Justin Bradfield
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 631669 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Justin Bradfield |
| NOMBRES | Justin |
| APELLIDO | Bradfield |
| FIRMA | BRADFIELD J |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Johannesburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6139-6227 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 37 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 283 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 37 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2012 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 9 |
Processing and Production
Bone working is considered a key characteristic of the Oakhurst period (c. 14–8 ka) in southern Africa. Yet few detailed studies and regional analyses have been undertaken on worked bone from this time period. Here, we present a dedicated techno-functional study of worked bone from the Oakhurst period at three sites across South Africa: Jubilee Shelter, Rose Cottage Cave, and Nelson Bay Cave. Our results show a chaîne opératoire that uses biparti…
Aquatic Innovation and Adaptation
This contribution explores the intersection between technology and the aquatic resource economy, with a particular focus on southern Africa and how human innovation, adaptation, and social strategies have been shaped in tandem. Archaeological evidence reveals a rich tapestry of innovative fishing technologies and exploitation strategies that reflect ecological knowledge, artisanal ingenuity, and social organisation. Fishing technologies were not …
Bone Tool Diversity During the Stone Age
A Technological and Use-Wear Analysis of Worked Bones from Twyfelpoort Rock Shelter, Eastern Free State, South Africa
Twyfelpoort rock shelter is a Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer site in the central interior of South Africa that witnessed late contact with Bantu- and Afrikaans-speaking farmers. This paper builds on a growing corpus of research that explores the degree to which contact with immigrant cultures and technologies influenced and altered the traditional bone working technology of autochthonous hunter-gatherers. I show that while the incidence of bone …
Continuity and Transition from the Early to Mid-Holocene at the Foothills of the Drakensberg
The foothills of the Drakensberg are a significant region in understanding the links between environmental conditions and the spread of social networks across southern Africa. Strathalan Cave is an important site in this region yielding an extensive Holocene-aged deposit. Here, we report on the preliminary results from the ongoing excavations of Strathalan Cave A. Radiocarbon dates place the occupations between c. 5500 and 9000 yrs cal. BP with m…
Unprepared for work
Worked bone and shell from forager and farmer sites in the Limpopo Valley
In southern Africa, worked bone and shell have been found in both forager and farmer contexts dated to the last two thousand years. Foragers and farmers worked animal bone and shell into tools and personal objects, yet the range of tool types and possible activities in which the tools were used remains poorly understood. This paper presents the results of a morphological and use-trace analysis of 287 bone, shell and ostrich eggshell objects from …
Technology and microwear of worked bone from Letaba, an Early Iron Age site in the Limpopo province, South Africa
Letaba is a large first millennium AD settlement located within the present-day boundaries of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The site was excavated in three phases starting in the 1970s, with the most recent phase still in progress. The site is of regional significance because of its connections to early Indian Ocean trade networks. A large number of worked bones have been recovered at the site, which could point to either endogenous man…
The technology and microwear of the bone tools from Broederstroom, an Early Iron Age site in the Magaliesberg, South Africa
This paper reports the results of a technological and microwear analysis of 110 pieces of worked bone from the Early Iron Age site of Broederstroom in the Magaliesberg region of South Africa. The results are compared to previous studies of bone tools from the contemporary Later Stone Age sites of Kruger Cave and Jubilee Shelter in an attempt to understand whether the Broederstroom pieces were made locally by the farmers or acquired through trade …
The remediation of Kruger Cave
We report on a programme of work to remediate Kruger Cave, a Later Stone Age painted rock shelter in the western Magaliesberg, South Africa. Kruger Cave, originally excavated in the 1980s and never backfilled or stabilised, has deteriorated through forty years of erosional and quotidian processes that have significantly reduced the extent of the archaeological deposit. The cave is currently occupied by a lay Christian pastor whose activities at t…
Two Million Years of Worked Osseous Technology
An assessment of whether saturated sediment ablation on stationary bone can mimic bone tool use-wear from Earlier Stone Age contexts
Several taphonomic processes can alter the surface of archaeological bone in a manner that may cause them to superficially resemble bone tools used as digging implements. Under close examination, however, the resultant microwear is usually quite distinct. While many experiments have been done to document the effects of fluvial processes on bone surface alteration, there are many mass soil movement process whose microwear effects have not yet been…
Scales of Analysis
The interpretative potential of microscopic use-wear polishes is a factor of the scale of analysis. Observational surface area decreases in inverse proportion to magnification. In this paper I present the results of polishes on bone tools that have developed from fricative contact with nine different materials. Microwear polish is viewed at five different magnifications. I show that 50x―200x magnification, or observational areas of 0.4―2.0 mm2, i…
Taphonomic Study of a Modern Baboon Sleeping Site at Misgrot, South Africa
Current Occupation of Kruger Cave, A Later Stone Age Site, South Africa
Contemporary occupation of archaeological sites is fraught with challenges and conflicting priorities. While prevailing opinion on heritage management recognises the fluid and continuous nature of archaeological site formation, the role of present-day communities as agents of archaeological palimpsests is often not adequately acknowledged. Contemporary communities, often unrelated to the autochthonous inhabitants of the archaeological sites, occa…
