crescent projectile point

The final experimental tests closely resembled the archaeological finds, including fluting extension, channel flake morphology (length, width and thickness), platform morphology, and fracture types (Fig 15). /Contents [117 0 R 118 0 R 119 0 R 120 0 R 121 0 R 122 0 R 123 0 R] BLACK 0000027108 00000 n One first fluting attempt failed, as seen from the scar of a hinged channel flake. << /Title (untitled) This result is confirmed by Shapiro-Wilk normality tests (p-value(fluted) = 0.9, p-value(unfluted) = 0.05), and both tests have a p-value equal or greater than 0.05, which indicates a normal distribution of the data.

/Type /Page >> /Metadata 2 0 R (2020, August 25). /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] >> 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. 20 0 obj The high number (21 in total, including 19 in stratigraphic context and two on the surface) of channel flake fragments (proximal, proximal-medial, medial, medial-distal, and distal; S2 Table) found at Manayzah indicates an in situ production of fluted points. The shape of the item completely baffled me. The results were consistent with the archaeological assemblages, but limited in extent with respect to fluting length (mean of 26 mm) and overly thick distal ends. Funding acquisition, /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 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g002. endobj The platforms were faceted and narrow, sometimes overflowed, and the bulbs were in high position and pronounced.

/Type /Pages >> 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). We followed three main stages of the chaine opratoire identified at Manayzah: 1a) selection of raw material (either a thick laminar flake or a small chert slab, see S3 Table for details on raw materials used in the experiments) and pre-shaping of an elongated bifacial piece with a plano-convex cross-section (using both direct percussion with soft stone and pressure using a bone-tipped tool); 1b) (optional) heat treatment in a fire pit; 2) preparation for fluting using pressure flaking with a bone-tipped tool, and application of the fluting process using different detachment techniques; and, 3) use of trihedral pressure shaping of arrowheads employing a sharp bone-tipped tool. 5,500 B.C. /Contents 95 0 R That said, our definition fits well with a universally applicable concept, which is increasingly observed in various lithic assemblages [126,127,132,133], and is consistent with evolutionary approaches in understanding the case of fluting as a socio-cultural process [21,134] at different times and in different places. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g007. [1] Some eccentric crescents have been described as being shaped like animals such as bears, while others consist of serrated or barbed edges. On the other hand, the Uptar point could represent the northwestern-most occurrence of North American fluted points, without implying an origin of fluting technology from Northeast Asia, where this knapping method is generally unknown. /Parent 7 0 R https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g019. Consensus suggests that a strict typological analysis of fluted points is insufficient, however, owing to archaeologists need to understand intent, which is difficult to quantify. And can we really and clearly define a fluting method? >> Discovered in 2004 in the Wadi Sana valley of south-central Yemen, the Manayzah rockshelter is an important site in understanding Neolithic occupation in South Arabia [6,111,113115]. /Rotate 0 endobj No, Is the Subject Area "Experimental archaeology" applicable to this article? /CropBox [28.3465 28.3465 460.347 676.347] New World archaeologists have amply demonstrated that fluted point technology is specific to Terminal Pleistocene American cultures. Given what we know at present, fluted forms are geographically constrained to the south-central and south-east parts of the Arabian Peninsula and it never spread out from there, providing a significant contrast with the Americas where fluting was geographically widespread and occurred over a longer period of time. