7
thAnnual Meeting of the
European
Society
for the study of
Human
Evolution
21-23 September 2017
European Society for the study of Human Evolution
ESHE
7th Annual Meeting
Leiden, The Netherlands, 21
st-23
rdSept. 2017
Cover image: Homo erectus holotype cranium and shell engraving, Trinil,
Indonesia (Dubois Collection, Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands)
Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution Vol. 6
Citation: PESHE 6, 2017
© 2017 European Society for the study of Human Evolution
All rights reserved
PESHE 6 compiled and designed by Mikaela Lui
Cover and Logo Design by Joanne Porck
Abstracts
Abstracts
European Society for the study of Human Evolution
Abstracts
Poster Presentation Number 81, Th (12:15-14:15)
MicroWeaR: a new tool for dental microwear analysis and its application to paleoanthropology and
paleontology
Flavia Strani1,2, Antonio Profico3*, Daniel DeMiguel4, Raffaele Sardella1,2
1 - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome (Italy) · 2 - PaleoFactory, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy · 3 - Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome (Italy) · 4 - Institut Catalá de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Barcelona (Spain)
From the 1970s, dental microwear analysis on the tooth surface has been widely employed for the reconstruction of the feeding behaviour and tooth use in both extant and fossil vertebrate taxa. This approach relies on the microscopic scars present on the dental enamel left by ingested foods during the last few (i.e., days, hours) meals of the animal, thereby providing crucial information about short-term changes in the dietary behavior of a species. More specifically, microwear analysis has proven to be an important tool for the dietary ecology of fossil hominins [1,2]. The frequency, morphology, distribution and orientation of the microscopic scars on the enamel surface are a consequence of the action of both chewing forces and type of consumed food on the tooth during the mas-tication. The most common, traditional way to observe and study these scars is using high definition pictures of a selected working area at low or high magnification, by means, respectively, of a standard stereomicroscope or a scanning electron microscope. There are a number of image analysis software tools for counting and studying these features on a single or multiple images, but all they require a costly license or are generic image processing programs not calibrated for a specific type of analysis such as the microwear one. Here, we propose a new free and open access software to examine and score microwear scars in a semi-automatic way; the code is stored in the MicroWeaR R package. This tool needs an image (at the moment the file formats supported are “jpg”, “tif ” and “png”) as input, with a metric reference for the definition of the scale factor. After loading and scaling of the image, the operator defines the placement and size of a working area. Once the working area is defined, features can be tracked starting a sampling ses-sion in which the operator defines 4 points for each scar: the first two for the length and the latter two for the width. Then, the tool classifies automatically each scar within one of the two macro-groups of features: “scratch” and “pit”. For each of these two groups, the tool recognizes different sub-categories: “small” and “large” pits, “fine” and “coarse” scratches. In addition, MicroWeaR package provides the user with a summary statistic for each macro- and micro-group (count, mean and standard deviation) and the input picture with the sampled scars that can be exported in different formats. Automatic classification parameters can also be manually edited and set allowing to customize each sampling session. In sum, this easy to use, fast, and semi-automatic tool of classification of the microwear features represents a great advance for the study of the dietary adaptations, paleobiology and paleoecology of any vertebrate, including fossil hominins. Furthermore, due to its free an open access nature, further implementations can be also developed in order to make MicroWeaR a more versatile and powerful tool for dietary assessment of living and fossil species.
*Presenting Author
We thank Luca Bellucci, Jacopo Conti, Roberta Sanzi, Massimiliano Centorame, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Ileana Micarelli, Costantino Buzi and Giorgio Manzi for their invaluable help and assistance.
References:[1] Ungar, P.S., Grine, F.E., Teaford, M.,F., El Zaatari, S., 2006. Dental microwear and diets of African early Homo. J. Hum. Evol. 50, 78-95.[2] Martí nez, L.M., Estebaranz-Sánchez, F., Galbany, J., Pérez-Pérez, A., 2016. Testing Dietary Hypotheses of East African Hominines Using Buccal Dental Microwear Data. PloS One. 11(11), e0165447.
