Levallois lessons
The Challenge of Integrating Mathematical Models, Quantitative Experiments and the Archaeological Record
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3919694 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen J Lycett (University of Kent, corresponding author), M I Eren (0000-0003-3576-6076, University of Kent) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 519-538 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | World Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00438243.2013.821670 |
| OpenAlex | W2074153048 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 55 |
| References cited | 63 |
Contemporary scientific archaeology has an array of methodological approaches at its disposal. In addition to a multitude of specialist techniques, this endeavour may, more generally, draw upon data from field survey and excavation, experimental approaches and mathematical modelling. However, the extent to which these different strands of enquiry are adopted may vary widely from researcher to researcher. Lip service is often paid to the notion of 'integrating' different approaches but whether this is genuinely achieved is debatable, while some may ignore one or more particular approach entirely. The study of Levallois artefacts (e.g. flakes and cores) has been an important topic within Palaeolithic archaeology for more than a century. Studies of these artefacts have been implicated in major debates concerning cognitive and behavioural aspects of evolution in hominins. Here, we discuss something of the history of investigation into Levallois, and consider whether insights that have been gained by applying data from artefactual studies, experiment and mathematical modelling might point toward ways in which such alternative approaches might be integrated more closely. Key to this, we argue, is exploitation of the concepts of 'internal validity' versus 'external validity', which are possessed by these contrasting data sources to varying degrees. By emphasizing both the strengths, but also the weaknesses of these different avenues of enquiry, these validity concepts may enable a better sense of how the links between them can be strengthened in archaeological enquiry
Archaeological record · Archaeology · Data science · Epistemology · Excavation · Field (mathematics · Multitude · Point (geometry · Strengths and weaknesses · Computer Science · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · History · Morphological variations and asymmetry · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Early Levallois technology and the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Southern Caucasus
The Nubian Spectrum
To What Extent Are Similarities in Lithic Artifacts Due to Convergence
A versatile mechanized setup for controlled experiments in archeology
Test, Model, and Method Validation
Experimental assessment of Neo-Assyrian bronze arrowhead penetration
Experimental bison butchery using replica hafted Clovis fluted points and large handheld flakes
Controls, conceits, and aiming for robust inferences in experimental archaeology
Variation Matters
Design Space and Cultural Transmission
Tempered strength
Toward a functional understanding of the North American Old Copper Culture “technomic devolution”
Asymmetrical Paleolithic wooden spear tips
The Effect of Isometric Scaling on Flaked Stone Projectile Point Impact Durability
North American Clovis Point Form and Performance II
North American Clovis Point Form and Performance VI
A Simple Experiment Challenges the Inference that Macro-fractures on Chipped-stone Tools are Clear Evidence of High-Velocity Impacts
Rock Music
Dissecting” Quartzite and Basalt Bipolar Flake Shape
When to generalise and when to specialise? Climate change and hominin biocultural adaptability in the African early and middle stone age
Another tool in the experimental toolbox
Techno-Functional Implication on the Production of Discoid and Levallois Backed Implements
On Identifying Stone Tool Production Techniques
Exploring the Gross-Edge Curvature of Experimentally Produced Preferential Levallois Debitage
Clovis bone versus stone weapon tip penetration
Quantifying Edge Sharpness on Stone Flakes
Evidence of Levallois strategies on cores at Guanyindong cave, Southwest China during the Late Middle Pleistocene
The Black Diamond Site, Northeast Ohio, USA
Controlled ballistics tests of ground, percussion-flaked, and pressure-flaked projectile point impact durability
Torque creation and force variation along the cutting edges of Acheulean handaxes
Middle Stone Age archaeology at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
A Synthesis of the Dibble et al. Controlled Experiments into the Mechanics of Lithic Production
Levallois
Can Lithic Attribute Analyses Identify Discrete Reduction Trajectories? A Quantitative Study Using Refitted Lithic Sets