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g008. Typically, crescents are chipped from cryptocrystalline quartz (including chalcedony, agate, chert, flint, and jasper), although there are examples from obsidian, basalt, and schist. Funding acquisition, Left: Manayzah; top right: Ad-Dahariz 2; bottom right: Hailat Araka [109]. FAR /Type /Page Copyright: 2020 Crassard et al. These were made from thin slabs or thick laminar flakes using soft stone to roughen the blank and to conduct pressure flaking to shape the anticipated fluting surface. /Type /Page No distal fragments were observed (S1 Table) and no cortex was observed on the 11 pieces. 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. crescents are ground at the midpoint on both edges suggesting that The presence of channel flakes confirms that fluting was completed on site. 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. 0000004865 00000 n Crescents are chipped stone tools in the shape of the crescent moon, with pointed tips and edges ground smooth. One of the bifaces shows a narrow removal at the base of one face, being obviously part of the bifacial thinning of the piece. Channel flake platforms were usually punctiform or linear, and bulbs were usually small and restrained, and clearly delimited on the proximal ventral face. /MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693] The systematic softening (strong abrading) of the platforms, sometimes to the point of polishing, strengthens this interpretation. The finely chipped artifact was made of shiny black obsidian just over 2 long. endobj endobj Trihedral points were systematically shaped in a bifacial manner. /Rotate 0 BP [106] (Fig 5: 1316). 10 0 obj It can thus be seen that a thorough exploration of traditional ecological knowledge (or more simply expertise), linked to an observed technical register, led to the emergence of a complex chaine opratoire whose purpose is linked to consistent criteria and constraints of lightness and/or robustness of the projectile tips. Dating of fluted point assemblages in South America indicate that ages are as early as North American examples [76,77,91,92], raising a question as to how this distinctive knapping method appeared almost simultaneously in both parts of two continents. } Mw+_AO9~5.hA)`ennPCZ[TEqf|Yd}igcm,]S _,b8J^ceO`ur`]|~MIF.fmd?>xJF=0"nX7"z!5';R=+d[{u9rdW1:}{@nD dWTV*_"IV6]0Q^'_4Dt}lEJ6HdSdy:Ia YG(g64n(7L=#v}f!szQq sTL)Fc Coinciding with the Younger Dryas cooling event, a various range of fluted point types are now known to have developed as hunter-gatherer groups adapted to progressively more varied environments [22,44,45]. This may help to explain why some of them are not fluted, or why some groups have developed parallels covering retouching linked to trihedral shaping rather than fluting. The flute scar is about 35 mm long and the point was found broken in two parts at the two thirds point of its total length. endobj There may therefore be little interest for the group to disseminate and transmit this knowledge outside the community. "Crescents - Moon-Shaped Prehistoric Stone Tools." The projectile points were found to be tip-fluted, illustrating the clear application of the fluting method (not impact damage). /Type /Page Given the significance of fluting technology in the interpretation of the cultural history of the Americas, it is perhaps unsurprising that facile theories have come under intense scrutiny, and as described above, a range of theories have been advanced as to why the flute was made [2,8,42]. The fluting concept and the method itself are the same in both regions, yet the ways to achieve it may be different. Consequently, what we call fluting here is the method of knapping, and not the final aim of the action, such as emphasis on hafting in American examples. Systematic tests were carried out for each potential detachment technique (Fig 12) using knapping tools of different weights (direct percussion using soft stone and hard woods, indirect percussion using antler, and pressure flaking for detachment with bone or antler) (Pelegrins mode 1b and 2 [122]). The presence of a shiny surface detected on channel flakes suggests as much, but we cannot confirm heat-treatment without microscopic analyses. /Contents [162 0 R 163 0 R] With respect to fluting modalities, 21 were conducted with pressure, 77 with soft-stone direct percussion, 47 with antler direct percussion, 58 with hard wood direct percussion and 23 with indirect percussion. Is the Subject Area "Archaeology" applicable to this article?

