Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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The production of bifacial tools is one of the main technological strategies practiced throughout both the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of northwestern Europe (MIS 15 – 3; ca. 600-35 ka BP)....Show moreThe production of bifacial tools is one of the main technological strategies practiced throughout both the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of northwestern Europe (MIS 15 – 3; ca. 600-35 ka BP). Within the broad definition of this tool category, there exist wide variation in morphological and technological properties. Additionally, the occurrence of particular biface types seems to vary, both chronologically, as well as geographically. Nowadays, many archaeologists focus on the steering mechanisms behind the observed variations and in doing so apply different methodologies. The bifacial objects used in this thesis to address these broader theoretical questions come from the southern Netherlands, a thus far marginally explored area when it comes to Palaeolithic archaeology. Published data on bifaces is combined with object registrations in the national database (ARCHIS) and primary descriptions of bifacial objects by the author to form a comprehensive dataset of 122 bifacial objects in total. Primarily, these objects are typologically classified with the help of a synthesized methodological framework that combines the main northwestern European typological traditions. The outcome of this analysis shows that the overall typological variation in bifacial objects from the southern Netherlands is more diverse than currently envisaged, which has direct consequences for the conceptualization of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the research area. Consecutively, hypotheses for the observed variations in bifacial tool morphology are explored. Despite the limited chronostratigraphic information available for basically all objects, the combined analysis of associated geological formations, their age implications, and the distribution of particular tool types throughout norhtwestern Europe suggests that chronological differentiation in bifacial tool morphology occurs in the research area. At the same time, this explanation does not seem to fully explain the overall variation. Therefore, the technological aspects of morphological variation are explored as well. Scar pattern analysis is performed on four bifaces and shows that these all display long and extended artefact biographies during which likely different phases of use, re-use and recycling occurred. Based on the technological properties of the overall dataset it is proposed that economizing behaviours, in combination with different functional desires, have strongly affected biface morphology in the research area. The final hypothesis explaining variation is that of socio-cultural interactions. A re-analysis of bifacial tools from Sint Geertruid, previously used in such models by other researchers, in combination with their depositional context shows that the current dataset is unsuited for contributing to supra-regional contemporaneous cultural interactions between Neanderthal groups. This examination of the bifacial record of the southern Netherlands has shown that this material has higher potential for understanding hominin occupation and behaviour in this particular region than is currently being exploited. Finally, some suggestions for how to come to such understandings are proposed.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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The central question of this thesis is how Neanderthals could have successfully hunted and killed medium- and large sized mammals in general, and specifically at nine Western European Middle...Show moreThe central question of this thesis is how Neanderthals could have successfully hunted and killed medium- and large sized mammals in general, and specifically at nine Western European Middle Palaeolithic “megasites”. Investigation of archaeological records is often hampered by a lack of sufficient data, the palimpsest structure of assemblages, imprecise dating and equifinality, which explains the frequent use of additional lines of evidence, amongst which the use of ethnographic studies. For this thesis three data sets have been used based on two types of information; archaeological data and an ethnographic study of modern hunters hunting behaviour. Interpreting archaeological data about Neanderthals by comparison with ethnographic data regarding modern hunters is a controversial approach, and a justification of the use of analogy in this thesis was needed (see chapter 4.3). These investigations resulted in the conclusion that Neanderthals probably hunted in groups and mastered three (drive, ambush without drive and approach) of the five hunting methods that are used by modern foragers when hunting large animals with simple weapons. There are strong indications that Neanderthals exploited the presence of water (river, lake or pond) and specific landscapes for hunting purposes. It has been demonstrated that Neanderthals practiced species and individual prey selection prior to and during hunting and killing and selected specific body parts during butchering activities. No direct archaeological evidence of killing strategies of Neanderthals has been found. It is argued – using analogy - that Neanderthals used killing strategies similar to those of the modern spear hunters of large game. The nine Middle Palaeolithic megasites in Western Europe that have been studied probably formed as a result of repeated killing events. A model for the identification of hunting methods developed in this thesis indicates that at these sites drives were probably the most frequently used hunting method, closely followed by the method of ambush without drive. For the method of “approaching” substantially fewer indications have been found.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
The Neumark-Nord 2 site is a shallow sedimentary basin securely dated to the Eemian interglacial and located near Leipzig (Sachsen-Anhalt), Germany. Neumark-Nord 2 is a complex site with an...Show moreThe Neumark-Nord 2 site is a shallow sedimentary basin securely dated to the Eemian interglacial and located near Leipzig (Sachsen-Anhalt), Germany. Neumark-Nord 2 is a complex site with an extensive, continuous stratigraphy and multiple find horizons comprising a wealth in faunal remains and lithic artefacts. It is an important archaeological site that provides solid evidence for the presence of Neanderthals during the Eemian interglacial in this area. The spatial analyses conducted for this Research Master’s thesis shows that the lithic artefacts dating to the Eemian interglacial appear within four distinct ‘bands’ across the geological layers and layer groups NN 2/1 B, NN 2/1 C, NN 2/2 B and NN 2/2 C. All artefact typology classes are present throughout these lithic artefact horizons and there is no strong pattern to their distribution across or within these geological layers. Only tentative evidence was found that the lithic artefacts may be associated with the more friable, in the field designated as ‘sandier’, geological layers, which themselves may be the result of the transgression-regression cycles of the sedimentary basin’s growing and receding shores. However, more in depth research into the exact dimensions and potential post-depositional displacement of the lithic artefacts is necessary to allow a definitive conclusion. The lithic artefact horizons comprise the first 3.000 years of the Eemian interglacial which largely constitutes the early temperate Corylus phase (Zone IV). Neanderthals were thus present well into the interglacial, possibly at separate occasions, at this locality.Show less