Pecha Kucha Presentation: Session 10, Sa (11:25-11:50)
The weapon system behind the point: Early Gravettian hunting technologies at Maisières-Canal
Noora Taipale1, Justin Coppe1, Olivier Touzé1,2,3,4, Veerle Rots1,5
1 TraceoLab / Prehistory, University of Liège, Belgium · 2 Aspirant FNRS; Prehistory, University of Liège, Belgium · 3 -University of Paris 1 · 4 - UMR 7041 ArScAn, France · 5 - Chercheure qualifiée FNRS
Hunting and preparing for the hunt – manufacturing, using, and repairing the equipment – were undoubtedly important and time-consuming activities in the lives of Palaeolithic groups [1, 2]. Studying hunting equipment in detail is thus essential for our understanding of a crucial aspect of Palaeolithic human behaviour and allows us to understand developments in human technologies and problem-solving across wide geographical and chronological ranges. Yet, our current knowledge about the development of prehistoric hunting technologies (projecting modes, weapon design) is mainly based on a few important but isolated discoveries of organic remains in Europe, such as the Lower Palaeolithic spears or spear fragments recovered at Schöningen, Lehringen, and Clacton-on-Sea, the Solutrean and Magdalenian spear-thrower hooks, and the arrows and bow fragments from Mesolithic and Neolithic contexts [3].
In this paper we demonstrate how to exploit the full potential of a much more durable and ubiquitous type of remains, lithic armatures, in the study of Palaeolithic hunting practices. We present the results of a collaborative project that combines technolog-ical and functional analysis with experimental archaeology, and aims at understanding the manufacture and use of a specific lithic projectile type, the Early Gravettian tanged point. Our archaeological material comes from the Gravettian occupation phase of the open-air site of Maisières-Canal (Belgium), dated between 33 and 32 cal BP [4]. This stratigraphically well-isolated sequence has yielded an important collection of tanged points that are in excellent state of preservation.
A combined study of the finished armatures and the related shaping waste allows us to present a new, more comprehensive view of the characteristics and constraints of the shaping method. The points were made on large, thin blades produced by hard or soft stone percussion, and subsequently shaped by several generations of direct, flat, invasive (sometimes overshot) removals with an organic hammer. These points, which all display a long, elaborately shaped tang, thus form a distinct tool type with a uniquechaîne opératoire and a very particular morphology in terms of weapon design and hafting systems.
Many of the points show clear macroscopic and microscopic damage from impact that can be attributed to their use as arma-tures. The morphology, the organisation, and the orientation of the traces allowed us to propose specific hafting modes that were tested experimentally. The experimental program focused on both the details of the hafting mode and the mode of projection. In addition, alternative tool uses such as butchering were considered, and the points were framed within the broader functional con-text of tanged and non-tanged tools recovered at the site. The results allow evaluating what kind of weapon system the tanged points were part of, and what their place was in the Early Gravettian technology. We argue that when approached from an experimental and techno-functional point of view, lithic projectile points can help us understand the development of hunting technologies as well as broader patterns of technological change.
This research is supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 312283. NT’s work is also supported by Kone Foundation (grant number 088817). OT and VR are indebted to the Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS-FRS). We are grateful to Ivan Jadin of Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences for giving us access to the Maisières-Canal collection, and to Christian Lepers of University of Liège for his participation in the experimental work.
References:[1] Ellis, C.J., 1997. Factors influencing the use of stone projectile tips. In: Knecht, H. (Ed.), Projectile Technology. Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 37–74 [2] Greaves, R., 1997. Hunting and multifunctional use of bows and arrows. In: Knecht, H. (Ed.), Projectile Technology. Springer Science & Business Media, New York, pp. 287–320 [3] Knecht, H., 1997. Projectile technology. Springer Science & Business Media, New York [4] Jacobi, R. M., Haesaerts, P., Jadin, I., Basell, L.S., 2010. Radiocarbon chronology for the Early Gravettian of northern Europe: new AMS determinations for Maisières-Canal, Belgium. Antiquity 84 (323), 26–40
