What can lithics tell us about hominin technology's 'primordial soup'? An origin of stone knapping via the emulation of Mother Nature

Eren, Metin; Lycett, Stephen; Bebber, Michelle; Key, Alastair; Buchanan, Briggs; Finestone, Emma; Benson, Joseph; Biermann Gurbuz, Rebecca; Cebeiro, Adela; Garba, Roman; Grunow, Anne; Lovejoy, C. Owen; Macdonald, Danielle; Maletic, Erica; Miller, Logan; Ortiz, Joseph; Paige, Jonathan; Pargeter, Justin; Proffitt, Tomos; Raghanti, Mary Ann; Riley, Teal ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3333-5021; Rose, Jeffrey I.; Singer, David M.; Walker, Robert. 2025 What can lithics tell us about hominin technology's 'primordial soup'? An origin of stone knapping via the emulation of Mother Nature. Archaeometry. 23, pp. 10.1111/arcm.13075

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Abstract/Summary

The use of stone hammers to produce sharp stone flakes—knapping—is thought to represent a significant stage in hominin technological evolution because it facilitated the exploitation of novel resources, including meat obtained from medium-to-large-sized vertebrates. The invention of knapping may have occurred via an additive (i.e., cumulative) process that combined several innovative stages. Here, we propose that one of these stages was the hominin use of ‘naturaliths,’ which we define as naturally produced sharp stone fragments that could be used as cutting tools. Based on a review of the literature and our own research, we first suggest that the ‘typical’ view, namely that sharp-edged stones are seldom produced by nonprimate processes, is likely incorrect. Instead, naturaliths can be, and are being, endlessly produced in a wide range of settings and thus may occur on the landscape in far greater numbers than archaeologists currently understand or acknowledge. We then explore the potential role this ‘naturalith prevalence’ may have played in the origin of hominin stone knapping. Our hypothesis suggests that the origin of knapping was not a ‘Eureka!’ moment whereby hominins first made a sharp flake by intention or by accident and then sought something to cut, but instead was an emulative process by hominins aiming to reproduce the sharp tools furnished by mother nature and already in demand. We conclude with a discussion of several corollaries our proposal prompts, and several avenues of future research that can support or question our proposal.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1111/arcm.13075
ISSN:	0003-813X
Additional Keywords:	Stone tools, Knapping, Cutting, Naturaliths, Emulation
Date made live:	17 Mar 2025 12:54 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538222

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1111/arcm.13075

ISSN:

0003-813X

Additional Keywords:

Stone tools, Knapping, Cutting, Naturaliths, Emulation

Date made live:

17 Mar 2025 12:54 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538222