No Man Is an Island

Abstract

One problem for flint-scarce regions is evaluating how the scarcity influences strategies of stone tool production. In this paper, different methods of transmitting lithic knowledge are scrutinized. Imitation, trial-and-error, and learning-by-doing are found wanting. It is preliminarily concluded that, while skill transmission in flint-rich regions was probably associated with everyday tasks and developed over time, training in flint-scarce regions was more intensive and not connected to residential sites. Here, supported by a highly mobile way of life, skill transmission could have been carried out during one or several journeys to flint-richer areas. This, in turn, possibly reflects a society with well developed networks and a good sense of place and flint sources. The case study for this paper is the raw material circumstance found in prehistoric eastern Norway.