Bone Tool Technology in the Stone Age of Africa
Bone, like other organic materials, featured prominently in the technological repertoires of most historically documented hunter-gatherer communities practising a Stone Age economy. Unlike stone, however, bone does not survive as well archaeologically, resulting in less attention generally being paid to this aspect of material culture. Yet, despite their poorer preservation, bone tools are found in several hominin sites dating to the last two mil…
Use-Wear Analysis Brings “Vanished Technologies” to Light
The perception of gloss
Fishing with gorges
A functional investigation of southern Cape Later Stone Age artefacts resembling aerophones
Identifying the animal species used to manufacture bone arrowheads in South Africa
Bone hoes from the Middle Iron Age, Limpopo Province, South Africa
New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation c…
The effects of heavy-duty machinery on the formation of pseudo-knapping debitage in Stone Age cultural landscapes
The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology
New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation c…
The effects of Class I and II sized bovids on macrofracture formation and tool displacement
In this paper we follow from previous experiments that assessed the formation of macrofractures on hunting weapons and trampled tools, and present the results of a new trampling experiment. This new experiment examined the relationship between small bovid trampling and the formation of macrofracture types on replicated stone and bone tools. We also recorded the resulting displacement of the tools in order to assess the relationship between tool m…
The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology
Results of utilitarian and accidental breakage experiments on bone points
Identifying the animal species used to manufacture bone arrowheads in South Africa
Macrofractures on bone-tipped arrows
Bone points of two types, the one thin and poisoned and the other robust and not poisoned, are examined in this study of impact fractures. The bone points seem to have had similar experiences to stone points, producing fractures of a similar kind. Most of the fractures in the historical collection examined were caused by impacts. However, this early twentieth-century collection is not thought to be representative of contemporary fracture frequenc…
The perception of gloss
Technological, Functional and Contextual Aspects of the K2 and Mapungubwe Worked Bone Industries
Investigating the potential of micro-focus computed tomography in the study of ancient bone tool function
Identifying Bone-Tipped Arrow Types in the Archaeological Record of Southern Africa
This study presents a historical review of the different types of southern African hunter-gatherer arrows employing a piece of bone situated at or near the tip of the arrow, which I call the apical bone component. The results of an extensive use-trace study of bone points and fragments thereof from twelve archaeological sites spanning the last 18,000 years show that it is possible to identify arrow types based on associated use-trace features. Fi…
Use-Trace Epistemology and the Logic of Inference
Use-trace analyses are regularly used to provide clues about artifact functionality and the use of materials that do not preserve and which are therefore not represented in the archaeological record. While all sciences strive for deductive certainty, they generally make use of inductive and abductive arguments. The same is true of use-trace studies. Here I examine the three main types of logical inference used in archaeological science and the ex…
A functional investigation of southern Cape Later Stone Age artefacts resembling aerophones
Verifying the potential of micro-focus X-ray computed tomography in the study of ancient bone tool function
Pointed Bone Tool Technology in Southern Africa. University of Johannesburg, 2014
The technology and microwear of the bone tools from Broederstroom, an Early Iron Age site in the Magaliesberg, South Africa
This paper reports the results of a technological and microwear analysis of 110 pieces of worked bone from the Early Iron Age site of Broederstroom in the Magaliesberg region of South Africa. The results are compared to previous studies of bone tools from the contemporary Later Stone Age sites of Kruger Cave and Jubilee Shelter in an attempt to understand whether the Broederstroom pieces were made locally by the farmers or acquired through trade …
An assessment of whether saturated sediment ablation on stationary bone can mimic bone tool use-wear from Earlier Stone Age contexts
Several taphonomic processes can alter the surface of archaeological bone in a manner that may cause them to superficially resemble bone tools used as digging implements. Under close examination, however, the resultant microwear is usually quite distinct. While many experiments have been done to document the effects of fluvial processes on bone surface alteration, there are many mass soil movement process whose microwear effects have not yet been…
Scales of Analysis
The interpretative potential of microscopic use-wear polishes is a factor of the scale of analysis. Observational surface area decreases in inverse proportion to magnification. In this paper I present the results of polishes on bone tools that have developed from fricative contact with nine different materials. Microwear polish is viewed at five different magnifications. I show that 50x―200x magnification, or observational areas of 0.4―2.0 mm2, i…
The effects of heavy-duty machinery on the formation of pseudo-knapping debitage in Stone Age cultural landscapes
Some thoughts on bone artefact discolouration at archaeological sites
A Technological and Use-Wear Analysis of Worked Bones from Twyfelpoort Rock Shelter, Eastern Free State, South Africa
Twyfelpoort rock shelter is a Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer site in the central interior of South Africa that witnessed late contact with Bantu- and Afrikaans-speaking farmers. This paper builds on a growing corpus of research that explores the degree to which contact with immigrant cultures and technologies influenced and altered the traditional bone working technology of autochthonous hunter-gatherers. I show that while the incidence of bone …
