The Deconstruction of Technical Behavior: Assessing the Significance of Low-Cost Technologies in the Upper Paleolithic

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Expedient technologies are linked to low-cost behaviors, aimed at producing stone artifacts with low technical complexity and minimal temporal requirements. Traditionally, these have been associated with assemblages characterized by simple production systems mainly geared toward obtaining flakes. In recent years, these attributes have been described in Lower and Middle Paleolithic assemblages. However, their presence in Upper Paleolithic contexts remains notably limited. This is because industries associated with Homo sapiens have primarily focused on lithic specialization and the increase of technical complexity, masking the existence of expedient behaviors. In this study, we analyze Upper Paleolithic assemblages from Cova Gran de Santa Linya (NE Iberia) and Vale Boi (SE Iberia) to detect and discuss the occurrence of expedient behaviors. The study of these industries can serve multiple purposes: (1) extending our understanding of expedient behavior and low-cost technologies associated with Homo sapiens, (2) exploring diverse manifestations of expedient behavior from a diachronic perspective, (3) elucidating the role played by expedient technologies in technically complex assemblages, and (4) providing new insights to understand the aim of low-cost behaviors and their significance from an evolutionary and adaptive standpoint.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39502.0