Turk51

ARHEOLOŠKI VESTNIK (ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA)

ARHEOLOŠKI VESTNIK 51, 2000

Giuliano BASTIANI, Janez DIRJEC in Ivan TURK:

Attempt to establish the purpose of stone artefacts from the Divje babe I site (Slovenia).
Hypotheses on the use of and wear to some Mousterian tools
(Poskus ugotavljanja namembnosti kamenih artefaktov iz najdišča Divje babe I (Slovenija).
Domneve o uporabi in obrabi nekaterih musterjenskih orodij)

Abstract

On the basis of a sample of 85 selected artefacts from the Divje babe I (Slovenia) site with Mousterian finds, we analysed the function of potential tools, exclusively on the macroscopic level, supported by experimental work. The sample is undoubtedly representative of the site, although it was not chosen at random but on the basis of the attributes of the edges, points and ventral faces of flakes. This is the first such research in Slovenia in which these attributes (angle and retouch of working edge, damage to the point and ventral face) are the main subject. The sample includes mostly artificially retouched but completely unusable artefacts which do not conform to any known concept of a working edge, and which are reminiscent of so-called pseudo-artefacts. However, they are certainly not such. We propose a very effective alternative method of use of some cutting and piercing tools, with "indirect percussion" as an alternative to a hafted tool. The proposed experimentally tested method of using tools has not been taken into account to date, despite its simplicity and effectiveness. We believe that the proposed method of using tools opens new possibilities in studying the function of retouched artefacts.

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