石器研究中“操作链”的概念、内涵及应用

作为旧石器研究中十分重要的研究概念之一, 本文对"操作链"的发展史、理论内涵、实践方法等方面进行讨论, 认为"操作链"概念是一种动态的、综合的理论视角和研究体系, 强调了石器技术系统的两个行为过程(技术表现与思维运作)和一个互动关系(操作序列)。实践应用和术语对比, 为更好地运用"操作链"研究石器并复原史前技术体系提供了参考。文章还提出了"操作链"概念本身存在的问题, 希望能在今后的工作中得到完善。     

旧石器技术研究法之应用——以观音洞石核为例

中国旧石器材料数量众多,表现出一定的地域特色,在世界旧石器考古学领域占有重要地位.研究表明,类型学在解读与提取石器所包含的人类技术行为信息方面的能力有较大的局限性,而且中国旧石器时代的一些石制品的形态和组合与欧洲和近东常常难以直接对比,对器物的分类定名也存在交流上的困难.由法国学者开创发展起来的史前石器技术研究理论和方法在分析形态特征的同时,通过关注支配石器工业生产体系的技术机制和逻辑规则,对深入细致地探讨史前人类的认知特征和技术行为可以发挥重要作用,也能为石器工业甚至跨地域文化之间的比较提供基础.本文对贵州观音洞遗址的石核标本为例进行了技术分析,说明其在研究中国旧石器材料上的可行性,特别是信息提取上的优势.     

再议操作链

本文回顾了石器分析方法的发展与演变,追溯了类型学的诞生与发展过程,介绍了操作链的缘起,并对它所存在的问题及发展方向进行了讨论。对于从操作链研究中演化出的两大分支——技术心理(认知)学与技术经济学,文章主要介绍了技术经济学研究的内容与具体操作方法。作者认为旧石器考古学对石制品的研究经过多年的发展,已经包含了从宏观到微观的多个层面多种分析方法,任何一种孤立的方法都无法全面的将石制品所蕴含的人类信息提取,只有以关联的思维,以人类行为为研究目标,结合类型学、操作链、定量、定性、宏观、微观多种方法,整合不同研究方法所获得的成果,才能最大程度的获取古人类行为信息,这也正是操作链所秉持的整体和联系的理念。     

法国著名旧石器考古学家博伊达教授来华访问并作专题报告

2008年11月7日下午,来华进行学术访问的法国巴黎第十大学史前学教授、法国大学学院院士博伊达（Eric Booeda）在中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所作了一场题为《20世纪下半叶旧石器考古学研究方法的进展》的讲座。博伊达教授对20世纪下半叶旧石器考古学研究方法偏重于自然科学和人类学的两个方向进行了对比和阐述,主要以法国和美国的旧石器考古学研究为案例进行了说明,并具体分析了两种研究路线的长处与短处。     

数据科学在旧石器考古学中的应用

从考古学诞生之初,对抽象数据的解读与分析就一直伴随。对于旧石器考古学而言,“人工制品”成为了传达史前物质文化信息的主要载体,对人工制品中所提取的数据进行科学解读,成为了复原古代人类历史的关键步骤。数据科学在旧石器考古学中的应用具有三个主要因素,分别是数理统计学、计算机应用,以及旧石器考古学的基础数据与核心科学问题以及理论知识,即采用某种或多种逻辑将旧石器考古学领域的数据进行基于计算机平台的数理统计,并借助计算机语言对庞大的数据进行快速计算,从而帮助我们解释和重建史前人类社会。在目前的旧石器考古学领域,研究者们已经不再满足于对标本所进行的基础的描述性信息统计,对数据进行科学的处理并系统解读的诉求前所未有的强烈,这种诉求不断推动着学科的发展,深化了我们原本对史前社会的认识,甚至开拓出了新的研究领域,极大地推动了旧石器考古学的发展。本文就数据科学的概念、技术路线,以及在旧石器考古学中的应用历史与发展前景做详细介绍,希望通过系统性的梳理,使更多读者熟悉相关的研究手段与具体技术,使更多考古学者对数据科学的应用产生兴趣,从而应用于相关的项目研究中。     

中国旧石器原料开发策略的研究进展

石料开发与获取是石器生产操作链的重要环节,也是史前人地关系研究的重要内容,能够反映史前人类的资源开发策略、环境认知与适应能力、移动模式和交流贸易网络等。相比于旧大陆西侧,东亚地区的燧石和黑曜岩等优质石料产地相对稀缺,中国许多旧石器考古遗址的石器原料主要来自遗址周边质量欠佳的脉石英、石英岩和一般燧石等,而相关的旧石器时代石料开发策略系统研究也相对较少。本文对中国目前已开展的旧石器时代石料开发策略研究进行系统梳理分析和总结发现,从旧石器时代早期到晚期末段,中国境内史前人类的石料开发策略存在明显的时空变化,主要体现在石料类型组成、产地选取和开发方式三个方面,可能主要受到史前人类流动性变化、石器技术演变和环境变化等因素的共同影响。综合而言,开展旧石器时代遗址的石料开发策略研究,对于理解中国境内史前人类的行为模式和交流迁徙等有重要意义。     

