The Social Organization of Technology

Abstract

The study of skill and skill transmission in lithic technology greatly improves our understanding of the social organization of prehistoric society. It generates a dynamic view of the past that goes beyond the simple mapping of different lithic categories. To date, the majority of these studies have been conducted on high-resolution sites from flint-rich regions, usually dating from the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic. The technology used in these societies (often) shows a high degree of standardization and demands a high level of skill—a degree of standardization and skill that was not always necessary in prehistory. Hence, the universal applicability and usefulness of the criteria generated in these studies can be questioned. Two Early Mesolithic sites (Verrebroek Dok 1 and Doel Deurganckdok zone J/L) from Sandy Flanders (Belgium), both showing a simple, almost <i>ad hoc</i> knapping technology on poor quality raw materials, will be presented as an example. Based on extensive typological, raw material, technological (i.e., attribute analysis and systematic refitting), and functional analyses, the comparison of these sites offers an alternative interpretation of the criteria used to prove the different levels of skill, and hence away from the simple master-pupil dichotomy.