A general review on the bipolar flaking technique and related issues in Paleolithic archaeology
Received date: 2019-08-19
Revised date: 2019-10-28
Online published: 2020-09-10
Bipolar knapping technique, as one of the basic lithic knapping strategies adopted by early hominins, was widely used since the earliest stone age to the ethnographic observation. Compared to the other important flaking technique (freehand percussion), the unique mechanism of bipolar knapping technique bears many advantages and weaknesses. What kinds of roles did the bipolar technique play during the human evolution also attracted great attention in the paleoanthropological research. At present, the experimental work and discussion of bipolar knapping strategy in Chinese Paleolithic archaeology is still rare, the discriminating attributes and economic strategy of bipolar technique have always been controversy for a long time. Combining with the experimental study on the Madigou site from the Nihewan Basin, this paper tries to make an illustration on terminology of bipolar knapping in details and definite the concept, application patterns, economic strategy, as well as the identification attributes of the technique. Furthermore, the authors suggest that the bipolar experiments on local raw materials should be carried out before the observation of bipolar products. In a word, this paper will bear significance on the identification of bipolar products excavated from archaeological sites and the interpretation of lithic technology as well as adapted behaviors adopted by early hominins in China.
Dongdong MA , Shuwen PEI . A general review on the bipolar flaking technique and related issues in Paleolithic archaeology[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2019 , 38(04) : 584 -597 . DOI: 10.16359/j.cnki.cn11-1963/q.2019.0063
| [1] | Cahen D. Stone tools, tookits and human behavior in prehistory[J]. Current Anthropology, 1979,20(4):661-683 |
| [2] | Toth N, Schick K. Overview of Paleolithic Archaeology[A]. In: Henke W, Tattersall I (eds.), Handbook of Paleoanthropology[M]. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2015: 2441-2464. DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-39979-4_64 |
| [3] | Harmand S, Lewis JE, Feibel CS, et al. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya[J]. Nature, 2015,521(7552):310-315 |
| [4] | de la Torre I. Omo revisited: Evaluating the technological skills of Pliocene Hominids[J]. Current Anthropology, 2004,45(4):439-465 |
| [5] | Barsky D, Chapon-Sao C, Bahain JJ, et al. The early Oldowan stone-tool assemblage from Fejej FJ-1a, Ethiopia[J]. Journal of African archaeology, 2011,9(2):207-224 |
| [6] | Duke H, Pargeter J. Weaving simple solutions to complex problems: An experimental study of skill in bipolar cobble-splitting[J]. Lithic Technology, 2015,40(4):349-365 |
| [7] | Binford LR, Quimby GI. Indian sites and chipped stone materials in the Northern Lake Michigan[J]. Fieldiana Anthropology, 1963,31(4):277-307 |
| [8] | Masao FT. On possible use of unshaped flakes: An ethnohistorical approach from central Tanzania[J]. Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology, 1982,47(3-4):262-270 |
| [9] | White JP. Fabricators, Outils ?caill?s or scalar cores ?[J]. Mankind, 1968,6(12):658-666 |
| [10] | MacDonald GF. Debert: a Paleo-Indian Site in Central Nova Scotia[D]. Edition ed. Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1968 |
| [11] | Ambrose SH. Paleolithic technology and human evolution[J]. Science, 2001,291(5509):1748-1753 |
