TY - JOUR
T1 - Experiments with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes and adzes provide criteria for identifying tool functions
AU - Iwase, Akira
AU - Sano, Katsuhiro
AU - Nagasaki, Junichi
AU - Otake, Noriaki
AU - Yamada, Masahisa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - Systematic tree-felling using a polished stone axe and/or adze developed with sedentary lifeways in Holocene environments. However, securely dated Pleistocene edge-ground stone axes/adzes have now been identified from Marine Isotope Stage 3 sites in two distant regions: Australia and Japan. These early ground tools are indicative of full-blown tree-felling, but whether they indeed functioned as woodworking tools remains unclear. We present the results of an experimental study with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes/adzes from the Japanese archipelago that included a total of 75 replicas used in 15 different use and nonuse experiments. Results indicate that identifications of wood percussive tools must be based on a comprehensive analysis of both macro- and microscopic traces. Overall, the criteria presented in this study allow us to distinguish between edge-ground stone axes/adzes used as tree-felling tools and those used for other tasks.
AB - Systematic tree-felling using a polished stone axe and/or adze developed with sedentary lifeways in Holocene environments. However, securely dated Pleistocene edge-ground stone axes/adzes have now been identified from Marine Isotope Stage 3 sites in two distant regions: Australia and Japan. These early ground tools are indicative of full-blown tree-felling, but whether they indeed functioned as woodworking tools remains unclear. We present the results of an experimental study with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes/adzes from the Japanese archipelago that included a total of 75 replicas used in 15 different use and nonuse experiments. Results indicate that identifications of wood percussive tools must be based on a comprehensive analysis of both macro- and microscopic traces. Overall, the criteria presented in this study allow us to distinguish between edge-ground stone axes/adzes used as tree-felling tools and those used for other tasks.
KW - Early Upper Paleolithic
KW - Edge-ground stone axe/adze
KW - Japanese archipelago
KW - Traceology
KW - Tree-felling experiments
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2023.105891
DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2023.105891
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85181750394
SN - 0305-4403
VL - 163
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science
M1 - 105891
ER -