Time, Energy and Stone Tools

Time, Energy and Stone Tools

Author: Robin Torrence

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1989-08-25

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780521253505

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This collection aims to refocus archaeological and anthropological interest in technology.


Prehistoric Stone Tools of Eastern Africa

Prehistoric Stone Tools of Eastern Africa

Author: John J. Shea

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-04-16

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1108424430

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A detailed overview of the Eastern African stone tools that make up the world's longest archaeological record.


Hunter-Gatherers

Hunter-Gatherers

Author: Catherine Panter-Brick

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-03-29

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780521776721

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This 2001 volume is an interdisciplinary text on hunter-gatherer populations world-wide.


Archaeology in Practice

Archaeology in Practice

Author: Jane Balme

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-01-14

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 1118323831

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This much-enhanced new edition of the highly accessible guide to practical archaeology is a vital resource for students. It features the latest methodologies, a wealth of case studies from around the world, and contributions from leading specialists in archaeological materials analysis. New edition updated to include the latest archaeological methods, an enhanced focus on post-excavation analysis and new material including a dedicated chapter on analyzing human remains Covers the full range of current analytic methods, such as analysis of stone tools, human remains and absolute dating Features a user-friendly structure organized according to material types such as animal bones, ceramics and stone artifacts, as well as by thematic topics ranging from dating techniques to report writing, and ethical concerns. Accessible to archaeology students at all levels, with detailed references and extensive case studies featured throughout


Convergent Evolution in Stone-Tool Technology

Convergent Evolution in Stone-Tool Technology

Author: Michael J. O'Brien

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2024-05-21

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0262552086

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Scholars from a variety of disciplines consider cases of convergence in lithic technology, when functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Hominins began using stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago, perhaps even 3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by humans and their ancestors, the study of lithic technology offers an important line of inquiry into questions of evolution and behavior. This book examines convergence in stone tool-making, cases in which functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Identifying examples of convergence, and distinguishing convergence from divergence, refutes hypotheses that suggest physical or cultural connection between far-flung prehistoric toolmakers. Employing phylogenetic analysis and stone-tool replication, the contributors show that similarity of tools can be caused by such common constraints as the fracture properties of stone or adaptive challenges rather than such unlikely phenomena as migration of toolmakers over an Arctic ice shelf. Contributors R. Alexander Bentley, Briggs Buchanan, Marcelo Cardillo, Mathieu Charbonneau, Judith Charlin, Chris Clarkson, Loren G. Davis, Metin I. Eren, Peter Hiscock, Thomas A. Jennings, Steven L. Kuhn, Daniel E. Lieberman, George R. McGhee, Alex Mackay, Michael J. O'Brien, Charlotte D. Pevny, Ceri Shipton, Ashley M. Smallwood, Heather Smith, Jayne Wilkins, Samuel C. Willis, Nicolas Zayns


Stone Tools in Transition: From Hunter-Gatherers to Farming Societies in the Near East

Stone Tools in Transition: From Hunter-Gatherers to Farming Societies in the Near East

Author: Borrell, Ferran

Publisher: Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 542

ISBN-13: 8449038189

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This volume compiles the papers presented at the seventh edition of the Conference on PPN Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Fertile Crescent, held in Barcelona from 14 to 17 February 2012. This series of conferences/workshops started nineteen years ago - the first meeting was organised in Berlin in 1993 - and is devoted to the study of the lithic record in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East and neighbouring regions. The seventh of these conferences was organised by the Institució Milà i Fontanals (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) and the Prehistory Department (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). This volume includes a total number of 36 articles, covering a wide range of topics and disciplines related to lithic studies in the Levant over a long chronological time span (from the final stages of the Epipalaeolithic/Natufian to the Halaf period). The publication of the conference proceedings is thus an interesting synthesis of the current state of lithic studies on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East, and consolidates this specific series of conferences as a key tool to maintain and stimulate the vitality of high quality research into the Near Eastern lithic record.


Reader in Gender Archaeology

Reader in Gender Archaeology

Author: Kelley Hays-Gilpin

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 9780415173599

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This Reader in Gender Archaeology presents nineteen current, controversial and highly influential articles which confront and illuminate issues of gender in prehistory. The question of gender difference and whether it is natural or culturally constructed is a compelling one. The articles here, which draw on evidence from a wide range of geographic areas, demonstrate how all archaeological investigation can benefit from an awareness of issues of gender. They also show how the long-term nature of archaeological research can inform the gender debate across the disciplines. The volume: * organizes this complex area into seven sections on key themes in gender archaeology: archaeological method and theory, human origins, division of labour, the social construction of gender, iconography and ideology, power and social hierarchies and new forms of archaeological narrative * includes section introductions which outline the history of research on each topic and present the key points of each article * presents a balance of material which rewrites women into prehistory, and articles which show how the concept of gender informs our understanding and interpretation of the past.


Desert Peoples

Desert Peoples

Author: Peter Veth

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1405137533

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Desert Peoples: Archaeological Perspectives provides an issues-oriented overview of hunter-gatherer societies in desert landscapes that combines archaeological and anthropological perspectives and includes a wide range of regional and thematic case studies. Brings together, for the first time, studies from deserts as diverse as the sand dunes of Australia, the U.S. Great Basin, the coastal and high altitude deserts of South America, and the core deserts of Africa Examines the key concepts vital to understanding human adaptation to marginal landscapes and the behavioral and belief systems that underpin them Explores the relationship among desert hunter-gatherers, herders, and pastoralists


Energy and Civilization

Energy and Civilization

Author: Vaclav Smil

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2018-11-13

Total Pages: 564

ISBN-13: 0262536161

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A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.