| [12] | Sanz CM, Morgan DB. Chimpanzee tool technology in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo[J]. Journal of Human Evolution, 2007,52(4):420-433 |
| [13] | Elisabetta V, Haslam M, Spagnoletti N, et al. Use of stone hammer tools and anvils by bearded capuchin monkeys over time and space: construction of an archeological record of tool use[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013,40(8):3222-3232 |
| [14] | Westergaard GC. The stone-tool technology of capuchin monkeys: Possible implications for the evolution of symbolic communication in hominids[J]. World Archaeology, 1995,27(1):1-9 |
| [15] | Visalberghi E, Fragaszy D, Ottoni E, et al. Characteristics of hammer stones and anvils used by wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) to crack open palm nuts[J]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2007,132(3):426-444 |
| [16] | Proffitt T, Luncz LV, Falótico T, et al. Wild monkeys flake stone tools[J]. Nature, 539:85-88 |
| [17] | Gumert MD, Kluck M, Malaivijitnond S. The physical characteristics and usage patterns of stone axe and pounding hammers used by long-tailed macaques in the Andaman Sea region of Thailand[J]. American Journal of Primatology, 2009,71(7):594-608 |
| [18] | Putt SS. The origins of stone tool reduction and the transition to knapping: An experimental approach[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2015,2:51-60 |
| [19] | Knight J. Technological analysis of the anvil (bipolar) technique[A]. Lithics: The Journal of the Lithic Studies Society[M]. 1991: 57-87 |
| [20] | Bardon L, Bouyssonie A, Bouyssonie J. Outils écaillés par percussion[J]. Revue de L’Ecole d’Anthropologie, 1906,16(2):170-175 |
| [21] | Breuil PH. Le Feu Et L’industrie Lithioue et Osseuse à Choukoutien[J]. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China, 1932,11(2):147-154 |
| [22] | Pei WC. Le role des phenomenes naturals dans I’celatement et le faconnement des roches dures utilisses par I’homme prehistorique[J]. Revue Grog Phys et Geologie Dynamique, 1937,9(4):1-78 |
| [23] | van Riet Lowe C. The Coastal Smithfield and bipolar technique[J]. South African Journal of Science, 1946,42:240-246 |
| [24] | Crabtree DE. An introduction to flint working[A]. In: Haines Ca edited. Occasional Papers of the Idaho State University[C]. Pocatello, 1972 |
| [25] | 林圣龙. 砸击技术和砸击制品:国外发现概况[J]. 人类学学报, 1987,6(4):352-361 |
| [26] | 王益人. 下川楔形析器研究[J]. 文物季刊, 1993(1): 1-9+97 |
| [27] | 陈淳. 两极法与 pièce esquillées[J]. 人类学学报, 1998,17(1):73-80 |
| [28] | 张森水. 中国旧石器工业中的砸击技术[A]．见：北京大学考古学系编．迎接二十一世纪的中国考古学国际学术研讨会论文集[C]. 北京: 科学出版社, 1998: 51-74 |
| [29] | Barham LS. The bipolar technique in Southern Africa: A replication experiment[J]. The South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1987,42(145):45-50 |
| [30] | Bordes F. The Old Stone Age[M]. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968 |
| [31] | Shott MJ. Bipolar Iindustries: ethnographic evidence and archaeological implications[J]. North American Archaeologist, 1989,10(1):1-24 |
| [32] | Goodyear AC. Tool fit entropy and bipolar reduction: A study of interassemblage lithic variability among Paleo-Indian sites in the Northeastern United States[J]. North American Archaeologist, 1993,14(1):1-23 |
| [33] | Ludwig BV, Harris JWK. Towards a technological reassessment of East African Plio-Pleistocene lithic assemblages[A]. In: Petraglia M, Korisetter R(eds). Early Human Behavior in the Global Context: The Rise and Diversity of the Lower Paleolithic Period. Routledge[M]. New York, 1998: 84-107 |
| [34] | Hayden B. Confusion in the bipolar world: bashed pebbles and splintered pieces[J]. Lithic Technology, 1980,9(1):2-7 |
