It is illegal to pick up artifacts from state or federal lands such as a state park or BLM land. 0000003071 00000 n Copyright: 2020 Crassard et al. One of the bifaces shows a narrow removal at the base of one face, being obviously part of the bifacial thinning of the piece. This crescent was found in 1965 washed out of a bank on a site No, Is the Subject Area "Experimental archaeology" applicable to this article? "crosswise" on either arrow or atlatl thrown spear shafts. The aim in this article is to examine the alternate aims of fluting in the Americas and in Arabia.
Located at 1.5 km from the sea, the Neolithic site of Ad-Dahariz 2 covers more than 3.5 hectares and is today located on a fossil beach, on a slight promontory overlooking the lagoon. /Resources 92 0 R q In fact, I was surprised to learn the lake extended as far west as Dayton, including all of Dayton Valley. << CNRS, UMR 5133 Archorient, Maison de lOrient et de la Mditerrane, Lyon, France, Roles /Length 2
The Forrest Site, 14PA303: A Keith Phase Component in Pawnee County, Kansas.
Culture," p. 107, plate XCII. The fluting scar can extend from a few millimeters in the case of a hinged fluting flake, to several centimeters if the flute reaches the terminal end of the bifacial piece.
12,000-8,000 years before present [YBP]) and are representative of assemblages that include fluted and stemmed projectile points.
/Annots [111 0 R 112 0 R 113 0 R 114 0 R] 0000003647 00000 n
/CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] [5] Approximately one-third of the crescents recovered from coastal California sites come from Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands. Clewlow The systematic softening (strong abrading) of the platforms, sometimes to the point of polishing, strengthens this interpretation.
Stage 3: when fluting was successful, or at least satisfying to the knapper, the fluted biface was thinned by bi-lateral retouch to obtain a strictly triangular cross-section (trihedral) or a plano-convex cross-section with a triangular tendency (Fig 8: 35). Clovis Weapons and Tools," p. 34. It is also slightly less efficient than pressure or indirect percussion in creating large and regular surfaces.
/Parent 7 0 R /CreationDate (D:20150312071314+05'30') << Fluted items are made from knappable, usually cryptocrystalline, rocks including flint, chert, quartzite, obsidian, chalcedony and crystal quartz. 0000003096 00000 n They were found during the excavation
The museum now has constructed such a display. Instead, fluting offers insights into the issue of convergence (or convergent evolution) in form across different regions without any sign of cultural transmission. The light grey part shows a 90% interval.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g019.
No, Is the Subject Area "Yemen" applicable to this article?
He pointed out that the flaking technique and raw material choice of crescents are most similar to Folsom, Clovis and possibly Scottsbluff projectile points. Thus, the flute would have stimulated blood loss in the animal attacked, or would allow wounded prey to bleed more freely. Writing review & editing, Roles He explicitly associated crescents with big game hunting and gathering lifestyles between 7,000 and 9,000 years ago, and perhaps earlier. No, PLOS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, #C2354500, based in San Francisco, California, US, Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314, https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html, http://micharch.org/wp/about-us/projectile-point-typology-and-dating/, http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=204466&type=bien#.Xp9YOmgzbb0, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55363-2_9, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316686942.010. No complete fluted point has been found so far.
Channel flakes, from both archaeological contexts and experimental tests, could be used for this purpose. <<
<< This potential techno-typological link between Siberia and North America is nevertheless not convincing enough, in the frame of the general specificities of material culture.
/MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693] PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, << The observations gained by experimentation is supported by the statistical tests, leading to the conclusion that pressure and/or direct percussion (with hard wood and/or soft stone) techniques were most probably used by the Neolithic knappers in southern Arabia for fluting.
1417: tip-fluted points from northern America 14,15: Site KkHh-3 (Canada, modified from [84]: Fig 7,8); 16: Site JcDe-1 (Canada, photo credits: Cit darchologie et dhistoire de Montral, A. Vandal 2016Creative Commons 4.0 (by-nc-nd), http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=204466&type=bien#.Xp9YOmgzbb0); 17: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon (photo credits: with the kind authorization from Projet Saint-Pierre et Miquelon 2019). /Length 3228 Hemoglobin crystallization and red blood cell size analyses from residues on Beringian fluted projectile points [30] have demonstrated that a variety of mammals were hunted, including bison (Bison bison), sheep (Ovis dalli), bear (Ursus arctos), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and musk ox (Ovibos moschatus).
