The contribution of 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics to lithic taxonomies: Testing discrete categories of backed flakes from recurrent centripetal core reduction
Paleolithic lithic assemblages are usually dominated by fakes and display a high degree of morphological variability. When analyzing Paleolithic lithic assemblages, it is common to classify fakes into categories based on their morphological and technological features, which are linked to the positio...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid |
| Repositorio: | Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/711223 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10486/711223 https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41982-023-00167-7 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Lithic Analysis Lithic Technology Geometric Morphometrics Machine Learning Middle Paleolithic Levallois Discoidal Antropología |
| Sumario: | Paleolithic lithic assemblages are usually dominated by fakes and display a high degree of morphological variability. When analyzing Paleolithic lithic assemblages, it is common to classify fakes into categories based on their morphological and technological features, which are linked to the position of the fake in the reduction sequence and how removals are organized in a given production method. For the analysis of Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages, two categories of fakes are commonly identifed: core–edge fakes and pseudo-Levallois points. A third type, core–edge fakes with a limited back, is also commonly found in the archaeological literature, providing an alternative category whose defnition does not match the two previous types but shares many of their morphological and technological features. The present study addresses whether these three fakes constitute discrete categories based on their morphological and technological attributes. 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics are employed on an experimental set composed of the three categories of fakes to quantify morphological variation. Machine learning models and principal components biplots are used to test the discreteness of the categories. The results indicate that geometric morphometrics succeed in capturing the morphological and technological features that characterize each type of product. Pseudo-Levallois points have the highest discreteness of the three technological products, and while some degree of mixture exists between core edge fakes and core edge fakes with a limited back, they are also highly distinguishable. We conclude that the three categories are discrete and can be employed in technological lists of products for the analysis of lithic assemblages and that geometric morphometrics is useful for testing for the validity of categories. When testing these technological categories, we stress the need for well-defned and shared lithic analytical units to correctly identify and interpret the technical steps and decisions made by prehistoric knappers and to properly compare similarities and diferences between stone tool assemblages. These are key aspects for current research in which open datasets are becoming more and more common and used to build interpretative techno-cultural models on large geographical scales. Now more than ever, lithic specialists are aware of the need to overcome diferences in taxonomies between diferent school traditions |
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