studies--University of Maine, 2001. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-171).

Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary Studies--University of Maine, 2001. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-116).

Chipped stone tools are a truly dynamic medium of material culture. From initial reduction to contemporary excavation, lithic artifacts undergo continuous change. The role of the properties of raw materials in determining rates of use-wear accrual is poorly understood and has rarely been assessed quantitatively (e.g. Goodman, 1944; Greiser and Sheets, 1979; McDevitt, 1994). This dissertation offers such quantification regarding four materials exploited for the production of short-term use implements at the Late Archaic FA2-13 site located just outside the city of Farmington, New Mexico. / Both experimental and archaeological use-wear evidence was assessed in separate but related ways. Digital image analysis of use-wear invasiveness using ClemexVision PE and GIS analysis of use-wear homogeneity using Idrisi Kilimanjaro yielded distinct but highly complementary results. Direct testing of material properties of non-archaeological samples using a Hysitron Triboindenter served to further clarify these findings in terms of the complex relationship between raw material surface hardness and roughness. / The results of the present study show that there are significant differences between rates of wear accrual among the four materials. Analysis of tools from FA2-13 indicates that while scraping activities likely did predominate (Schutt, 1997a), it may also be feasible to generate more detailed assessments regarding the kinds of scraping activities that were undertaken and the respective intensities with which they were performed. This increased insight can then be extrapolated for application to long-term use technologies and their more complex life histories.

Univ., Diss.--Frankfurt (Main), 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / "August, 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-136). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2007. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed July 12, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-108).

Human culture is unique in its scope and complexity and is underpinned by the social transmission of information. Successful individuals will use both social and asocial information effectively. Evolutionary theory suggests that social learning should be guided by evolved learning rules that dictate when individuals rely on social information, a literature which I review across Chapters 1 and 2, with the emphasis of chapter 2 being on conformist transmission. In this thesis I present experimental investigations of the existence and adaptive value of several such strategies in both adults (Chapter 3) and young children (Chapter 4). In all cases I find strong evidence for the existence of such biases and show that they act to increase the accuracy of decisions. In particular I show individuals are highly sensitive to even small majorities within a group of demonstrators. The youngest children (age 3) however, show little sensitivity to social information and do not use it effectively. In Chapter 5 I present an investigation into the role of social learning in the evolution of hominin lithic technology. I conclude that even the earliest hominin flaking technology is poorly transmitted through observation alone and so the widespread and longstanding persistence of such tools implies some form of teaching. Furthermore, I conclude that the stable transmission of more complex technologies would likely require teaching, and potentially symbolic communication. I also postulate a co-evolution of stone tools and complex communication and teaching. In Chapter 6 I conclude that the cultural evolutionary approach, focussing on the evolutionary consequences of social information use and treating culture as a system of inheritance partially independent of genes, seems successful in increasing our understanding of the evolution of social learning.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2016. / This study is within the context of the Howiesons Poort Industry of the Middle Stone Age. This is a dynamic period of increasing behavioural and material complexity. In the lithic assembles, this can be seen in a strong bias towards the selection of high-quality fine-grained rocks. This has often been interpreted as evidence for long distance travel, reciprocal exchange, or even increased mobility. This study aims to determine what influence the mechanical properties of rock types exerted on the Middle Stone Age assemblages at Sibudu. This requires a consideration of the distribution of rock types across the landscape surrounding Sibudu Cave. The study was limited to hornfels and dolerite as these rock types dominate the Sibudu assemblage, and quartz and quartzite that were sometimes used at the site are exceedingly difficult to collect in large enough sample sizes to conduct experiments. It was important to carry out tests on the mechanical properties of hornfels and dolerite and to characterise them. Hardness, roughness, elasticity and brittleness dictate the ease of knapping as well as the durability of flaked tools and these rock properties can be measured by the mechanical tests described here. To understand how these properties affect the assemblage in practice, dolerite and hornfels flakes were produced and used experimentally for cutting and scraping leather. The edge damage produced was compared. Finally, preliminary analysis was undertaken of square C4, layer PGS, which forms part of the oldest Howiesons Poort layer at Sibudu. The information and insights gained from the mechanical tests and experimental work were used to interpret the role of mechanical properties for the archaeological sample of PGS. The results show that all rocks used at Sibudu are local, and do not support any models of long distance travel/trade, reciprocal exchange, or models of increased mobility. Dolerite and hornfels form the bulk of the assemblage at all times (except briefly in the post-Howiesons Poort), and there is a bias towards the selection of fine-grained rocks during the Howiesons Poort. Dolerite can be characterised as hard, tough, elastic, and rough, while hornfels is hard, brittle, and fine-grained. These properties affect knapping and the qualities of a tool’s edge. The properties of hornfels allow for knapping accuracy and predictability, and it is better suited to blade production and cutting. However, tool edges are not robust. Dolerite is not as easy to knap, but produces tools with a robust edge that are particularly suited to scraping. Each rock type appears to have fulfilled a different function at Sibudu. Most rock studies geochemically source rocks, establish models of rock procurement or show trends in rock selection for artefact classes. Mechanical studies of rocks have typically formed part of heat treatment debates (Brown et al 2009; Domanski & Webb 1992, 1994; Webb & Domanski 2008). Through the combined approach of mechanical testing, experimental knapping and tool use, and lithic analysis, this research provides a context for possible rock procurement choices at a time in the past when many African sites reveal a changing pattern of rock selection. / LG2017

My study sought to acquire quantitative data from the surface of lithic tools and use that data to discriminate tools used on different contact materials. An experimental archaeological wear production method was conceived, whereby I and several volunteers produced wear on chert, heat-treated chert, and obsidian flakes by using those flakes on several contact materials. The flakes were then analyzed using a laser scanning confocal microscope, which recorded three-dimensional surface data from each tool. The data was analyzed using cluster analysis to find the ideal combination of parameters which correctly discriminated the flakes based on use-wear data. After finding acceptable parameters which grouped flakes appropriately through cluster analysis, those groups were subjected to a discriminant analysis. Each analysis returned a p-value under .05, meaning that the clustering based on the parameters Sq and Sfd produced by the cluster analysis was not random, but indicative of these variables' ability to discriminate lithic use-wear. The major advantage of the approach developed in this study is that it can quantitatively discriminate use-wear produced by different contact materials on flakes with no a priori information at all. / by Elliott Farber. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The Quartz Mountain Obsidian Quarry is located in the Southeast corner of the Bend Fort Rock Ranger District in central Oregon, approximately forty-five miles southeast of Bend, Oregon. The research of the Quartz Mountain Obsidian Quarry began with a literature search of other quarry sites in the area and the use of aerial photos to determine the survey area. After the survey area was established a ground survey was conducted. Following the survey several key areas were chosen for surface collections that could answer key questions: What types of core reductions were being used on Quartz Mountain?; and What types of materials were being utilized? (red/black obsidian found in rhyolite veins, red/black obsidian found in fist sized and larger nodule form, or large block black obsidian). In order to answer these questions three collection units were established. The lithic material from the units was collected and analyzed and the information placed into a database, which was then grouped for statistical analysis, and generated into charts and tables. The resulting data was then compared to the information found from an extensive literature search to see how the material that I collected compared to those found at other quarry sites. From this information I was able to determine that two different core reduction methods were being used on Quartz Mountain: blade core and bifacial core. Along with the different core reduction methods a mobility strategy also came into play. In this thesis I will use the data gathered to determine the different core reduction methods and the mobility strategies that are associated with them. / Graduation date: 1998