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Thermal treatment would be an aid in extracting elongated channel flakes. Certain researchers have suggested that fluting lessened the weight of projectile points thereby aiding flight, while others have argued that the flute facilitated the ease of extraction of the spear point from a wound ([3]:7,[24]). edge than most examples. /Rotate 0
A sample of 100 crescents in six western United States were geo-located and mapped onto ancient paleo-shorelines, and 99% of the studied crescents were located within 6 miles of a wetland. However, numerous hinge fractures and limited plunging were noted.
[1][2][3] Crescents are typically found as part of surface assemblages as opposed to well-dated subsurface contexts, and lack good chronology which would indicate if the degree of morphological variability represents changes over time, or if the differences represent regional expressions. It measures 1 13/16 1938,
All necessary permits for the fieldwork and analyses were obtained from the General Organization for Antiquities and Museums in Yemen and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture in Oman. /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347]
We've updated our Privacy Policy, which will go in to effect on September 1, 2022. /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] It was as if someone had fused together two large arrowheads.
The fluted elements were associated with 48 unfluted trihedral points and 16 unfluted plano-convex bifacial pieces, with the presence of three thin and flat foliates and the same number of undiagnostic retouched blanks. Using an adequate amount of strength, this detachment technique allowed for an attainable fluting length, while minimizing knapping accidents such as hinge or plunging fractures. /Contents 95 0 R
BC) and 6902 41 BP (58855716 cal. The Ad-Dahariz type is more robust, the flute maybe permitted to facilitate the thinning of the triangular section changing a rather fragile piece into a small and solid projectile point. The fluting concept and the method itself are the same in both regions, yet the ways to achieve it may be different. 0000027177 00000 n /Rotate 0 For the pressure detachment technique as applied to fluting, we used red deer antler sticks and a short crutch, including the use of red deer antler, bone tips and wooden pieces for the holding of the preform to conduct fluting (Pelegrins Modes 1b and 2 [122]).
<< MDP acknowledges the support of the Max Planck Society.
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[1][4][3], Chipped-stone crescents are found within the western United States, primarily as part of surface assemblages throughout the Great Basin, the Columbia Plateau, and in California primarily along the mainland and Channel Island coastlines, as well as the San Joaquin Valley and Mojave Desert.
Crescents are chipped stone tools in the shape of the crescent moon, with pointed tips and edges ground smooth. Across the well-studied lithic industries of the prehistoric Near East and northern Africa, no other examples of fluted points are known. Considered together, the results indicate that there is a significant difference between some techniques and sites, and this significant difference is specifically located between six pairs of comparison. /Contents 97 0 R /Type /Pages PLoS ONE 15(8): Yes
/Resources 110 0 R Despite regular practice and correct level of expertise in flintknapping, it took us several years of intermittent practice and more than two hundred attempts to assimilate and master the gestures of fluting and trihedral shaping. In the Arabian case, we expand the technical and cultural understanding of fluting, making it impossible to comprehensively link these expressions to a single cultural tradition or adaptive strategy. Left: Manayzah; top right: Ad-Dahariz 2; bottom right: Hailat Araka [109].
Competing interests: Michael D. Petraglia is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. In comparing American fluted points to Arabian ones, the position and nature of the flutes differ.
The projectile points were found to be tip-fluted, illustrating the clear application of the fluting method (not impact damage). /Type /Catalog With respect to archaeological examples of unfluted and fluted points, four key observations were made: 1) heat-treatment is observed at both sites on some finished points and preforms; 2) finished points are triangular or sub-triangular in cross-section; 3) finished points are regularly and finely retouched by pressure from the two sides of the fluted or very flat ventral face; and, 4) finished points typically have mean dimensions around 60 to 70 mm length, 5.5 width and 5 mm thick. Furthermore, the fluted point comes from an insecure context without direct dating of the stratigraphic layer. 21 0 obj
Variable width of the boxplots reflects group sizes. Adobe LiveCycle PDFG ES endobj
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Writing original draft,
Sure enough, the lakeshore touched the exact place where I had found the crescent. 2002, Justice, Noel D., "Stone Age Spear and Arrow However, it is entirely possible that these projectile forms can be copied or imitated.
/Parent 7 0 R An interpretation towards a demonstration of skill, a costly signaling tradition, or a sociocultural role is therefore reasonable to consider. The type of fluted points from Ad-Dahariz 2 differs from the types recovered from eastern Yemen. 1: bifacial preform, 2: fluting along one face, producing a complete (CF1) or broken (CF2) channel flake, 3 to 5: progressive reduction sequence of the final fluted point (pressure shaping/faonnage). One example of
/Count 2 Crescents are a type of stone tool which is commonly found in the western United States. stream endobj
Fluted pieces at Manayzah therefore date to ca. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g008.
