Microwear and residue analyses of quartzite stone tools. Experimental development of a method and its application to the assemblages from the Pleistocene sites of Gran Dolina-TD10 (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) and Payre (Ardèche, France)

Identifier:  TDX:2601

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2601

Authors:  Pedergnana, Antonella

Abstract:
The methodology developed is strongly based on the systematic monitoring of sequential experiments and on the use of different microscopic techniques (mainly Optical Microscopy and SEM/EDX but also occasionally Confocal Microscopy), with the main aim being to understand the way wear originates and propagates on quartzite surfaces. The systematic comparison of OLM and SEM micro-graphs is also the base of our characterisation of residues. The methodology developed was then tested on two archaeological samples from the Middle Pleistocene site of Gran Dolina (Burgos, Spain) and the Late Pleistocene site of Payre (Southern France). Use-wear results were then obtained from the study of the two collections, while no significant evidence regarding micro-residues was obtained. Eight publications form the backbone of the thesis, the first one being an introduction of the research as a whole; the second, third and fifth gather the experimental use-wear evidence on quartz and quartzite; the fourth discusses the issue of contamination in lithic residue analysis; the sixth and eighth present the experimental data of the characterisation of micro-residues; finally, the seventh contains preliminary data of the use-wear study of the quartzite assemblage from Payre.