Perspectives on the Organization and Use of Lithic Technology: A Modern Ethnographic Case Study in East Turkana, Kenya

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 technology has taken on several meanings within the study of stone tools. However, the range of behaviors associated with the term expedient and its manifestation in the archaeological record is dependent on the socio-ecological and functional contexts in which technology is used. Acquiring a deeper understanding of such contexts is challenging, given the infrequent opportunities to observe stone tool production and utilization within extant systems. In 2018, we began working with Daasanach pastoralists in Northern Kenya to document stone tool use from an ethnographic perspective. The Daasanach maintain a core-and-flake technology for use in a variety of functions within the context of herding livestock in remote settings. Over the last three years, we have undertaken extensive interviews with modern tool users and have observed the processes of stone tool production, utilization, and discard. While the Daasanach use of lithic technology could be considered expedient, it is integrated into a complex foraging strategy and cultural framework whose archaeological manifestation is conditioned by the broader availability of stone in the places where they live. The complex interaction of culture, ecology, and material patterning described by this study questions the relationship between the archaeological record and the complexity of the technological system.

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): 41535.0