Department of Geosciences, Prehistory and Archaeological Sciences Research Unit, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Department of Humanities, Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences Unit, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
PLoS One. 2022 May 18;17(5):e0268539. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268539. eCollection 2022.
Protoaurignacian foragers relied heavily on the production and use of bladelets. Techno-typological studies of these implements have provided insights into crucial aspects of cultural variability. However, new technologies have seldom been used to quantify patterns of stone tool design. Taking advantage of a new scanning protocol and open-source software, we conduct the first 3D analysis of a Protoaurignacian assemblage, focusing on the selection and modification of blades and bladelets. We study a large dataset of complete blanks and retouched tools from the early Protoaurignacian assemblage at Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy. Our main goal is to validate and refine previous techno-typological considerations employing a 3D geometric morphometrics approach complemented by 2D analysis of cross-section outlines and computation of retouch angle. The encouraging results show the merits of the proposed integrated approach and confirm that bladelets were the main focus of stone knapping at the site. Among modified bladelets, various retouching techniques were applied to achieve specific shape objectives. We suggest that the variability observed among retouched bladelets relates to the design of multi-part artifacts that need to be further explored via renewed experimental and functional studies.
原人奥瑞纳文化的采集者严重依赖于叶片的生产和使用。对这些工具的技术类型学研究为文化多样性的关键方面提供了深入了解。然而，新技术很少被用于量化石器设计模式。利用新的扫描协议和开源软件，我们对一个原人奥瑞纳文化组合进行了第一次 3D 分析，重点是对叶片和叶片的选择和修改。我们研究了来自意大利东北部富马尼洞穴早期原人奥瑞纳文化组合的大量完整毛坯和锐化工具的数据集。我们的主要目标是利用 3D 几何形态测量学方法，并辅以 2D 分析截面轮廓和锐化角度计算，验证和细化以前的技术类型学考虑。令人鼓舞的结果表明了所提出的综合方法的优点，并证实了叶片在该遗址石器加工的主要焦点。在修改过的叶片中，应用了各种锐化技术来实现特定的形状目标。我们认为，观察到的锐化叶片之间的可变性与多部分制品的设计有关，需要通过新的实验和功能研究进一步探索。
