[图书][B] A PITCHSTONE ARTEFACT ASSEMBLAGE FROM PAMWAK ROCKSHELTER, MANUS ISLAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

C Spry - 2009 - researchgate.net
2009researchgate.net
The stone technologies of Melanesia have often been described as unsystematic,
characterized by low-cost strategies for procuring raw materials and expedient use of tools,
though rare exceptions have been reported (Pavlides 2004). This thesis contributes to a re-
evaluation of this longstanding view through the analysis and interpretation of a unique
collection of pitchstone artefacts from Pamwak Rockshelter. Pamwak, which is located on
Manus Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to the north of mainland Papua New Guinea, was …
Abstract
The stone technologies of Melanesia have often been described as unsystematic, characterized by low-cost strategies for procuring raw materials and expedient use of tools, though rare exceptions have been reported (Pavlides 2004). This thesis contributes to a re-evaluation of this longstanding view through the analysis and interpretation of a unique collection of pitchstone artefacts from Pamwak Rockshelter. Pamwak, which is located on Manus Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to the north of mainland Papua New Guinea, was occupied intermittently from the late Pleistocene onwards. Here the context and characteristics of these pitchstone artefacts are used to argue that they represent a collection of ‘provisional discards’, but not a cache. Analysis and interpretation of the technological attributes of these artefacts suggest that they were initially brought to Pamwak as tool blanks and finished tools. Tool maintenance activities were carried out in the rockshelter and the by-products of tool rejuvenation were recycled, as some show evidence of use. This suggests that the current characterization of stone technologies in Melanesia is overly simplistic, and that the assemblages from any one site may contain elements of ‘curated’as well as ‘expedient’technologies.
researchgate.net
以上显示的是最相近的搜索结果。 查看全部搜索结果