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Osseous Projectile Weaponry

Towards an Understanding of Pleistocene Cultural Variability

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Editors:
  1. Michelle C. Langley

    1. Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Australia

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  • Highlights the importance of including osseous projectile weaponry in investigations of Pleistocene cultural complexity
  • Sheds new light on how modern human cultures developed and changed
  • Maximizes readers insights into how osseous projectile weaponry impacted Pleistocene subsistence, social culture and technological knowledge
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology (VERT)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
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  2. Late Pleistocene Osseous Projectile Technology and Cultural Variability

    • Michelle C. Langley
    Pages 1-11

  3. Africa

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
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    2. Osseous Projectile Weaponry from Early to Late Middle Stone Age Africa

      • Lucinda Backwell, Francesco d’Errico
      Pages 15-29

    3. Bone Point Functional Diversity: A Cautionary Tale from Southern Africa

      • Justin Bradfield
      Pages 31-40

  4. Europe

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 41-41
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    2. Early Upper Paleolithic Osseous Points from Croatia

      • Ivor Karavanic´
      Pages 43-54

    3. Spanish Aurignacian Projectile Points: An Example of the First European Paleolithic Hunting Weapons in Osseous Materials

      • José-Miguel Tejero
      Pages 55-69

    4. Projectile Weaponry from the Aurignacian to the Gravettian of the Swabian Jura (Southwest Germany): Raw Materials, Manufacturing and Typology

      • Sibylle Wolf, Susanne C. Münzel, Krista Dotzel, Martina M. Barth, Nicholas J. Conard
      Pages 71-87

    5. Gravettian Projectile Points: Considerations About the Evolution of Osseous Hunting Weapons in France

      • Nejma Goutas
      Pages 89-107

    6. Upper Paleolithic Bone and Antler Projectiles in the Spanish Mediterranean Region: The Magdalenian Period

      • Valentín Villaverde, J. Emili Aura Tortosa, María Borao, Didac Roman
      Pages 109-130

    7. A Review of the Osseous Projectile Points from the Upper Paleolithic of Portugal

      • Marina Almeida Évora
      Pages 131-141

    8. Diversity and Evolution of Osseous Hunting Equipment During the Magdalenian (21,000–14,000 cal BP)

      • Michelle C. Langley, Jean-Marc Pétillon, Marianne Christensen
      Pages 143-159

    9. Osseous Projectile Points in the Magdalenian: ‘True’ Points Versus Pointed Waste-Products

      • François-Xavier Chauvière
      Pages 161-169

  5. Southeast Asia & Australia

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171
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    2. Bone Technology from Late Pleistocene Caves and Rockshelters of Sri Lanka

      • Nimal Perera, Patrick Roberts, Michael Petraglia
      Pages 173-188

    3. The Walandawe Tradition from Southeast Sulawesi and Osseous Artifact Traditions in Island Southeast Asia

      • Ken Aplin, Sue O’Connor, David Bulbeck, Philip J. Piper, Ben Marwick, Emma St Pierre et al.
      Pages 189-208

    4. Bone Projectile Points in Prehistoric Australia: Evidence from Archaeologically Recovered Implements, Ethnography, and Rock Art

      • Harry Allen, Michelle C. Langley, Paul S. C. Taçon
      Pages 209-218

  6. The Americas

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 219-219
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    2. A Review of Late Pleistocene North American Bone and Ivory Tools

      • Michael J. O’Brien, R. Lee Lyman, Briggs Buchanan, Mark Collard
      Pages 221-235
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Keywords

About this book

This volume presents the current state of knowledge on the osseous projectile weaponry that was produced by Pleistocene cultures across the globe. Through cross-cultural and temporal comparison of manufacturing methods, design, use methods, and associated technology, chapters in this volume identify and discuss differences and similarities between these Pleistocene cultures. The central research questions addressed in this volume include: (a) how did osseous weaponry technology develop and change through time and can these changes be tied to environmental and/or social influences?; (b) how did different Pleistocene cultures design and adapt their osseous weaponry technology to their environment as well as changes in that environment?; and (c) can we identify cultural interaction between neighboring groups through the analysis of osseous weapons technology — and if so — can we use these items to track the movement of peoples and/or ideas across the landscape? Through addressing these three central research questions, this volume creates an integrated understanding of osseous technology during a vital period in Modern Human cultural development which will be useful for students and advanced researchers alike. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Australia

    Michelle C. Langley

About the editor

Michelle is a Post Doctoral researcher in the School of Archaeology & Natural History at Australian National University. She received her PhD from the Institute of Archaeology at the The University of Oxford. 


Her current research is focused on the use of marine sourced raw materials for technology manufacture in early human communities. Her previous research has centered on investigating the maintenance (resharpening, repair, reuse, recycling) of Magdalenian barbed and unbarbed osseous projectile points; exploring the evidence for advanced and symbolic cognition in the Pleistocene archaeological records of Eurasia and Sahul (Greater Australia); and identifying the impact of taphonomic processes on these records. Issues surrounding the development and use of symbolic behaviour and social signalling technologies within Pleistocene Neanderthal and Modern Human populations remains the underlying focus of her research. 

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