Current Occupation of Kruger Cave, A Later Stone Age Site, South Africa
Contemporary occupation of archaeological sites is fraught with challenges and conflicting priorities. While prevailing opinion on heritage management recognises the fluid and continuous nature of archaeological site formation, the role of present-day communities as agents of archaeological palimpsests is often not adequately acknowledged. Contemporary communities, often unrelated to the autochthonous inhabitants of the archaeological sites, occa…
Bone Tool Technology in the Stone Age of Africa
Bone, like other organic materials, featured prominently in the technological repertoires of most historically documented hunter-gatherer communities practising a Stone Age economy. Unlike stone, however, bone does not survive as well archaeologically, resulting in less attention generally being paid to this aspect of material culture. Yet, despite their poorer preservation, bone tools are found in several hominin sites dating to the last two mil…
Use-Wear Analysis Brings “Vanished Technologies” to Light
Fishing with gorges
The effects of Class I and II sized bovids on macrofracture formation and tool displacement
In this paper we follow from previous experiments that assessed the formation of macrofractures on hunting weapons and trampled tools, and present the results of a new trampling experiment. This new experiment examined the relationship between small bovid trampling and the formation of macrofracture types on replicated stone and bone tools. We also recorded the resulting displacement of the tools in order to assess the relationship between tool m…
Macrofractures on bone-tipped arrows
Bone points of two types, the one thin and poisoned and the other robust and not poisoned, are examined in this study of impact fractures. The bone points seem to have had similar experiences to stone points, producing fractures of a similar kind. Most of the fractures in the historical collection examined were caused by impacts. However, this early twentieth-century collection is not thought to be representative of contemporary fracture frequenc…
Investigating the potential of micro-focus computed tomography in the study of ancient bone tool function
Verifying the potential of micro-focus X-ray computed tomography in the study of ancient bone tool function
Identifying Bone-Tipped Arrow Types in the Archaeological Record of Southern Africa
This study presents a historical review of the different types of southern African hunter-gatherer arrows employing a piece of bone situated at or near the tip of the arrow, which I call the apical bone component. The results of an extensive use-trace study of bone points and fragments thereof from twelve archaeological sites spanning the last 18,000 years show that it is possible to identify arrow types based on associated use-trace features. Fi…
Pointed Bone Tool Technology in Southern Africa. University of Johannesburg, 2014
Results of utilitarian and accidental breakage experiments on bone points
Bone Point Functional Diversity
The form and function of Ovambo arrows
Technological, Functional and Contextual Aspects of the K2 and Mapungubwe Worked Bone Industries
Use-Trace Epistemology and the Logic of Inference
Use-trace analyses are regularly used to provide clues about artifact functionality and the use of materials that do not preserve and which are therefore not represented in the archaeological record. While all sciences strive for deductive certainty, they generally make use of inductive and abductive arguments. The same is true of use-trace studies. Here I examine the three main types of logical inference used in archaeological science and the ex…
Some thoughts on bone artefact discolouration at archaeological sites
Bone hoes from the Middle Iron Age, Limpopo Province, South Africa
New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation c…
The effects of heavy-duty machinery on the formation of pseudo-knapping debitage in Stone Age cultural landscapes
The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology
Fishing with gorges
A functional investigation of southern Cape Later Stone Age artefacts resembling aerophones
Identifying the animal species used to manufacture bone arrowheads in South Africa
Use-Wear Analysis Brings “Vanished Technologies” to Light
The perception of gloss
Taphonomic Study of a Modern Baboon Sleeping Site at Misgrot, South Africa
Current Occupation of Kruger Cave, A Later Stone Age Site, South Africa
Contemporary occupation of archaeological sites is fraught with challenges and conflicting priorities. While prevailing opinion on heritage management recognises the fluid and continuous nature of archaeological site formation, the role of present-day communities as agents of archaeological palimpsests is often not adequately acknowledged. Contemporary communities, often unrelated to the autochthonous inhabitants of the archaeological sites, occa…
Bone Tool Technology in the Stone Age of Africa
Bone, like other organic materials, featured prominently in the technological repertoires of most historically documented hunter-gatherer communities practising a Stone Age economy. Unlike stone, however, bone does not survive as well archaeologically, resulting in less attention generally being paid to this aspect of material culture. Yet, despite their poorer preservation, bone tools are found in several hominin sites dating to the last two mil…
Scales of Analysis
The interpretative potential of microscopic use-wear polishes is a factor of the scale of analysis. Observational surface area decreases in inverse proportion to magnification. In this paper I present the results of polishes on bone tools that have developed from fricative contact with nine different materials. Microwear polish is viewed at five different magnifications. I show that 50x―200x magnification, or observational areas of 0.4―2.0 mm2, i…
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (31 obras) · Archaeology (26 obras) · Geography (24 obras) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (19 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (18 obras) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (16 obras) · Geology (16 obras) · History (13 obras) · History (11 obras) · Computer Science (9 obras)