Stone tool use and function on the margins of northern Europe, 400,000 years ago

40万年前北欧边缘地区石器的使用和功能

• 批准号: 2598357
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Liverpool
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2598357
• 关键词: Stone; tool; use; function; margins

Four hundred thousand years ago, East Anglia lay at the northern extremity of the European hominin range. Sites from this time are rare across the continent, but exceptional conditions of preservation make Eastern England a region of international importance for studying hominin adaptations. Decades of research have revealed details of palaeoenvironmental conditions, where hominins lived, what kinds of stone tools they made, but a large gap in knowledge remains: what were the tools used for? No functional studies have been undertaken since the 1970s on tool-use, and the field of use-wear analysis has developed greatly since these pioneering studies. This project addresses that gap in knowledge by applying an integrated approach of functional and spatial analysis of key stone tool assemblages from a selection of sites from East Anglia including Beeches Pit and Barnham East Farm. Functions will be determined utilising the current state of the art methods of stone tool functional analysis. The analytical approach combines optical and metallurgical microscopy to assess the formation of characteristic use-wear traces on the edges of stone tools. These traces are then compared with those from a purpose built comprehensive reference collection of experimental replica tools of known use, the analysis of which will be assessed using blind testing. A high-quality reference collection underpins the reliability of the interpretative process and enables use-wear analysis to be conducted with greater scale and precision.Use-wear analysis will address a long-running debate about the behavioural significance of two contemporary traditions of tool-making in the region. One tradition is recognised by symmetrical, bifacially shaped tools of the Acheulean Industry (handaxes) and the other, by the absence of handaxes and stone flake dominated toolkits of the Clactonian Industry. Debate revolves around the hypothesis that the two traditions represent different coexisting cultural groups, as opposed to functionally different tools in the repertoire of a single cultural tradition. Functional analyses offer a means of resolving this ongoing debate, whilst simultaneously contributing information about the role of technology in adapting to northern habitats.

四十万年前，东安格利亚位于欧洲古人类分布区的最北端。这一时期的遗址在整个非洲大陆都很罕见，但特殊的保存条件使东英格兰成为研究古人类适应的国际重要地区。数十年的研究揭示了古环境条件、古人类居住的地方、他们制造的石器种类等细节，但仍然存在巨大的知识空白：这些工具是用来做什么的？自 20 世纪 70 年代以来，一直没有对工具使用进行过功能性研究，但自这些开创性研究以来，使用磨损分析领域得到了极大的发展。该项目通过对来自东安格利亚（包括 Beeches Pit 和 Barnham East Farm）等地点的关键石器组合应用功能和空间分析的综合方法来解决这一知识差距。将利用当前最先进的石器功能分析方法来确定功能。该分析方法结合了光学和金相显微镜来评估石器边缘特征性使用磨损痕迹的形成。然后将这些痕迹与来自已知用途的实验复制工具的专门构建的综合参考集合的痕迹进行比较，其分析将使用盲测进行评估。高质量的参考集合巩固了解释过程的可靠性，并使使用磨损分析能够以更大的规模和精度进行。使用磨损分析将解决关于两种当代工具传统的行为意义的长期争论——在该地区制造。一种传统是由阿舍利工业的对称、双面形状的工具（手斧）所认可的，另一种传统是由克拉克顿工业中缺乏手斧和石片为主的工具包所认可的。争论围绕着这样一个假设，即这两种传统代表了不同的共存文化群体，而不是单一文化传统中功能不同的工具。功能分析提供了解决这一持续争论的方法，同时提供有关技术在适应北方栖息地方面的作用的信息。