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Stage 1: raw materials were procured from a range of local outcrops, including sources near bedrock exposures and in secondary river contexts. /Annots [44 0 R 45 0 R 46 0 R 47 0 R 48 0 R] 50 mm in length (observed at Manayzah and other neighboring surface sites where complete fluted points have been discovered), 10 mm in maximum width and 1.8 to 2 mm in thickness. 2015-04-28T17:07:59-07:00 >> 913: base-fluted fishtail points from South America 9: Uruguay (modified from [85]: Fig 1); 10,11: Paso Centurin (Uruguay, modified from [86]: Fig 3); 12: Buena Vista (Uruguay, modified from [86]: Fig 4); 13: Siraba (Venezuela, modified from [80]: Fig 2). endobj https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g011. 42 0 R] No, Is the Subject Area "Antlers" applicable to this article? The aim of the fluting is therefore somewhat enigmatic, suggesting that social or cultural reasons could account for their co-occurrence with similar, unfluted material. /Parent 9 0 R Breakage of the channel flakes was not systematic, but when broken, three fragments were frequently observed, with medial fragments being the largest in size. BLACK ROCK 1 0 obj The longitudinal scars along the axis of trihedral points were interpreted as the effect of the excessive, and hard impact on hafted tools ([100]: 186). 0000081578 00000 n Hirst, K. Kris. >> /Kids [10 0 R 11 0 R 12 0 R 13 0 R 14 0 R 15 0 R 16 0 R 17 0 R 18 0 R 19 0 R] /Contents [49 0 R 50 0 R 51 0 R 52 0 R 53 0 R 54 0 R 55 0 R 56 0 R 57 0 R 58 0 R Fluted pieces at Manayzah therefore date to ca. If you would like to see the crescents, including the one I found near Fort Churchill, you can visit the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. No similar artifacts ever have been found in any other areas. Crescents (sometimes called lunates) are moon-shaped chipped stone objects which are found fairly rarely on Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene (roughly equivalent to Preclovis and Paleoindian) sites in the Western United States. /Creator (3B2 Total Publishing System 8.07r/W) 1938, <<4C06CBA675BB5045A2CE4547863BC740>]>> /Count 22 Other sub-types of trihedral fluted points were observed from surface and stratified sites in the inland plateau of Dhofar in south Oman [103,109] (fluted points and channel flakes are present) and in the Rub al-Khali Desert at the borders of Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia, at sites around Maitan [110]. >> A smaller crescent and a Clovis point were also In South Arabia, the robustness/lightness constraint of the projectile tip is resolved by trihedral shaping. PAGE 2 OF Il propose des spectacles sur des thmes divers : le vih sida, la culture scientifique, lastronomie, la tradition orale du Languedoc et les corbires, lalchimie et la sorcellerie, la viticulture, la chanson franaise, le cirque, les saltimbanques, la rue, lart campanaire, lart nouveau. An interpretation towards a demonstration of skill, a costly signaling tradition, or a sociocultural role is therefore reasonable to consider. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.s001, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.s002, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.s003. The idea of the trihedral arrowhead could circulate independently of the modalities of its realization. /Length 3331 have needed trimming to bring it back to a symmetrical form.

<< These parameters greatly facilitate a later reworking by pressure for a very regular and correct trihedral shaping. This was done for comparative purposes and in order to have representative and diagnostic elements (typical knapping accidents and specific morphologies of channel flakes and scars). This computer generated image illustrates The use of poison is nevertheless not mandatory for hunting this range of species. 0000002797 00000 n No consensus has been reached among scholars for the purpose of crescents. %PDF-1.3

8200/7500 cal. /Type /Catalog The situation changed with the discovery of basally-fluted points, including even bi-fluted points, at the Manayzah rockshelter site in Yemen [111]. 0000081509 00000 n /MediaBox [0 0 488.693 704.693] 1,2: Laugerie Haute site, southwest France (photography used with the kind authorization from Muse National de Prhistoire, Les Eyzies); 3: Uptar site, Siberia (modified from [94]). /Contents 97 0 R American archaeologist Jon Erlandson and colleagues have argued that the most likely interpretation is as transverse projectile points, with the curved edge hafted to point frontwards. [3], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chipped-stone_crescent&oldid=1050620700, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 October 2021, at 22:58. The wide range of interpretations summarized here show some level of uncertainty as to answering the question as to why flute. U.S. In reporting these pieces, Smith [96] was not convinced about a link with fluted points of the Americas and reasonably attributed their formation to a non-intentional action during the shaping of the small foliated bifaces. colorback