Journal: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

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Springer

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1866-9557
1866-9565

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2019 - 201912020 - 20251
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Publications 1 - 2 of 2
  • Identifying potential palaeolithic artificial memory systems via Spatial statistics: Implications for the origin of quantification
    Item type: Journal Article
    Courtenay, Lloyd Austin; d’Errico, Francesco; Núñez, Rafael; et al. (2025)
    Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
    Artificial Memory Systems (AMSs) are tools that allow for the storage and retrieval of coded information beyond the physical body, ranging from computers and writing systems to tallying sticks. Current scientific knowledge suggests humans are the only species to manufacture and use these tools. While a number of artifacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic have been considered to be early instances of AMS, conclusive and systematic evidence of this function is absent. Here we contrast the spatial distribution of markings on these potential early AMSs to other Paleolithic artifacts displaying butchery and ornamental marks, as well as ethnographically recorded cases of AMS. We find that both ethnographic and Upper Paleolithic AMSs are endowed with systematically different signatures that distinguish them from the other artifacts. These findings suggest that modern humans in at least Africa and Europe had sophisticated cognitive capabilities for information storage and retrieval, providing insights into the possible development of quantity-related cognition.
  • Influence of force and duration on stone tool wear: results from experiments with a force-controlled robot
    Item type: Journal Article
    Pfleging, Johannes; Iovita, Radu; Buchli, Jonas (2019)
    Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
    Many studies have shown that micro-wear analysis can identify some parameters such as worked material and motion direction with varying degrees of success. However, because experiments have traditionally been carried out by un-monitored humans, we do not fully understand the role of force in wear formation. Here, we compare the amount of wear produced by duration vs. applied force in a controlled experiment and using both the inspection of optical images and quantitative parameters describing surface topography. We used flint flakes attached to a force/torque controllable robot arm to scrape standardized beech wooden planks under constant force profiles. The force profiles were obtained by previous experiments in scraping described by Pfleging et al. (PLoS One 10, Pfleging et al. 2015). We varied the force level and use duration among the experiments. Worn pieces were imaged with an Alicona InfiniteFocus G4 microscope and the polished parts of the flakes were analyzed using areal field parameters from metrology. The data is publicly available on the internet. Results indicate that use duration contributes more significantly to polish formation than force, confirming assumptions made in human experiments performed in the 1980s. Moreover, simple metrological height parameters appear inadequate for capturing the degree of polish. We conclude that more sophisticated quantitative methods are required to go beyond the subjective human evaluation of optical images to reconstruct past human action.
Publications 1 - 2 of 2