A Trampling Experiment to Assess Fractures and Edge Damage in Quarry’s Lithic Assemblages

ABSTRACT

We present a trampling experiment aimed at evaluating the overall morphological modifications on stone artifacts discarded forming big piles of lithic materials like the ones in intensive quarrying contexts. In this experiment, in contrast with most of the many trampling experiments developed so far, we laid orthoquartzite and silicified limestone artifacts in a nine- layered pile that included cores, flakes, different tools, and chunks. In this research, we focused on breakage and analyzed fracture rates and fracture types. Also, we contrasted the metric characteristics of fractured specimens against the model proposed for trampling fragmentation potential. The preliminary analysis presented for edge damage considered amount, distribution, location, scars width and length, and the identification of pseudo-tools. Results suggest that trampling over lithic artifact piles – a hard, irregular, and highly dynamic substrate – produces very high frequencies of modifications in lithic artifacts especially edge damage, including the production of pseudo-tools.

KEYWORDS:

• Lithic breakage
• edge damage
• trampling fragmentation potential
• quarry

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Nora Flegenheimer, for her never-ending patience and Águeda Caro Petersen, for her help with the photos during trampling. We also thank Mariano Colombo and the Área de Museos de Necochea. To Dan Amick, for motivating the writing of this work. A special thanks to the reviewers for their comments which helped to improve this paper. One of the authors (A. S.) is a member of the Consolidated Research Group in Prehistory of the Basque Country University and is part of the project HAR2017-82483-C3-1-P.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Layer 1 was excluded from the χ² due to the low n in the “broken” group

2 Layer 9 was excluded from the χ² due to the low n in the “no edge damage” group

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by ANPCyT PICT 2014-3054 and the Department of Education, Linguistics and Culture of the Government of the Basque Country University (BFI-2012-205).

Notes on contributors

Celeste Weitzel

Celeste Weitzel is a Research Fellow for the National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET). In 2010 she received her PhD in Archaeology at the University of Buenos Aires. Her main research interests are lithic technology and taphonomy, and fishtail points. Her research on lithic artifacts breakage focuses on how this informs on past activities, social practices, and decision making, as well as taphonomic processes.

Aitor Sánchez

Aitor Sánchez completed an undergraduate and MA degrees at University of Basque Country. He has delivered his Ph.D. at the University of Basque Country in 2021, specialized in the management of flint during the Neolithic and Calcolithic.