| [35] | de la Pe?a P. A qualitative guide to recognize bipolar knapping for flint and quartz[J]. Lithic Technology, 2015,40(4):316-331 |
| [36] | 陈淳, 安家瑗, 陈虹. 小南海遗址1978年发掘石制品研究[A].见:北京大学考古文博学院编.考古学研究[M]. 北京: 科学出版社,2008: 149-166+602 |
| [37] | Berman MJ, Sievert AK, Whyte TR. Form and function of bipolar lithic artefacts from the three dog site, san salvador bahamas[J]. Latin American Antiquity, 1999,10(4):415-432 |
| [38] | Hayden B. Palaeolithic reflections: lithic technology and ethnographic excavations among Australian Aborigines[M]. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1979 |
| [39] | Kuijt I, Prentiss WC, Pokotylo DL. Bipolar reduction an experimental study of debitage variability[J]. Lithic Technology, 1995,20(2):116-127 |
| [40] | Hiscock P. Making it small in the Palaeolithic: bipolar stone-working, miniature artefacts and models of core recycling[J]. World Archaeology, 2015,47(1):158-169 |
| [41] | 贾兰坡. 谈中国猿人石器的性质和曙石器问题[A]．见: 贾兰坡旧石器时代考古论文选[C]. 北京: 文物出版社, 1984: 79-86 |
| [42] | Morgan B, Eren M, Khreisheh N, et al. Clovis bipolar lithic reduction at Paleo Crossing, Ohio: a reinterpretation based on the examination of experimental replications[A]. In: Thomas J, and Ashley S(eds), Clovis: Current Perspectives on Technology, Chronology, and Adaptations[M]. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2015: 121-143 |
| [43] | Byrne F, Proffitt T, Arroyo A, et al. A comparative analysis of bipolar and freehand experimental knapping products from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania[J]. Quaternary International, 2016,424:58-68 |
| [44] | Diez-Martín F, Yustos PS, Domínguez-Rodrigo M, et al. An experimental study of bipolar and freehand knapping of Naibor Soit quartz from Olduvai Gorge[J]. Americna Antiquity, 2011,76(4):690-708 |
| [45] | Bradbury AP. Bipolar reduction experiments and the examination of middle archaic bipolar technologies in West-Central Illinois[J]. North American Archaeologist, 2010,31(1):67-116 |
| [46] | Vergès JM, Ollé A. Technical microwear and residues in identifying bipolar knapping on an anvil: experimental data[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2011,38(5):1016-1025 |
| [47] | 曹泽田. 贵州水城硝灰洞旧石器文化遗址[J]. 古脊椎动物与古人类, 1978,16(1):67-72 |
| [48] | 高星, 卫奇, 李国洪. 冉家路口旧石器遗址2005发掘报告[J]. 人类学学报, 2008,27(1):1-12 |
| [49] | Patterson LW, Sollberger JB. The myth of bipolar flaking industries[J]. Lithic Technology, 1976,5(3):40-42 |
| [50] | de Lombera-Hermida A, Rodríguez-álvarez XP, Pe?a L, et al. The lithic assemblage from Pont-de-Lavaud (Indre, France) and the role of the bipolar-on-anvil technique in the Lower and Early Middle Pleistocene technology[J]. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2016,41:159-184 |
| [51] | Diez-Martín F, Sánchez P, Domínguez-Rodrigo M, et al. Were Olduvai Hominins making butchering tools or battering tools? Analysis of a recently excavated lithic assemblage from BK (Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)[J]. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2009,28(3):274-289 |
| [52] | Leaf GR. Variation in the form of Bipolar Cores[J]. Plains Anthropology, 1979,24(83):39-50 |
| [53] | Tabrett A. The detachment of Levallois flakes using bipolar percussion at Howiesons Poort Shelter, South Africa[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017,15:620-629 |
| [54] | Li F. An experimental study of bipolar reduction at Zhoukoudian locality 1, north China[J]. Quaternary International, 2016,400:23-29 |
