A revision to Tostevin's method for studying cultural transmission in the Pleistocene
Апстракт
The lithics are by far the most common class of material culture on the Paleolithic sites. Since
the 19th century, researchers have developed different approaches for comprehending the variability
of stone tools in time and space and generating insights about the past based on lithic remains. But,
despite long research history and several approaches, large-scale assemblage comparisons remain
largely subjective, descriptive, and vague.
One approach that enables large-scale comparison is developed by G. Tostevin to study
cultural transmission in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitional period (Tostevin, 2012). This
method is based on reduction sequences according to the behavior approach- the flintknapper’s
behaviors and decisions made during the process. Two behavior sets are recognized: technological
behavior- blanks production and the curated behavior- retouched tool kit production. Quantifying
those behaviors through attribute analysis based on knapping experiments, Tos...tevin combined
qualitative technological insights with different statistical tools to make a quantitative, more formal
assessment of the similarity of pairs of assemblages.
Even if Tostevin’s approach was an improvement over qualitative methods when many sites
were analyzed, several issues could improve aspects of this method. This study suggests several
modifications of method to improve validity, applicability/repeatability, and interpretability. By
applying the modified version of Tostevin's approach, we show how it can be used as a general method
for conducting large-scale technological comparisons.
Кључне речи:
lithics / cultural transmission / technological behavior / Tostevin’s methodИзвор:
Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology UISPP 2023 Book of Abstracts, 2023, 90-Издавач:
- Editura Universitatii de Vest din Timisoara
Финансирање / пројекти:
- NEEMO - Neanderthal and Early Modern Human interactions in the Central Balkans (RS-ScienceFundRS-Ideje-7746827)
Институција/група
Arheologija / ArchaeologyTY - CONF AU - Dragosavac, Sofija AU - Radinović, Mihailo PY - 2023 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/5518 AB - The lithics are by far the most common class of material culture on the Paleolithic sites. Since the 19th century, researchers have developed different approaches for comprehending the variability of stone tools in time and space and generating insights about the past based on lithic remains. But, despite long research history and several approaches, large-scale assemblage comparisons remain largely subjective, descriptive, and vague. One approach that enables large-scale comparison is developed by G. Tostevin to study cultural transmission in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitional period (Tostevin, 2012). This method is based on reduction sequences according to the behavior approach- the flintknapper’s behaviors and decisions made during the process. Two behavior sets are recognized: technological behavior- blanks production and the curated behavior- retouched tool kit production. Quantifying those behaviors through attribute analysis based on knapping experiments, Tostevin combined qualitative technological insights with different statistical tools to make a quantitative, more formal assessment of the similarity of pairs of assemblages. Even if Tostevin’s approach was an improvement over qualitative methods when many sites were analyzed, several issues could improve aspects of this method. This study suggests several modifications of method to improve validity, applicability/repeatability, and interpretability. By applying the modified version of Tostevin's approach, we show how it can be used as a general method for conducting large-scale technological comparisons. PB - Editura Universitatii de Vest din Timisoara C3 - Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology UISPP 2023 Book of Abstracts T1 - A revision to Tostevin's method for studying cultural transmission in the Pleistocene SP - 90 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_5518 ER -
@conference{ author = "Dragosavac, Sofija and Radinović, Mihailo", year = "2023", abstract = "The lithics are by far the most common class of material culture on the Paleolithic sites. Since the 19th century, researchers have developed different approaches for comprehending the variability of stone tools in time and space and generating insights about the past based on lithic remains. But, despite long research history and several approaches, large-scale assemblage comparisons remain largely subjective, descriptive, and vague. One approach that enables large-scale comparison is developed by G. Tostevin to study cultural transmission in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitional period (Tostevin, 2012). This method is based on reduction sequences according to the behavior approach- the flintknapper’s behaviors and decisions made during the process. Two behavior sets are recognized: technological behavior- blanks production and the curated behavior- retouched tool kit production. Quantifying those behaviors through attribute analysis based on knapping experiments, Tostevin combined qualitative technological insights with different statistical tools to make a quantitative, more formal assessment of the similarity of pairs of assemblages. Even if Tostevin’s approach was an improvement over qualitative methods when many sites were analyzed, several issues could improve aspects of this method. This study suggests several modifications of method to improve validity, applicability/repeatability, and interpretability. By applying the modified version of Tostevin's approach, we show how it can be used as a general method for conducting large-scale technological comparisons.", publisher = "Editura Universitatii de Vest din Timisoara", journal = "Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology UISPP 2023 Book of Abstracts", title = "A revision to Tostevin's method for studying cultural transmission in the Pleistocene", pages = "90", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_5518" }
Dragosavac, S.,& Radinović, M.. (2023). A revision to Tostevin's method for studying cultural transmission in the Pleistocene. in Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology UISPP 2023 Book of Abstracts Editura Universitatii de Vest din Timisoara., 90. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_5518
Dragosavac S, Radinović M. A revision to Tostevin's method for studying cultural transmission in the Pleistocene. in Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology UISPP 2023 Book of Abstracts. 2023;:90. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_5518 .
Dragosavac, Sofija, Radinović, Mihailo, "A revision to Tostevin's method for studying cultural transmission in the Pleistocene" in Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology UISPP 2023 Book of Abstracts (2023):90, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_5518 .