Quantifying the effects of erosional processes on stone artifact concentrations: Implications for site formation at open-air Paleolithic sites

Summary

An essential part of archaeological site management and interpretation is determining how recent landscape modifications affect artifact distributions. Stone artifact scatters can be an initial indicator of subsurface concentrations, yet little scholarship has focused on quantifying the nature and rate of the erosional processes that affect them. The archaeological record of northern Malawi demonstrates that despite abundant surface scatters, subsurface distributions may vary considerably in density and integrity. This study uses GIS to examine the processes by which a large concentration of stone artifacts has eroded over multiple monsoonal cycles, and how artifact attributes vary and potentially contribute to site erosion and/or preservation. In 2012, total station data and complete collection of surface finds at the "Bruce" site in Karonga, Malawi, yielded an assemblage of over 3000 artifacts. In 2014, over 2300 newly exposed artifacts were plotted and collected from the same area, resulting in high-resolution provenience data and two complementary lithic assemblages. Artifact attributes such as size class and weathering stage are combined with the spatial data to quantify how the surfaces of archaeological sites can change over even brief periods of time. This highlights the need for modern analogues in assessing the depositional histories of open-air Paleolithic sites.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage