Investigating raw material selection for stone tool making with material sciences

用材料科学研究石器制造的原材料选择

• 批准号: 455839935
• 负责人: Privatdozent Dr. Patrick Schmidt
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Forschungsbereich Mineralogie und Geodynamik
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/455839935?language=en
• 关键词: Investigating; raw; material; selection; stone

The study of raw materials for stone tool making has important implications for our understanding of past people. Specifically, changes in the spectrum of stone tool raw materials through time have been interpreted as markers of changing mobility, economy or technology-driven selection. Two South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites, Diepkloof Rockshelter and Sibudu Cave (~100-50 ka), document such shifts throughout their sequence particularly well. Do these changes reflect changing accessibility of different raw materials, perhaps changing territoriality? Or, alternatively, did the foragers of the later part of the South African MSA specifically selected raw materials for tool making? These questions can be answered by investigating whether the qualities of different raw materials for making and/or using specific tools are correlated with their preferential selection. The aim of this research project is to shed light on these correlations by studying the mechanical properties relevant to tool knapping (knapping quality) and use (resistance to abrasion and impact fracture formation). The choices Diepkloof and Sibudu foragers actually made during raw material provisioning will be interpreted in the light of the results of the mechanical data. For this, we have developed a new method for quantifying Knapping quality and the likelihood of fracturing, based on material science. By using this new model, combined with quantitative use-experiments, this project seeks to uncover some of the fundamental mechanisms that drive tool stone selection at a time that is crucial to the evolution of early modern humans.

对石器制造原材料的研究对于我们了解过去的人类具有重要意义。具体来说，随着时间的推移，石器原材料范围的变化被解释为流动性、经济或技术驱动选择变化的标志。南非中石器时代 (MSA) 的两个遗址 Diepkloof Rockshelter 和 Sibudu Cave（约 100-50ka）特别好地记录了整个序列中的这种变化。这些变化是否反映了不同原材料的可及性的变化，也许是地域性的变化？或者，南非海事行政区后期的采集者是否专门选择了用于制造工具的原材料？这些问题可以通过调查用于制造和/或使用特定工具的不同原材料的质量是否与其偏好选择相关来回答。该研究项目的目的是通过研究与工具敲击（敲击质量）和使用（耐磨性和冲击断裂形成的抗性）相关的机械性能来阐明这些相关性。 Diepkloof 和 Sibudu 采摘者在原材料供应过程中实际做出的选择将根据机械数据的结果进行解释。为此，我们开发了一种基于材料科学的量化敲击质量和破裂可能性的新方法。通过使用这种新模型，结合定量使用实验，该项目试图揭示在对早期现代人类进化至关重要的时期推动工具石选择的一些基本机制。