Abstract
Knowing to what extent lithic cores have been reduced through knapping is an important step toward understanding the technological variability of lithic assemblages and disentangling the formation processes of archaeological sites. In addition, it is a good complement to more developed studies of reduction intensity in retouched tools and provides information on raw material management or site occupation dynamics. This paper presents a new methodology for estimating the intensity of reduction in cores and tools on cobbles, the Volumetric Reconstruction Method (VRM). It is based on a correction of the dimensions (length, width, and thickness) of each core from an assemblage. The median values of thickness and platform thickness of the assemblage’s flakes are used as corrections for the cores’ original dimensions, after its diacritic analysis. Then, based on these new dimensions, the volume or mass of the original blank are reconstructed using the ellipsoid volume formula. The accuracy of this method was experimentally tested, reproducing a variety of possible archaeological scenarios. The experimental results demonstrate a high inferential potential of the VRM, both in estimating the original volume or mass of the original blanks and in inferring the individual percentage of reduction for each core. The results of random resampling demonstrate the applicability of VRM to not size-biased archaeological contexts.
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Acknowledgments
This manuscript would not have been possible if not for the invaluable insights, suggestions, and assistance of José Ramón Rabuñal throughout the whole process, from the original VRM design to the revision of the manuscript. Furthermore, we want to thank Dr. Andreu Ollé, Dr. María Gema Chacón and José Ramón Rabuñal for participating in the experimental program, and also Dr. Andreu Ollé, Dr. Paula García-Medrano, and Dr. Adrián Arroyo for their help in the collection of raw material used in the experiment. Last, thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. Any potential mistake is authors’ responsibility only.
Funding
This work has been carried out with the financial support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency, the 2017SGR1040 Research Group, 2019PFR-URV-91, and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICINN/FEDER project PGC2018-093925-B-C32) and (HAR2017-86509-P). IPHES is a CERCA center. D.L. is a beneficiary of PhD research fellowship AGAUR/ESF “ESF, Investing in your future” (2020 FI_B2 00164). J.I.M. is funded by the program Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación (IJCI-2017-31445).
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Lombao, D., Cueva-Temprana, A., Mosquera, M. et al. A new approach to measure reduction intensity on cores and tools on cobbles: the Volumetric Reconstruction Method. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 222 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01154-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01154-7