Abstract
AbstractThe pressure knapping technique develops circa 25,000 cal BP in Northeast Asia and excels at producing highly standardized microblades. Microblade pressure knapping spreads throughout most of Northeast Asia up to the Russian Arctic, and Alaska, in areas where the human presence was unknown. Swan Point CZ4b is the earliest uncontested evidence of human occupation of Alaska, at around 14,000 cal BP. It yields a pressure microblade component produced with the Yubetsu method, which is widespread in Northeast Asia during the Late Glacial period. Through the techno-functional analysis of 634 lithic pieces from this site, this study seeks to identify the techno-economical purposes for which the Yubetsu method was implemented. Data show that the microblade production system is related to an economy based on the planning of future needs, which is visible through blanks standardization, their overproduction, their functional versatility, and the segmentation of part of the chaîne opératoire. This expresses the efficiency and economic value of the microblade production system. The flexible use of pressure microblades identified at Swan Point CZ4b is also found in Japan, Korea, Kamchatka, and the North Baikal region, suggesting that their modes of use accompany the spread of early microblade pressure knapping over an immense territory across Beringia.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Reference94 articles.
1. Ethnographic and Archaeological Investigations of Alpine Ice Patches in Southwest Yukon, Canada
2. A functional analysis of the LGM microblade assemblage in Hokkaido, northern Japan: A case study of Kashiwadai 1
3. Gauvrit Roux, Eugénie . 2019. Comportements techniques au Magdalénien moyen ancien . Approche techno-fonctionnelle de l'industrie lithique de deux gisements du Centre-Ouest de la France: La Marche (Vienne) et la Garenne (Indre). PhD dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France.
4. A Use-Wear Analysis of the Late Glacial Microblade Assemblage from Hokkaido, Northern Japan: A Case Study Based on the Yoshiizawa Site;Iwase;Japanese Journal of Archaeology,2016
5. The Taiga Period: Holocene Archaeology of the Northern Boreal Forest, Alaska;Holmes;Alaska Journal of Anthropology,2008