Antarctica as a 'natural laboratory' for the critical assessment of the archaeological validity of early stone tool sites

Eren, Metin I.; Bebber, Michelle R.; Buchanan, Briggs; Grunow, Anne; Key, Alastair; Lycett, Stephen J.; Maletic, Eric; Riley, Teal ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3333-5021. 2023 Antarctica as a 'natural laboratory' for the critical assessment of the archaeological validity of early stone tool sites. Antiquity, 97 (392). 11, pp. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.4

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Text (Open Access) © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd. antarctica-as-a-natural-laboratory-for-the-critical-assessment-of-the-archaeological-validity-of-early-stone-tool-sites.pdf - Published Version Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Lithic technologies dominate understanding of early humans, yet natural processes can fracture rock in ways that resemble artefacts made by Homo sapiens and other primates. Differentiating between fractures made by natural processes and primates is important for assessing the validity of early and controversial archaeological sites. Rather than depend on expert authority or intuition, the authors propose a null model of conchoidally fractured Antarctic rocks. As no primates have ever occupied the continent, Antarctica offers a laboratory for generating samples that could only have been naturally fractured. Examples that resemble artefacts produced by primates illustrate the potential of ‘archaeological’ research in Antarctica for the evaluation of hominin sites worldwide.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.4
ISSN:	0003-598X
Additional Keywords:	Pleistocene Archaeology; Antarctica; Conchoidal Fracture; Archaeological Validity
Date made live:	31 Jan 2023 14:31 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532619

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