Microremains on Stone (Tools): Discriminating Function-Related from Natural Residues

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Plant microremains from stone tools speak to ancient hominin behaviour if genuinely related to usage. Residues, however, attach to rock surfaces naturally. My objectives are to identify pathways for microremain adherence prior to and after burial; study residue abundance in relation to petrography, microstructure, and rock topography; and analyse spatial relationships. My methods are: recovery of 40 stones from natural setting; petrography and analysis of coatings and micro-fractures; GIS analysis; residue extraction, density separation, microscopy, and taxonomy; and quantification. The results indicate that cobbles show coating and recrystallization. Residue is trapped through accretion of biogenic materials. Kernel density estimation of residues and nearest neighbour analysis detect scatters of randomly dispersed accumulations. Microplant residues include phytoliths (52%), starch granules (32%), as well as palynomorphs, diatoms, and spicules (16%). Rocks from the subsoil yielded phytoliths (55%), starches (41%), and other particles (4%). Starch increases in subsoils, diatoms are more frequent on the surface, while palynomorphs are a major component in subsurface rocks. Phytolith and starch morphotypes differ in surface versus buried cobbles. A comparison between these rock residues and freestanding microremains from surrounding soils also exhibited variations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24930