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Assessing raw material’s role in bipolar and freehand miniaturized flake shape, technological structure, and fragmentation rates

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Abstract

This paper concludes a long-term experimental study to examine the role of bipolar and freehand reduction as strategies for lithic miniaturization on milky quartz and flint. The experiments provide clear quantifiable guidelines for identifying bipolar reduction in archeological assemblages. They suggest that with bipolar reduction—a straightforward and time-efficient strategy to learn—toolmakers could easily surpass the cutting edge/mass efficiency levels of more derived lithic reduction strategies such as pressure blade production. Here we compared the efficiency and technological attributes on the experiment’s milky quartz and flint flakes. The results show few practically significant differences between the two flake samples. The strongest differences are in the flakes’ ventral surface and platform features. Otherwise, we concur with previous experimental studies that show certain types of milky quartz behave in essentially the same way as other brittle materials such as flint. Our results aid the identification of bipolar reduction with a focus on cores and flakes. They contribute to a growing body of literature showing the importance of simple, but not simplistic, technological strategies in prehistoric human decision-making.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank John Shea for comments on earlier versions of the text and data.

Funding

This study is supported by the Justin Pargeter’s National Science Foundation DDIG fellowship for financial support. The Leakey Foundation Mosher Baldwin Fellowship and the Dan David Prize>

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Justin Pargeter

  2. Centre for Anthropological Research & Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa

    Justin Pargeter

  3. Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Paloma de la Peña

  4. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Paloma de la Peña

  5. Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

    Metin I. Eren

  6. Department of Archaeology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Metin I. Eren

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  1. Justin Pargeter
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Correspondence to Justin Pargeter.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Controlled experiments in lithic technology and function

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Pargeter, J., de la Peña, P. & Eren, M.I. Assessing raw material’s role in bipolar and freehand miniaturized flake shape, technological structure, and fragmentation rates. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 5893–5907 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0647-1

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