Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools
The oldest bifacial “handaxes” known so far belong to the “Kokiselei 4” site, dated to 1.76 Ma (West Turkana, Kenya; Texier, 2018). They have been manufactured by direct lithic percussion on magmatic effusive stone materials. Considering that the evolution of “fully operational intelligence” (Wynn,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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EXARC
2019-11-01
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| Series: | EXARC Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10458 |
| _version_ | 1797294467638624256 |
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| author | Giorgio Chelidonio |
| author_facet | Giorgio Chelidonio |
| author_sort | Giorgio Chelidonio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The oldest bifacial “handaxes” known so far belong to the “Kokiselei 4” site, dated to 1.76 Ma (West Turkana, Kenya; Texier, 2018). They have been manufactured by direct lithic percussion on magmatic effusive stone materials. Considering that the evolution of “fully operational intelligence” (Wynn, 1979) has been associated with the so-called “Mode 2” chaîne opératoire, it seems interesting to verify the potential adaptive meaning of selecting scarcely isotropic stones. This techno-behavioural approach, somehow similar to the so-called “lithic translation strategy” (Chelidonio, 1997), is a preliminary hypothesis that could be applied to the Fontana Ranuccio handaxes (458 ka BP, Latium/central Italy). In this very peculiar Acheulean assemblage, a few bifacial tools were manufactured using local “lava”1 (Biddittu, 1993, p. 58); others were roughly manufactured by flaking off thick elephant bones (Pereira et al., 2018). The above hypothesis has been preliminarily tested by experimenting the “Mode 2” techno-evolutionary step on some basalt samples at my disposal, to verify symmetrical flaking results applied to non-vitreous or non-cherty stones. Obviously, it is advisable to perform future tests on the basalt-like material available in the Fontana Ranuccio area, to adequately assess the techno-behavioural meaning of this peculiar lithic assemblage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:31:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-68c4e4a8438b4fe8b32a57c23abf292b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2212-8956 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:31:47Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | EXARC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | EXARC Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-68c4e4a8438b4fe8b32a57c23abf292b2024-02-26T15:06:27ZengEXARCEXARC Journal2212-89562019-11-012019/4ark:/88735/10458Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial ToolsGiorgio ChelidonioThe oldest bifacial “handaxes” known so far belong to the “Kokiselei 4” site, dated to 1.76 Ma (West Turkana, Kenya; Texier, 2018). They have been manufactured by direct lithic percussion on magmatic effusive stone materials. Considering that the evolution of “fully operational intelligence” (Wynn, 1979) has been associated with the so-called “Mode 2” chaîne opératoire, it seems interesting to verify the potential adaptive meaning of selecting scarcely isotropic stones. This techno-behavioural approach, somehow similar to the so-called “lithic translation strategy” (Chelidonio, 1997), is a preliminary hypothesis that could be applied to the Fontana Ranuccio handaxes (458 ka BP, Latium/central Italy). In this very peculiar Acheulean assemblage, a few bifacial tools were manufactured using local “lava”1 (Biddittu, 1993, p. 58); others were roughly manufactured by flaking off thick elephant bones (Pereira et al., 2018). The above hypothesis has been preliminarily tested by experimenting the “Mode 2” techno-evolutionary step on some basalt samples at my disposal, to verify symmetrical flaking results applied to non-vitreous or non-cherty stones. Obviously, it is advisable to perform future tests on the basalt-like material available in the Fontana Ranuccio area, to adequately assess the techno-behavioural meaning of this peculiar lithic assemblage.https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10458flintflint knappingstonepalaeolithicitaly |
| spellingShingle | Giorgio Chelidonio Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools EXARC Journal flint flint knapping stone palaeolithic italy |
| title | Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools |
| title_full | Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools |
| title_fullStr | Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools |
| title_full_unstemmed | Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools |
| title_short | Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools |
| title_sort | basalt handaxes preliminarily testing the lithic translation strategy hypothesis and comparisons with the fontana ranuccio site bifacial tools |
| topic | flint flint knapping stone palaeolithic italy |
| url | https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10458 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giorgiochelidonio basalthandaxespreliminarilytestingthelithictranslationstrategyhypothesisandcomparisonswiththefontanaranucciositebifacialtools |