Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets

Abstract Stone tools are the most durable residues of hominin behavior. Our ancestors left these “Stone Age visiting cards,” as Isaac (1981) called them, on every major land mass humans have inhabited, except Antarctica. Before the advent of cheap and efficient methods for producing metal implements...

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Main Author: Shea, John J
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Oxford University PressNew York, NY 2006
Subjects:
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/53076084/isbn-9780195183474-book-part-12.pdf
id croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012
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spelling croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012 2024-06-23T07:47:00+00:00 Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets Shea, John J 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/53076084/isbn-9780195183474-book-part-12.pdf en eng Oxford University PressNew York, NY Evolution Of The Human Diet page 212-229 ISBN 9780195183474 9780197712917 book-chapter 2006 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012 2024-06-04T06:11:03Z Abstract Stone tools are the most durable residues of hominin behavior. Our ancestors left these “Stone Age visiting cards,” as Isaac (1981) called them, on every major land mass humans have inhabited, except Antarctica. Before the advent of cheap and efficient methods for producing metal implements, stone tools were employed in subsistence tasks by all known human societies. Stone tools are also still used as subsistence aids by chimpanzees, our nearest primate relatives. To the extent that we believe major changes in hominin evolution have been accompanied by dietary shifts, it is reasonable to seek clues to these changes in stone-tool design and variability. In seeking these clues, however, we need to be alert to the complicating effects of behavioral variability. Recent stone-tool-using humans exhibit considerable variability, not only in the kinds of tasks for which stone tools are used but also in the choice of technological strategies they deploy in their land-use strategies and subsistence adaptations. To cite one particularly well-phrased example, observed by the archaeologist/soldier T. E. Lawrence in Arabia, during World War I: Book Part Antarc* Antarctica Oxford University Press 212 229
institution Open Polar
collection Oxford University Press
op_collection_id croxfordunivpr
language English
description Abstract Stone tools are the most durable residues of hominin behavior. Our ancestors left these “Stone Age visiting cards,” as Isaac (1981) called them, on every major land mass humans have inhabited, except Antarctica. Before the advent of cheap and efficient methods for producing metal implements, stone tools were employed in subsistence tasks by all known human societies. Stone tools are also still used as subsistence aids by chimpanzees, our nearest primate relatives. To the extent that we believe major changes in hominin evolution have been accompanied by dietary shifts, it is reasonable to seek clues to these changes in stone-tool design and variability. In seeking these clues, however, we need to be alert to the complicating effects of behavioral variability. Recent stone-tool-using humans exhibit considerable variability, not only in the kinds of tasks for which stone tools are used but also in the choice of technological strategies they deploy in their land-use strategies and subsistence adaptations. To cite one particularly well-phrased example, observed by the archaeologist/soldier T. E. Lawrence in Arabia, during World War I:
format Book Part
author Shea, John J
spellingShingle Shea, John J
Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets
author_facet Shea, John J
author_sort Shea, John J
title Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets
title_short Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets
title_full Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets
title_fullStr Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets
title_full_unstemmed Lithic Archaeology, or, What Stone Tools Can (and Can’t) Tell Us about Early Hominin Diets
title_sort lithic archaeology, or, what stone tools can (and can’t) tell us about early hominin diets
publisher Oxford University PressNew York, NY
publishDate 2006
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/53076084/isbn-9780195183474-book-part-12.pdf
genre Antarc*
Antarctica
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctica
op_source Evolution Of The Human Diet
page 212-229
ISBN 9780195183474 9780197712917
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195183474.003.0012
container_start_page 212
op_container_end_page 229
_version_ 1802649969018011648

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