Figure 2 - uploaded by Paul Burnett
Content may be subject to copyright.
4 (page 2 of 3). Late Archaic projectile points, continued: (ad-ak) weakly stemmed points with wide corner-notches, straight to slightly expanding stems, and straight to slightly convex bases; (al-ap) medium to large weakly stemmed points with wide corner-notches and expanding, convex bases with pointed barbs and tangs; (aq-as) medium-large weakly stemmed points with corner-notching and convex bases with rounded tangs; (at-bc) medium corner-notched points with narrow notches, convex to nearly straight bases and pointed barbs and tangs. Data are in Appendix B, Table 1.
Source publication
Thesis (M.A.)--Colorado State University, 2005. Includes bibliographical references.
Similar publications
Thesis (M.S.)--University of colorado, 1987. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [43]-45).
Citations
... All artifacts were photographed with dorsal side up (if identifiable) and with their bar code visible for data cross checking. This "catch and release" approach to landscape archaeology provides an opportunity to monitor artifact disturbance in the future related to dune erosion, development encroachment, and increased public visitation (Burnett, 2005). ...
Open-air Middle Stone Age (MSA) contexts in southern Africa have received relatively little research attention compared to caves/rock-shelters. MSA caves/rock shelters can provide long sequences of MSA behaviors dominated by residential activities in circumscribed contexts but most procurement activities occurred on the landscape in uncircumscribed space. We have a limited understanding of these activities at present, making studies of open-air sites crucial. To alleviate this bias, the South African Coast Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, Paleoanthropology (SACP4) project expanded its research scope to include MSA archaeology from open-air contexts. We report on a series of MSA open-air assemblages that are exposed on ancient land surfaces suggestive of intact paleosols at Vleesbaai and Visbaai, South Africa. Importantly, these sites occur in close proximity to the long cave/rock shelter sequences at Pinnacle Point. This presents the novel potential to study evidence of MSA behavior in closed and open settings where their proximity to each other approximates the typical hunter–gatherer daily foraging radius documented in ethnography. We present a fabric and technological analysis of MSA stone tool assemblages from three “Areas”. Analysis of total-station piece plotting of artifact bearing/plunge suggests that the lithic assemblages have undergone limited post-depositional disturbance. The technological analysis and exploratory comparisons between these open-air assemblages and MSA cave and rock shelter contexts at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B and 9, and Cape St. Blaize Cave suggest that the quartzite artifacts from Vleesbaai were procured from locally available sources and may have been field processed there before being transported elsewhere, perhaps to the caves/rock shelters. Further, the analysis suggests a dichotomous pattern of retouched tool discard, where quartzite tools are discarded similarly across the landscape. In contrast, non-quartzite tools may have been made primarily at the cave sites, and discarded or lost more frequently on the landscape.
This paper uses new lithic research with well-dated stratified collections from the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains and adjacent Bighorn Basin to build a dichotomous key for chronologically classifying points in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) as Late Prehistoric (200–1,500 cal BP), Late Archaic (1,500–3,200 cal BP), Middle Archaic (3,200–5,700 cal BP), Early Archaic (5,700–8,500 cal BP) or Paleoindian (8,500–12,000 cal BP). The Plains Typology, which is currently used throughout the GYE, has never been formally based on points with affiliated absolute dates. Further, it has always been unclear how well this typology functions in the mountains of the GYE. Based on detailed attributes from over 600 points, including Mummy Cave (48PA201), a foundational chronology for the region, we build a key intended for use with fragmentary surface collections. We then use this key to consider variation in high elevation projectile points from the Beartooth and Absaroka Mountains.
Here we present preliminary taphonomic and technological analyses of a MSA lithic assemblage from an exposed ancient land-surface suggestive of an intact paleosol at Nautilus Bay, South Africa. Total-station piece plotting of artifact orientation/dip, artifact size distributions, and the exposed surface side-up of artifacts, suggests the lithic assemblage has undergone limited post-depositional disturbance. Technological analysis indicates early stage lithic reduction, evidenced by large tested cobbles with few removals, and a high percentage of dorsal cortex. Nautilus Bay expands the range of MSA behavioral variation to areas outside of cave contexts along the southern coast of South Africa.
Here we present preliminary taphonomic and technological analyses of two MSA lithic assemblages from exposed ancient land-surfaces suggestive of intact paleosols at Vleesbaai, South Africa. Open-air MSA contexts in southern Africa have received relatively little research attention compared to cave/rock-shelters. MSA caves/shelters provide a glimpse of MSA behavior at discrete locations often along the coast. However, most subsistence and social interaction likely occurred on the landscape. We have a very limited understanding of these activities at present, making studies of open-air sites crucial to understanding developments in modern human behavioral complexity. The two assemblages reported on here, preliminary called Area A and Area B, both tentatively date to ~60 ka based on preliminary OSL dating on underlying sediments at the Area A location, and by MSA artifact typology, represented by a single, possible Howiesons Poort backed piece, at the Area B location. Total-station piece plotting of artifact orientation/dip, artifact size distributions, and the exposed surface side-up of artifacts, suggest that both lithic assemblages have undergone limited post-depositional disturbance. Technological analyses indicates a reliance on secondary cobble sources in the Area A assemblage, and is suggestive of early stage lithic reduction, evidenced by large tested cobbles with few removals, and a high percentage of dorsal cortex. The Area B assemblage is relatively more reliant on primary outcrop raw materials, has higher artifact density, and is suggestive of relatively later stage lithic reduction based on a higher frequency of dorsal flake scars and less dorsal cortex. We explore comparisons between these open-air assemblages and other southern coast MSA cave contexts at PP13B, Cape St. Blaize, and Klasies River. The two Vleesbaai assemblages expand the range of MSA behavioral variation to areas outside of cave contexts, and expand the range of behavioral variation observed in open-air contexts along the southern coast of South Africa.