There are only ten cattle represented alongside one sheep bone. A midden produced food 7300 cal.
Therefore, the two experimental techniques differ from the techniques used on the two sites. Writing review & editing, Affiliation
No, Is the Subject Area "Culture" applicable to this article? U.S. Funding acquisition, This work is dedicated to Marie-Louise Inizan and her pioneering studies on the Arabian Paleolithic and Neolithic.
This is BLM land, and there probably is nothing to be found there after so many years of being picked over.
/Producer (Adobe LiveCycle PDFG ES) These tip-fluted points were produced by pressure with microblade-like spalls from the apex of a specialized blank; the method of fluting was applied at different stages of point manufacture, from the blank, to the preform, to used and broken points [4,84]. New World archaeologists have amply demonstrated that fluted point technology is specific to Terminal Pleistocene American cultures. Not all crescent-like objects are in fact the type of crescents
Although their distribution covers a large portion of the western United States, crescents are often found in similar contexts in close proximity to water sources including playas, lakes, rivers, and mainland and island coast lines.
/CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] /Contents [128 0 R 129 0 R 130 0 R 131 0 R 132 0 R 133 0 R 134 0 R 135 0 R 136 0 R] q /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] The horizontal gray line segment shows the zero value of the right hand or confidence interval axis. the tanged and wider points from Manayzah and the tempered points from Dhofar, do not provide convincing reasons of fluting for hafting reasons or because a fluted surface would have enhanced the shaping process. /MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693]
/MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693] Just before fluting, the bifacial preform was not necessarily pointed, as this was accomplished during the last stage of the final retouching of the fluted point. In such cases, the fluted zone cannot be interpreted as a surface to facilitate hafting and no real functional explanation can be found. 29 0 obj
Despite thus criticism, these pieces have been used as support for a possible European-North American connection [98], though this theory has been widely discounted (e.g. /Contents 73 0 R
For fluting with direct percussion, soft stones, antlers, and hard woods were used. found on the same site. BP (see [109]: Figs 2 and 4), indicating an in situ fluting operation, as also observed at Manayzah and Ad-Dahariz. Manayzah places fluting in South Arabia in a clear chronological framework, situating it in the South Arabian Neolithic [7,109,116].
0000004261 00000 n The boxplot diagrams (Fig 10) tend to confirm the similarity in the morphometrics of both groups. It is clear that the fluting method in North America leads to the production of particular base-fluted point types (Fig 3: 18; see [62]: Fig 9.4 for a typo-chronology of the north American fluted points), the most famous of which are Clovis and Folsom points [32,33,63]. Pressure, percussion with hard wood and percussion with soft stone. Only one or two discrete examples show trifacial shaping, with removal scars coming from the superior ridge, though trifacial thinning procedure was rare. And this suggests that hunting, along with the costly signaling (ethnographically suggested to explain the sharing of large meat packages) [135], plays an important role in understanding the knapping behavior of South Arabian Neolithic herders. American points tend to be systematically fluted from the proximal end of the armature, and often on both sides, but in South Arabian forms, fluting is also conducted from the proximal end, indicating that other, non-functional explanations must be explored. The channel flakes platforms may sometimes show signs of heavy abrading and slight crushing (e.g. /Parent 7 0 R Crescents were first described in a 1966 article in American Antiquity by Lewis Tadlock, who defined them as artifacts recovered from Early Archaic (what Tadlock called "Proto-Archaic") through Paleoindian sites in the Great Basin, the Columbia Plateau and the Channel Islands of California. /Resources 137 0 R endobj However, fluting itself occurs in the Americas and in Arabia for perhaps different reasons. Funding: The work described from Manayzah was supported by the US National Science Foundation Grant BSC0122497 (to JM).
>>
attached. All rights reserved. /MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693] Made on stemmed points and not on lanceolate forms, South American fluted points differ in shape from their northern counterparts. /Type /Page Closely related to the fluted points, arrowhead types include the unfluted trihedral points [105106]; at least three different types are observed at Manayzah, having a highly regular triangular section, as observed on most of Arabian fluted points [110,113]. /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347]
three thousand years. application/pdf
The most common theory is that they were used as projectile points to hunt water fowl stream Cobbles and pebbles from wadi beds were primarily selected and widely-used at Manayzah. Formal analysis,
1 0 obj Arabian and American fluted point technologies provide an excellent example of convergence of highly specialized stone tool production methods. The upper point is of a Manayzah type with a shouldered tang, and the lower one is of a Ad-Dahariz type with lateral notches. to resharpening.
