Flint Daggers, Copper Daggers, and Technological Innovation in Late Neolithic Scandinavia

Citation: Sophie Me´ry et al. (2007) Flint Daggers, Copper Daggers, and Technological Innovation in Late Neolithic Scandinavia. Journal of Archaeological Science 34 1098-1116 (RSS)
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Summary

Context

The research focuses on the pottery workshop of Nausharo site, which is located at province of Baluchistan in Pakistan and dates to around 2500-2400B.C., corresponds to the first two phases of the Indus Civilization. Both knapped stone tools and unbaked sherds were found in the workshop site, which indicates that the blades might be associated with the pottery manufacture. This is a critical issue, because the knapped flint tools had never been involved in pottery production. Therefore, in order to figure out the function of blades, the author examined the blades by microwear analysis.

Methods and Materials

There are 10 almost complete blades and one proximal fragment were found in this site. The characteristics, such as the pressure technique and faceted platforms, represent the Indus blade production. The raw material of blades is from the Rohri Hills, which is located at the edge of the Indus, about 220km south-east Nausharo site. 7 blades from the workshop site were examined by conducting microwear analysis through scanning electron microscope (SEM) and comparing with traces of a series of experimental knapping blades. The author also conducted the optical reflected-light microscope at magnification of 100* and 200* if traces were not observed by SEM. In order to figure out the function of blades, the author compared the blades in Nausharo site with experimental blades which involved in harvesting or processing of silica-rich plants, preparing animal skins, shaping soft stones, and using on clay. For the clay experimental blades, three blades were used for periods ranged between 20 minutes to 3 hours. The edges of blades were pressed 2 to 3 centimeters against the clay which was on a turning wheel.

Results

For the function of blades, the microwear analysis shows that these blades have similar features, for example, the usewear usually appear on curved distal tips to proximal end of both dorsal ridges and blade edges, and there are comet-like dark depressions which flow in a transversal direction from the edge or ridge. These features on blades including distribution of glossed usewear, comet-shaped grooves, and flowing and undulated polish indicate they were used to trim the clay on a turning wheel by comparing to the traces of the experimental assemblages. Also, the long, and thin shavings with parallel ridges found at workshop site provided another evidence of an instrument with long and regular rotation. In addition, from the SEM and X-ray analysis, the author found some small nodules on the butts of flint blades, which consisted of high proportions of the copper, zinc, and lead, which indicates the metal point was used for knapping activity including pressure technique and pressure retouch. About the pottery source, they confirm that there is only a single type of clay in the workshop site, the sandy marl, which is also the composition of domestic potteries from other areas of Nausharo site. Based on these evidence, the author thinks that the existence of specialized, highly skilled craftsman in this site.

Theoretical and Practical Relevance

In this paper, the author discussed that the blades show the characteristics of a distinctive Indus blade production based on their technique. This kind of blades can be viewed as an boundary object as Frieman (2012) mentioned, which indicates this material serves as an bridge for social boundaries, allowing the people with different backgrounds to receive similar values by exchange network.

The author studied the function of blades found in a potteries workshop by conducting microwear analysis. The methodology and process of analysis are rational. I think it is convincing that he made some experimental blades for comparison with the blades in this site, which both proved that the blades were used for clay and excluded the other possibilities. However, there is not much information about the different experimental assemblages except clay one, for example, the sample size. If the author can mention more about these experiments, the methodology of this research will be clearer.