IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nathum/v5y2021i2d10.1038_s41562-020-00955-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Estimating temperatures of heated Lower Palaeolithic flint artefacts

Author

Listed:
  • Aviad Agam

    (Weizmann Institute of Science)

  • Ido Azuri

    (Weizmann Institute of Science)

  • Iddo Pinkas

    (Weizmann Institute of Science)

  • Avi Gopher

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Filipe Natalio

    (Weizmann Institute of Science
    Weizmann Institute of Science)

Abstract

Production of stone artefacts using pyro-technology is known from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Europe and the Levant, and the Middle Stone Age in Africa. However, determination of temperatures to which flint artefacts were exposed is impeded by the chemical and structural variability of flint. Here we combine Raman spectroscopy and machine learning to build temperature-estimation models to infer the degree of pyro-technological control effected by inhabitants of the late Lower Palaeolithic (Acheulo-Yabrudian) site of Qesem Cave, Israel. Temperature estimation shows that blades were heated at lower median temperatures (259 °C) compared to flakes (413 °C), whereas heat-induced structural flint damage (for example, pot-lids and microcracks) appears at 447 °C. These results are consistent with a differential behaviour for selective tool production that can be viewed as part of a plethora of innovative and adaptive behaviours of Levantine hominins >300,000 years ago.

Suggested Citation

  • Aviad Agam & Ido Azuri & Iddo Pinkas & Avi Gopher & Filipe Natalio, 2021. "Estimating temperatures of heated Lower Palaeolithic flint artefacts," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(2), pages 221-228, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:5:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41562-020-00955-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-00955-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-00955-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41562-020-00955-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:5:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41562-020-00955-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.