12 0 obj 37 0 obj BP [106] (Fig 5: 1316). We tentatively suggest that technical knapping skill signaled a high level of cultural expertise linked to hunting and served as costly signaling of unobservable qualities that ensured individual success. fowl.
Among more than three hundred of collected lithics, a total of 39 fragmentary fluted points was found (36 from surface, 3 from the test-pit).
85, 93, 94 & 499.
endobj The crescents likely were used for some hunting or gathering function along the marshlands. /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347]
No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
endobj Other points occasionally showed proper impact fractures rather than genuine fluting, such as at the Oman Sea coastal site of Khor al-Hajar KHJ-1 [108] (Fig 5: 12). The lithic experiments had three main goals: 1) to demonstrate the degree to which knappers intentionally fluted Arabian points (i.e., the type of knapping involvement, as revealed by choices in the detachment technique); 2) to better understand the relations between point technology and function (the range of detachment techniques used in the Neolithic of South Arabia was tested by comparing the experimental material with archaeological examples from the Manayzah and Ad-Dahariz 2 sites); and, 3) to estimate the degree to which cultural transmission accounts for the fluting at both Manayzah and Ad-Dahariz.
/Resources 96 0 R There is convergence in the flintknapping method itself, but not necessarily in the functional or non-utilitarian objectives. The community therefore invested time and energy in forming expert-craftsmen.
Examination of fluted points and channel flakes from southern Arabia enable a reconstruction of stone tool manufacturing techniques and reduction sequences (chaines opratoires). As seen at Ad-Dahariz, the points can have lateral notches and no tang, while fluted points from Yemen usually have a small tang and no notch. We are grateful to Jean-Jacques Cleyet-Merle, director of the Muse National de Prhistoire at Les Eyzies, France, for authorizing access to the Laugerie Haute collections.
One first fluting attempt failed, as seen from the scar of a hinged channel flake.
The fluting method was a highly refined and sophisticated technology that was developed and used in a limited area of southern Arabia, and it is without parallel elsewhere in the Neolithic world. This regional Neolithic tradition does not appear to have cultural links with neighboring Neolithic cultures. The t-test does not show a significant difference between the ratio of fluted and unfluted trihedral points (t(85) = -0,447, p-value = 0.655).This result confirms the initial observation that there is no significant difference between the two types of trihedral points.
Their thickness was regular, edges were mostly parallel and slight ripples appeared on the reverse face.
Nevertheless, the artifact itself is a genuine and intentionally-fluted lanceolate projectile point with a clear flute scar obtained on a slightly convex surface.
(2020, August 25). Each main stage of reduction is summarized below.
To better understand the nature of the fluting method in Arabia, we first briefly review fluting technology in the Americas and some rarer examples described from the Old Word. >> 0000015295 00000 n Experiments on fluting and trihedral shaping (thinning, faonnage) also considered the functional aspect of those points. The work described from Ad-Dahariz, Oman, was supported by a French Ministry of Foreign Affairs grant (to VC) and the Fyssen Foundation Subvention de Recherche 2013 grant (to RC).
Previously unpublished lithic drawings from Ad-Dahariz 2, Laugerie Haute, and Suwayh 1 were finalized by Gauthier Devilder (CNRS).
The points appear among Canadian Middle Dorset collections and less frequently in Early Dorset ones in the Late Paleo-Eskimo period (25001250 BP), such as numerous sites on various islands like for instance Killiniq, Southampton or Victoria.
Thus, the shaping methods employed on these two bifaces are not comparable to an intentional fluting method. 26 0 obj /Parent 9 0 R
/Rotate 0 Apart from that, Tadlock's careful consideration of the size, shape, style, and context of crescents has held up after more than forty years. crescents are ground at the midpoint on both edges suggesting that [84,124,125]). 11 0 obj As noted above, North American fluting is closely linked to the hafting of projectiles. Ad-Dahariz 2 serves here as a reference for lithic experiments to identify bifacial thinning and detachment techniques used on Arabian fluted points, thereby allowing a deeper exploration about the function of fluting in Arabia.
/CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] FROM PAGE 2
BP. stream With kernel density estimation and Shapiro-Wilk test. /Resources 43 0 R The flake obtained by the fluting removal is variably called a channel flake [3], a fluting flake [2] or a fluting spall [4]. A 1 x 1 m test-pit had a thin stratigraphy (~30 cm in depth), with Neolithic artifacts found extending down to 10 cm from the surface. [32,33]; see the recent volume: [34]; see also [35,36] and the online Paleoindian Database of the Americas: http://pidba.utk.edu/). >>
Writing review & editing, Affiliations /MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693]
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[5][3] Though many crescents found on the islands are associated with surface artifact scatters, there are those that have been recovered from stratified subsurface deposits from which diagnostic artifacts, such as the Channel Island Barbed projectile point, as well as with faunal assemblages comprising waterfowl, seabirds, marine mammals, and fish. endobj PAGE 2 OF https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g005. Few details are known concerning the exact context of the discoveries, except that the bifaces were found in the western part of the site in a Middle Solutrean layer. Yes 2015-04-28T17:07:59-07:00
/Contents [32 0 R 33 0 R 34 0 R 35 0 R 36 0 R 37 0 R 38 0 R 39 0 R 40 0 R 41 0 R
/Type /Page >> [4] Similarly, crescent fragments have also been found in subsurface deposits dating to 7,600-8,200 cal BP associated with sites on the shoreline of extinct Buena Vista Lake, also located in the southern San Joaquin Valley. 0000081578 00000 n
/Annots [161 0 R]
For decades, lithic industries throughout the world have been studied in a multitude of ways, including examination of human dispersals at an intercontinental scale, analysis of economies at a regional scale, and activity variation at the site scale.
PALEO
/Annots [125 0 R 126 0 R 127 0 R] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g001. <<
CRESCENTS
1: broken tip-fluted preform on a bifacial piece with a triangular section; 29: medial fragments of tapered fluted projectile points with triangular section (no. 1: double-fluted preform on a plano-convex elongated bifacial piece; 2: broken fluted preform on a bifacial elongated piece with symmetrical section; 3: base-fluted projectile point; 4,5: tip-fluted projectile points. 94 0 obj
<>stream
At Ad-Dahariz 2, it is noteworthy to observe that the fragmentary fluted points are medial (n = 36) and distal-medial parts (n = 3). Otherwise, a cultural reason may be considered, as a complete flute would be the desired outcome.
Platforms were faceted, narrow, rarely overflowing and with discrete lips. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. << It's fairly thick and has a straighter If one end had broken both ends would Chipped stone crescents are a class of artifact found mainly associated with surface components of archaeological sites located in the Great Basin, the Columbia Plateau, and throughout California.
This expertise is acquired, and in the case of Neolithic societies through apprenticeship, and reinforced by regular and sustained practice. 0000086485 00000 n
The presence of a shiny surface detected on channel flakes suggests as much, but we cannot confirm heat-treatment without microscopic analyses. of a cremation mound. [2][6], In the Great Basin, crescents are often found in artifact assemblages characterized as belonging to the Western Stemmed Tradition (WST), which is composed of artifact classes that would indicate an economy focused on big-game hunting. We observed relatively thin channel-flakes, with regular thickness and sub-parallel edges and tight ripples on the negative face. << The retouch was made from the fluted face only, the latter not being reworked, or only very slightly, after the flute was produced. ROCK DESERT AREA--NEVADA.
large anatids such as tundra swan, greater white-fronted goose, snow goose, and Ross's goose. uuid:f59d1b14-7742-4995-af66-0b17fd37808e We were able to confirm the high level of expertise that these production techniques required. endobj 13,40012,900 years ago [43]. /MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693] Clovis points were therefore interpreted to be part of a distinct and early techno-complex in North America [33,41,42] and later found to date to a particular period of time, between ca. Clovis points were often longer, but with a shorter flute compared to Folsom points, where the flute scar is highly invasive on each face of the bifacial piece. This observation also applies to another sub-type, Dalton points, that are end-thinned throughout the bifacial production process. Some researchers have made a distinction between end-thinning and fluting per se [33,52], also emphasized by the use of terms such as technological fluting and morphological fluting [53]. /Count 10 They are so old and so unusual that no one today is sure exactly how they were used. 0000007614 00000 n Hard wood hammers weighed from 200 g to 450 g (mean weight of 312 g) and were mainly made of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens; density 0.9 to 1.3 kg/dm3).
0000008856 00000 n
34 0 obj
Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. Crescents are a type of artifact or group of artifacts that are somewhat morphologically diverse, but typically consist of a chipped-stone tool that is bilaterally symmetrical, bifacially pressure flaked, may have winged edges, and typically have edge-grinding.