Nine-thousand years of optimal toolstone selection through the North American Holocene

Stone was a critical resource for prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Archaeologists, therefore, have long argued that these groups would actively have sought out stone of ‘high quality’. Although the defining of quality can be a complicated endeavour, researchers in recent years have suggested that stone...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAntiquity Vol. 93; no. 368; pp. 313 - 324
Main Authors Williams, Jeremy C., Simone, Diana M., Buchanan, Briggs, Boulanger, Matthew T., Bebber, Michelle R., Eren, Metin I.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.04.2019
Subjects
Analysis
Anthropological research
Archaeology
Energy management
Geology
Historic artifacts
Holocene
Holocene Epoch
Hunter-gatherers
Hunting and gathering societies
Materials selection
Prehistoric era
Prehistory
Provenance
Quality
Raw materials
Stone
Stone implements
Vendor relations
North America
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ISSN0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI10.15184/aqy.2018.187

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Summary:Stone was a critical resource for prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Archaeologists, therefore, have long argued that these groups would actively have sought out stone of ‘high quality’. Although the defining of quality can be a complicated endeavour, researchers in recent years have suggested that stone with fewer impurities would be preferred for tool production, as it can be worked and used in a more controllable way. The present study shows that prehistoric hunter-gatherers at the Holocene site of Welling, in Ohio, USA, continuously selected the ‘purest’ stone for over 9000 years.
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ISSN:0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI:10.15184/aqy.2018.187