Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry

Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
When Is a Point a Projectile? Morphology, Impact Fractures, Scientific Rigor, and the Limits of Inference....Pages 3-12
Identifying Weapon Delivery Systems Using Macrofracture Analysis and Fracture Propagation Velocity: A Controlled Experiment....Pages 13-27
Experiments in Fracture Patterns and Impact Velocity with Replica Hunting Weapons from Japan....Pages 29-46
Thirty Years of Experimental Research on the Breakage Patterns of Stone Age Osseous Points. Overview, Methodological Problems and Current Perspectives....Pages 47-63
Levers, Not Springs: How a Spearthrower Works and Why It Matters....Pages 65-74
Front Matter....Pages 75-75
Hunting Lesions in Pleistocene and Early Holocene European Bone Assemblages and Their Implications for Our Knowledge on the Use and Timing of Lithic Projectile Technology....Pages 77-100
Edge Damage on 500-Thousand-Year-Old Spear Tips from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa: The Combined Effects of Spear Use and Taphonomic Processes....Pages 101-117
Projectile Damage and Point Morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary Results and Interpretations....Pages 119-134
Morpho-Metric Variability of Early Gravettian Tanged “Font-Robert” Points, and Functional Implications....Pages 135-146
Early Gravettian Projectile Technology in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula: The Double Backed and Bipointed Bladelets of Vale Boi (Portugal)....Pages 147-158
Uncertain Evidence for Weapons and Craft Tools: Functional Investigations of Australian Microliths....Pages 159-166
Projectiles and Hafting Technology....Pages 167-185
Front Matter....Pages 187-187
Testing Archaeological Approaches to Determining Past Projectile Delivery Systems Using Ethnographic and Experimental Data....Pages 189-201
Penetration, Tissue Damage, and Lethality of Wood- Versus Lithic-Tipped Projectiles....Pages 203-212
Experimental and Archeological Observations of Northern Iberian Peninsula Middle Paleolithic Mousterian Point Assemblages. Testing the Potential Use of Throwing Spears Among Neanderthals....Pages 213-225
Front Matter....Pages 227-227
More to the Point: Developing a Multi-faceted Approach to Investigating the Curation of Magdalenian Osseous Projectile Points....Pages 229-244
Survivorship Distributions in Experimental Spear Points: Implications for Tool Design and Assemblage Formation....Pages 245-258
Front Matter....Pages 259-259
Morphological Diversification of Stemmed Projectile Points of Patagonia (Southernmost South America). Assessing Spatial Patterns by Means of Phylogenies and Comparative Methods....Pages 261-272
Hunting Technologies During the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu Cave: What They Reveal About Human Cognition in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Between ~65 and 62 ka....Pages 273-286
Front Matter....Pages 287-287
Summary and Conclusions....Pages 289-297
Back Matter....Pages 299-303