projectile technology (Other Keyword)
1-5 (5 Records)
Evidence for hunting amongst hominin groups in northwestern Europe has emerged as a key archaeological research question over the past century. There are three clear archaeological signatures that suggest the possible manufacture and use of simple wooden weapons in Middle Pleistocene Europe: the collection of wooden spears from Schöningen in Germany from MIS 9, a wooden implement from Clacton-on-Sea from MIS 11, and a horse scapula with a possible impact fracture from Boxgrove from MIS 13....
Assessment of lateral edge grinding on hafting performance using experimental Clovis points (2017)
In the 1930s, F. H. H. Roberts proposed that lateral basal grinding was executed on Paleoindian projectile points to limit damage to the lashings that attached them to their shafts. This assumption is logical and widely accepted, but remains empirically untested. Here, we present an experiment that examines the role of lateral basal grinding in replica Clovis projectile points made of Texas chert. We compare via controlled ballistics experiments large samples of points with lateral edge grinding...
Cultural Transmission and Artifact Variation in Late Prehistoric New Mexico (2016)
Prehistoric boundary dynamics likely affected aspects of cultural transmission. Several lines of archaeological evidence indicate increased economic importance of bison and related inter-group tensions ca. AD 1300 in southeastern New Mexico, a boundary zone between the Pueblos to the west and cultures of the southern High Plains to the east. This paper presents preliminary results of a study centered on artifact variability and designed to test the hypothesis that model-based, biased cultural...
Functional Implications of Backed Piece Variability for Prehistoric Weaponry in the Middle Stone Age (2017)
MSA backed pieces are often thought to be components of projectile armaments, however our limited understanding of their functional characteristics as projectiles precludes understanding the adaptive problems they may have solved. Despite widespread acknowledgment of raw material differences and inter- and intra-assemblage morphological variability, whether backed piece morphology reflects functional, economic, or stylistic variation has a paucity of empirical support. Here, the functional...
Missing the Point: Identifying Perishable Projectiles in the Archaeological Record (2017)
For decades, archaeologists have used replicative studies to develop a better understanding of prehistoric technology. Many replicative studies have focused on the manufacture and use of stone projectiles, resulting in a detailed understanding of the design of hunting weapons in relation to various features of the environment and, in turn, elegant explanations for technological change over time. Yet if ethnographic accounts are any indication, lithic technology was only one (perhaps minor) part...