Old Technology, New Methodology
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Old Technology, New Methodology" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Given their excellent preservation and direct relation to subsistence and mobility, lithic studies have long been central to the field of archaeology. Even recently, some archaeologists felt we had reached the extent of knowledge that could be derived from lithics, but new technological innovations in analysis, statistics, and experimentation are advancing the limits of what lithic artifacts can teach us about human behavior. Such innovations have expanded the dataset from which models of human subsistence and mobility are built. This session showcases new directions in lithic studies including big-data analysis, morphometrics, use-wear, novel data sources, and refined experimental methods.
Other Keywords
Lithic Analysis •
Archaic •
Paleoindian and Paleoamerican •
Hunter-Gatherers/Foragers •
Geoarchaeology •
History Of Archaeology •
Experimental Archaeology •
Mobility •
Use-Wear Analysis •
Landscape Archaeology
Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
North America •
Arizona (State / Territory) •
United Mexican States (Country) •
Department of Martinique (Country) •
Republic of El Salvador (Country) •
Department of Guadeloupe (Country) •
Cayman Islands (Country) •
Utah (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)
- Documents (9)
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Comparing the Durability and Robusticity of Obsidian and Chert Projectile Points (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stone weaponry and tools were fundamental to the success of past peoples. Stone weaponry varies dramatically, with both functional and nonfunctional factors contributing to this variation. The durability (whether a stone tip breaks or not) and robusticity (how much damage is incurred upon breakage) of stone weapon tips were two important functional...
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Interpreting Coefficients of Variation in Archaeological Assessments of Cultural Transmission (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. To test hypothesized effects of cultural transmission on material cultural evolution, archaeologists primarily use the coefficient of variation (CV). Interpretation of archaeological CVs is necessarily comparative, and foundational papers have assessed variation across broad geographic regions, and relative to either theoretically-derived threshold CVs or...
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Investigating the Spread of the Bow and Arrow in California Using Large Datasets (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeologists in North America often think of the bow and arrow as appearing more or less instantaneously, a conception baked into many culture historical schemes. However, this specialized technology likely has a more complex history. From a single Old World origin, it is thought to have spread to North America via the Arctic after about 5000 cal BP....
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Large Interpretations from Small Things: The Potential and Need for Large-Scale Microwear Studies (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since its broad application in the 1980s, a core critique of microwear analysis of lithic tools in North America has been its examination of very small sample sizes. This has often relegated microwear to the fringes of prehistoric studies—a curiosity, or an anecdote that does not add true substance to site interpretations. While our European colleagues...
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Leveraging DNA Capabilities for Lithic Analysis: Experimental Results and Best Practices (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper outlines the results of a multipart experiment in obtaining DNA deposited on lithics to address questions regarding localized resource use. Previous publications hypothesize that DNA molecules can be preserved in microcracks in lithics and suggest that questions regarding resource exploitation can be addressed with lithics. The goal of this...
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Leveraging Longitudinal Data for Lithic Technological Organization Research (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Lithic technological organization research depends on multiscalar perspectives connecting macroscales of land use and raw material economics to microscales of individual sites. Surface sites comprise a major source of data in many lithic technological organization studies. These sites are often recorded one time and rarely monitored. This can lead to...
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(Nut) Cracking the Code of Primate Cognition (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The use of percussive actions to access encased foods—e.g., nuts—has been proposed as a viable hypothesis to explain the emergence of stone tool technology in the hominin lineage. Observations of extant nonhuman primates such as chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) or black-striped capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus) nut-cracking have been used to support the...
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Paleoindian Use of Eocene Chert from the Wyoming Basin (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The first people who occupied the western hemisphere are characterized as being highly mobile and for having a propensity for using high quality cherts. Many of these high-quality lithic sources have been described and documented, while Eocene cherts of the Wyoming Basin have yet to have the same attention nor are they recognized as being a favorable...
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Preliminary Analyses of San Esteban (41PS20) Lithic Data: Implications for Mobility, Investment, and Dietary Predictions (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations between 2019 and 2022 at San Esteban Rockshelter (41PS20) in the Big Bend region of West Texas have generated a robust archaeological assemblage. San Esteban can inform on Holocene and, potentially, terminal Pleistocene human behavior in the relatively understudied Big Bend region. By employing Baka’s technological investment index and...