A Statistical Examination of Flake Edge Angles Produced During Experimental Lineal Levallois Reductions and Consideration of Their Functional Implications
Early stage blunting causes rapid reductions in stone tool performance
Flake variation in relation to the application of force
Explaining the origin of fluting in North American Pleistocene weaponry
Experimental Design and Experimental Inference in Stone Artifact Archaeology
Why Are Clovis Fluted Points More Resilient than Non‐Fluted Lanceolate Points? A Quantitative Assessment of Breakage Patterns Between Experimental Models
Comparison of four ballistic and thrusting target materials
Could woodworking have influenced variation in the form of Acheulean handaxes
Edge Angle as a Variably Influential Factor in Flake Cutting Efficiency
Assessing the Role of Early “Large Cutting Tools” in Flake Production
Testing Differences in the Cutting Precision of Flakes and Handaxes
Controlled comparative tensile tests of backed versus non‐backed edges’ adhesion
From Questions to Inferences
Modeling the role of fire and cooking in the competitive exclusion of Neanderthals
Hand grip diversity and frequency during the use of Lower Palaeolithic stone cutting-tools
Could woodworking have driven lithic tool selection
Why invent the handle? Electromyography (EMG) and efficiency of use data investigating the prehistoric origin and selection of hafted stone knives
Evaluating prepared core assemblages with three-dimensional methods
Muscle recruitment and stone tool use ergonomics across three million years of Palaeolithic technological transitions
Antarctica as a 'natural laboratory' for the critical assessment of the archaeological validity of early stone tool sites
Did the use of bone flakes precede the use of knapped stone flakes in hominin meat processing and could this be detectable archaeologically
The definition and interpretation of Levallois technology
Quantifying archaeology
The Mathematics of Chaînes Opératoires
The Future of Lithic Analysis in Palaeolithic Archaeology
The Human Career
Archaeology
Hunter-Gatherer Foraging
Analytical Approaches to Palaeolithic Technologies
Examining the Levallois Reduction Strategy from a Design Theory Point of View
Cultural Evolution
Essai de Classification des industries « moustériennes »
Evolution of sex differences in spatial cognition
External validity is more than skin deep
The cultural capacities of Neandertals
The Effect of Core Surface Morphology on Flake Attributes
New experimental evidence on the relation between percussion flaking and flake variation
Contribution à l'étude de la technique de la taille levalloisienne
Apport de la typométrie à la définition des éclats Levallois
Experimental Evaluation of the Levallois “Core Shape Maintenance” Hypothesis
Excavations in the Acheulean Levels at the Earlier Stone Age Site of Canteen Koppie, Northern Province, South Africa
XXIII.— A Palaeolithic Industry at Northfleet, Kent
The Neanderthal Legacy
Prepared core reduction at the site of Kudu Koppie in northern South Africa
Identification de chaînes opératoires lithiques du Paléolithique ancien et moyen
A comparative 3D geometric morphometric analysis of Victoria West cores
Constraints on Levallois Core Technology
An experimental investigation of cut mark production and stone tool attrition
Toolstone constraints on knapping skill
An Index of Invasiveness for the Measurement of Unifacial and Bifacial Retouch
Levallois Lithic Technology from the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya
Levallois economics
Experimental use and quantitative performance analysis of triangular flakes (Levallois points) used as arrowheads
Experimental Tests of Middle Palaeolithic Spear Points Using a Calibrated Crossbow
A 3D morphometric analysis of surface geometry in Levallois cores
On Some Palaeolithic Knapping Tools and Modes of Using Them
Levallois/non-Levallois determinations in the Early Levant Mousterian
Understanding Levallois
The expert Neandertal mind
Timing of the Lower to Middle Paleolithic boundary
Are Victoria West cores "proto-Levallois"? A phylogenetic assessment
Redefining Levallois
John Evans, Joseph Prestwich and the stone that shattered the time barrier
Archaeology
Recent Finds of the Stone Age in Africa
Were Bifaces used as Mobile Cores by Clovis Foragers in the North American Lower Great Lakes Region? An Archaeological Test of Experimentally Derived Quantitative Predictions
Middle Paleolithic Skill Level and the Individual Knapper
A Formal Approach to the Design and Assembly of Mobile Toolkits
A History of Archaeological Thought
The Evolution of the Levallois Technique in South Africa
The Emergence of Neanderthal Technical Behavior
Acheulian Giant-Core Technology
Culture
| Unique citing works | 55 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,58 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 55 |