Sahle Yonatan, Moník Martin, Ahmed Seid, Hadraba Hynek, Chlup Zdeněk, Šiška Filip, Kučera Lukáš, Souron Antoine, Brandt Steven A, Arthur Kathryn W
Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.
Department of History & Heritage Management, Arba Minch University, PO Box 21, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 14;15(1):12854. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-97207-9.
The heat treatment of rocks to improve their fracture qualities for stone tool production is a key technological innovation of Pleistocene humans. Because the intentionality and technicality of this transformative process are often associated with cognitive prowess, the topic has attracted considerable archaeological research interest worldwide. Yet, with few ethnographic examples, assumptions about archaeological heat treatment are almost always based upon laboratory experiments. Here we report contemporary Konso craft specialists from southern Ethiopia, who represent the last known stone tool makers to regularly heat treat their toolstone. We found that, while material transformations commonly used as indicators of enhanced knappability (e.g., fracture toughness, elastic modulus, improved homogeneity, and newly formed lustre) are discernible in the studied heat-treated toolstones, other qualities of enhanced knappability (e.g., density and hardness) are also informative. Our results highlight the diversity and peculiarity of intentions and mechanisms through which toolstone workability is improved. The motives, techniques, and material transformations involved in Konso toolstone heat treatment afford important insights into various aspects of archaeological heat treatment that are unavailable with experiments alone.
对岩石进行热处理以改善其用于石器制作的断裂特性，是更新世人类的一项关键技术创新。由于这一转变过程的意图性和技术性往往与认知能力相关联，该话题在全球范围内引起了相当多的考古研究兴趣。然而，由于人种志实例较少，关于考古热处理的假设几乎总是基于实验室实验。在此，我们报告了来自埃塞俄比亚南部的当代孔索工艺专家，他们是已知最后一批仍定期对其工具石进行热处理的石器制造者。我们发现，虽然在研究的热处理工具石中可辨别出通常用作可加工性增强指标的材料转变（例如断裂韧性、弹性模量、改善的均匀性和新形成的光泽），但其他可加工性增强的特性（例如密度和硬度）也具有参考价值。我们的研究结果突出了改善工具石可加工性的意图和机制的多样性与独特性。孔索工具石热处理所涉及的动机、技术和材料转变，为仅通过实验无法获得的考古热处理的各个方面提供了重要见解。