| [55] | Jeske RJ, Lurie R. The archaeological visibility of bipolar technology an example from the Koster site[J]. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, 1993,18(2):131-160 |
| [56] | Gurtov AN, Eren MI. Lower Paleolithic bipolar reduction and hominin selection of quartz at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: What’s the connection?[J]. Quaternary International, 2014, 322-323:285-291 |
| [57] | de la Pe?a P, Wadley L. Quartz knapping strategies in the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)[J]. PLoS One, 2014,9(7):e101534 |
| [58] | Li H, Li CR, Sherwood NL, et al. Experimental flaking in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region (central China): A rare case of bipolar blanks in the Acheulean[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017,13:26-35 |
| [59] | Driscoll K. Identifying and classifying vein quartz artefacts: An experiment conducted at the World Archaeological Congress, 2008[J]. Archaeometry, 2011,53(6):1280-1296 |
| [60] | Shott MJ. On bipolar reduction and splintered pieces[J]. North American Archaeologist, 1999,20(3):217-238 |
| [61] | Flenniken JJ. Replicative Systems Analysis : A model applied to the vein quartz artifacts from the Hoko river site[M]. Pullman: Washington State University, 1981 |
| [62] | Pei SW, Deng CL, de la Torre I, et al. Magnetostratigraphic and archaeological records at the Early Pleistocene site complex of Madigou (Nihewan Basin): Implications for human adaptations in North China[J]. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2019,530:176-189 |
| [63] | Cotterell B, Kamminga J. The formation of flakes[J]. American Antiquity, 1987,52(04):675-708 |
| [64] | Zhu RX, Hoffman KA, Potts R, et al. Earliest presence of humans in northeast Asia[J]. Nature, 2001,413:413-417 |
| [65] | Zhu RX, An ZS, Potts R, et al. Magnetostratigraphic dating of early humans in China[J]. Earth Science Reviews, 2003,61:341-359 |
| [66] | Schick K, Toth N, Wei Q, et al. Archaeological perspectives in the Nihewan Basin, China[J]. Journal of Human Evolution, 1991, (21):13-26 |
| [67] | Keates SG. Early and middle Pleistocene hominid behaviour in northern China[M]. BAR international series, vol 863. Oxford, 2000 |
| [68] | Shen C, Wei Q. Lithic Technological Variability of the Middle Pleistocene in the Eastern Nihewan Basin, Northern China[J]. Asian Perspectives 2004,43:281-301 |
| [69] | 陈淳, 沈辰, 陈万勇, 等. 河北阳原小长梁遗址1998年发掘报告[J]. 人类学学报, 1999,18(3):225-239 |
| [70] | Yang SX, Petraglia MD, Hou YM, et al. The lithic assemblages of Donggutuo, Nihewan basin: Knapping skills of early Pleistocene hominins in North China[J]. PLoS One, 2017,12(9):e0185101 |
| [71] | Yang SX, Hou YM, Yue JP, et al. The Lithic Assemblages of Xiaochangliang, Nihewan Basin: Implications for Early Pleistocene Hominin Behaviour in North China[J]. PLoS One, 2016,11(5):e0155793 |
| [72] | Liu Y, Hou YM, Ao H. Analysis of lithic technology of Lower Pleistocene sites and environmental information in the Nihewan Basin, North China[J]. Quaternary International, 2013,295:215-222 |
| [73] | Guan Y, Wang FG, Xie F, et al. Flint knapping strategies at Cenjiawan, an Early Paleolithic site in the Nihewan Basin, North China[J]. Quaternary International, 2016,400:86-92 |
| [74] | 裴树文, 侯亚梅. 东谷坨遗址石制品原料利用浅析[J]. 人类学学报, 2001,20(4):271-281 |
| [75] | 裴文中, 张森水. 中国猿人石器研究[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 1985, 1-277 |
| [76] | 马东东. 泥河湾盆地麻地沟遗址石器实验研究[D]. 中国科学院大学硕士学位论文, 2018, 1-108 |
| [77] | 高星. 周口店第15地点剥片技术研究[J]. 人类学学报, 2000,19(3):199-215 |
| [78] | 贾真秀. 泥河湾盆地早更新世古人类遗址成因与石器技术比较研究——以东谷坨、麻地沟和飞梁遗址为例[D]. 中国科学院大学博士学位论文, 2018, 1-256 |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |