Fig 4 - uploaded by Patricia Chabot Anderson
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a : Neolithic notched scapula tool from Ganj Dareh, Iran (image : P. C. Anderson) ; b : scanning electron microscope image of radial striations (black triangles) on the underside of the tool in a notch, showing direction of circulation of cereal stems and ears, as in fig. 3. White scale bar equals 10 µ. (image : L. Le Ribault).
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... tool be like the one Pliny was referring to in far later times ? Could it have been a harvesting tool ? Initial field experiments showed that the tool functioned poorly for harvesting einkorn and emmer wheat, as the stems tended to jam in the basal notch of the tool and the other notches were not used. Furthermore, the two archaeological tools, ( fig. 4a, 5a) studied using optical microscopy and the scanning electron micros- cope, showed radial striations emanating from each notch, features particularly pronounced on the underside of the tool ( fig. 4b, black triangles and 5b, arrows) as well as striations along the areas between the notches on the edge (Stordeur and Anderson-Gerfaud, ...
Context 2
... wheat, as the stems tended to jam in the basal notch of the tool and the other notches were not used. Furthermore, the two archaeological tools, ( fig. 4a, 5a) studied using optical microscopy and the scanning electron micros- cope, showed radial striations emanating from each notch, features particularly pronounced on the underside of the tool ( fig. 4b, black triangles and 5b, arrows) as well as striations along the areas between the notches on the edge (Stordeur and Anderson-Gerfaud, 1985), showing all these areas were functioning simultaneously during the use of the tool (as drawn in fig. ...
Context 3
... was used after harvest, on stems cut long enough to be held firmly in one hand, and with the tool immobile, with the other hand, they are pulled through the tool. Our experiments also showed that the tools continue to function well even when one of the branches has broken, as seen on the archaeological tools illustrated here ( fig. 4a, 5a). After the initial study, experiments conti- nued over the following 20 years or so, building up hours of use of the tools, and verifying the feasibility of different working positions and materials : a log was worked with two flat edges that fit the V-shape of the scapula tool, and this configuration was used successfully to strip ...
Citations
... If harvesting had been done high on the stem, e.g. by stripping or plucking by hand or with the aid of a tool, or by sickle harvesting (Hillman and Davies 1999;Schlichtherle 2005;Anderson 2013), then this could also have been a strategy for avoiding some of the arable weeds and may represent one of the reasons for the low presence of potential crop weeds in the seed assemblage (Jones, M.K. 1998). The three most abundant arable weeds (mentioned above) can be considered tall because they can grow to over 80 cm in height (Kreuz et al. 2005 , Table 7; Bogaard 2011, Table 6.6); therefore, their seeds would have been collected by harvesting either low or high on the stem, as well as by ear-plucking. ...
https://www.sidestone.com/books/archaeology-in-the-zitava-valley-i >>> This chapter combines the published and unpublished archaeobotanical data for Vráble, thus presenting the entire assemblage recovered in the course of the excavations. The collated data are used as a basis for the reconstruction of the plant-growing and -consumption habits of the Neolithic residents and for inferring the ways in which they used the surrounding landscape. The outcomes of the archaeobotanical analysis are also discussed in relation to the archaeological context in which the plant remains were present. The 'standard' LBK crop spectrum, characteristic of dry sites with charred plant preservation, was documented at Vráble, with einkorn and emmer as the most prominent components and likely the major cultivars. The lifecycle and growing habits of the potential arable weeds point towards high-intensity agricultural management, confirming the existing model of the nature and scale of farming at LBK sites. The agriculturally produced plant food was supplemented by fruit and nuts collected in the relatively open woodland surrounding the site. The scarcity of plant remains at Vráble is almost certainly a direct result of the taphonomic factors, of which re-deposition and re-location of the material probably had the greatest impact. Additionally, the variation in the quantities of the plant material across the site, especially between features of the same type and similar assumed purpose – i.e. the long pits – indicates that spatial distribution of plant-related activities, and perhaps also their nature, affected the quantities and rate of deposition of plant remains. In particular, the degree of use or discard of one or the other of the two main crops may have varied between the households.
... Use-wear analyses have shown that such gloss is caused by frictional mechanisms from cutting cereal stalks (cf. Meeks et al. 1982;Anderson 2013). ...
... The virtually infinite depth of field of the SEM, combined with its ability to reach thousands of times magnification, means that residues may be identified according to their distinctive morphology, or by using elemental analysis to find their characteristic inorganic chemical components (e.g. Anderson 1980Anderson , 2013Stordeur and Anderson-Gerfaud 1985;Langejans 2011). ...
