Lithics And Social Life: Approaches to Artefacts And Social Dynamics. (Applications of Distinctive Research Methodologies to a Mesolithic Assemblage From March Hill, Central Pennines)

BRIZ, IVÁN; MYRIAN ALVAREZ Y PENNY SPIKINS

York, Reino Unido de la Gran Bretaña

Congreso; Stone artefacts as material and symbolic markers in cultural landscapes: an international perspective-Implement; 2007

Universidad de York

Different cultural and research traditions have led to distinctively different approaches to lithic analysis and interpretations of inter-site spatial patterning in early prehistoric sites. An integration of such different approaches can often give new ´ways of seeing´ artefact assemblages and distribution patterns and valuable insights into past activities. Here we present the preliminary results of a project integrating detailed analytical techniques focused on processes of production and consumption and social dynamics in ethnoarchaeological contexts in Tierra del Fuego with existing detailed lithic analysis at high definition Mesolithic sites in the Central Pennines. Such methods taken from Argentina (Alvarez) and Spain (Briz) that were developed in ethnoarchaeological contexts employed detailed edge morphological analysis and use wear. When applied to site A at March Hill, these techniques yielded interesting new insights about activities at the site, and provided a test case for such techniques in a high definition archaeological assemblage.