“15 Minutes of Fame”: Exploring the temporal dimension of Middle Pleistocene lithic technology

This paper addresses the spatial and temporal dimensions of knapping routines through analysis of refit data. Many reconstructions of lithic tool production utilising refit data concentrate upon 'how' a piece of stone is taken apart, and less often consider the 'when' and 'where'. Lower Palaeolithic artefacts are frequently viewed as belonging to simplistic technical systems in which tools were made and used as and when required, showing little temporal depth. Modern knappers can replicate the components of the Acheulean toolkit, such as a biface, in around 15 minutes. The predominant use of local raw materials and the relatively simple reduction sequences observed on many Middle Pleistocene sites has given rise to the view that Acheulean hominins possessed an immediate approach to technology, and that artefacts did not stay in the technological system very long. In contrast, other researchers have stressed the increased planning abilities of hominins in relation to their stone tool-making and using routines. Increased planning abilities are often cited as a diagnostic feature of modern human cognition. As such, tracing the emergence of these abilities is an important avenue of research in human evolution. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the process of lithic production was organised on several Middle Pleistocene sites in northwest Europe. By comparing refitting sequences from several primary context sites, the different stages of reduction present at these locations can be reconstructed. Since refit sets record the work carried out in one place and time by an individual, they can be used to reconstruct the spatial and temporal dimension of these past technological activities. The analysis shows fragmentation of reduction sequences was a common occurrence, suggesting a more dynamic approach to tool-making and using activities than has previously been recognised. The analysis provides a description of these artefact dynamics, and discusses the underlying cognitive mechanisms of this behaviour.