张森水先生与他的《旧石器考古论文集》

张森水先生是著名考古学家,我国旧石器时代考古学领域第2代的杰出代表。他从1956年开始从事旧石器考古研究,近半个世纪来脚步未停,笔耕不辍;主持过一系列重大考古项目,在野外考察和材料发现方面成就斐然;发文著书成果丰硕,提出中国北方旧石器时代文化“区域渐进说”和中国旧石器时代存在“南北主工业二元结构,区域内若干文化变体”等理论,在阐释中国旧石器文化传统和人类技术与行为方面建立了自己的理论体系;在研究方法方面他最早将“区系类型”等概念引入我国旧石器考古学,倡导并力行实验考古学,推动石器使用痕迹分析,将统计分析方法较系统地应用到旧石器考古研究,促进了我国旧石器考古从定性到定量的转变和方法的成熟。     

纪念水洞沟遗址发现88周年暨首届水洞沟文化旅游节

1923年,法国古生物学家德日进、桑志华在宁夏水洞沟发现了旧石器文化遗址,通过发掘,出土了大量旧石器和动物化石,水洞沟因此而成为我国最早发现旧石器时代的古人类文化遗址,被誉为“中国史前考古的发祥地”。1988年,水洞沟遗址被国务院公布为“全国重点文物保护单位”。     

末次盛冰期环境恶化对中国北方旧石器文化的影响

末次冰期间冰段时,中国北方地区水热条件普遍较好,旧石器文化也比较发达。然而,进入末次盛冰期后,随着气温的普遍降低和降水量的明显减少,草原和沙漠带急速向南扩张,动物群也大举南迁。对于这种严酷的生存环境,中国北方的旧石器文化是如何响应的呢?本文以宁夏彭阳PY01-02,PY03和PY05等地点的地层剖面和石制品的研究为基础,首先提出彭阳地点群地层沉积相由河湖相沉积迅速转变为黄土堆积说明由末次冰期间冰段到末次盛冰期自然环境发生了剧烈变化。其次,通过对上述两种不同沉积相中出土石制品的大小、重量、原料以及技术上的比较说明随着环境的变化石制品本身也发生了相应的变化。下层河湖相堆积中出土的石制品粗大笨重,主要以各种石英岩为原料,与同期泾水上游旧石器文化的特征相近,应是当地文化特征的一种具体体现。上层马兰黄土中的石制品的普遍较小,主要以石英和燧石为原料,其中用燧石制成的细石器具有宁夏灵武水洞沟下文化层同类制品的特征,而用石英制成的小石器则同海原一带的史前文化有着较为密切的联系,据此作者推测这可能与史前人类在环境日益恶劣的情况下向南迁移有关。山西南部地区的下川和柿子滩遗址的地层和石制品证据亦表明,末次盛冰期前后该地区旧石器文化的明显差异可能也与末次盛冰期环境恶化时人类的迁徙有关。最后,中国北方地区考古遗址的空间分布变化为上述史前人类南迁的推测提供了有力证据。因此,作者认为末次冰期的环境恶化对中国北方旧石器文化的影响具有普遍性。     

旧石器考古类型学及其在中国的实践

对石制品等文化遗存的分类与类型学分析是旧石器时代考古的基础工作之一。旧石器考古类型学发端于法国,由博尔德奠定基础框架,其后多位学者针对不同地区和时段的材料提出有所区别的类型学方案。该体系在发展过程中其主观性和标准不统一等问题一直被质疑,一直在补充和完善,目前已在很大程度上转化为对遗址和材料做整理、分析和描述的工具。类型学对于遗址出土材料的整理、表述和信息简化、分析不可或缺,但相对于与人类生存和认知更近的石器技术、功能、原料利用等方面的研究,其重要性和受重视程度已大大降低。中国旧石器考古类型学融合了西方学术体系的一些元素并进行了本土化实践,发展出一定的区域特色。在操作链理念的指导和数字技术的支撑下,以技术解读、特征分析为目标与导向的技术类型学研究,应是解决旧石器时代考古中分类与类型学研究所遭遇的困难与问题的思路和方向。     

Chaînes opératoires and resource-exploitation strategies in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) nut cracking

We apply archaeological methods to extend our knowledge of chimpanzee material culture. The cha?ne opératoire conceptual framework, as introduced by ethnography, established technology as a phased process. Prehistoric archaeology adopted this concept to elucidate technological variability in tool-making procedures, based on knowledge of tool functions or subsistence patterns. We focused on the detection of operational sequences by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) when nut cracking with lithic implements at the sites of Bossou and Diecké, Guinea, West Africa. Thus, while it has recently been claimed that chimpanzees leave behind recognizable assemblages of stone hammers that can be morphologically distinguished from Oldowan hammers, this is the first study to focus specifically on the existence of operational sequences during the utilization of stone tools by wild chimpanzees. By combining primatological and archaeological methods and examining ecological areas inhabited by different chimpanzee groups, we sought technological variability and identified variables influencing regional diversity in tool typology and technology. We compared three case studies: (1) Bossou-direct recording of experimental nut-cracking sessions; (2) Bossou- direct and indirect monitoring of nut-cracking sites in the wild; (3) Diecké-indirect monitoring of nut-cracking sites in the wild. Results suggest that chimpanzees perform sequences of repeated tool transport and nut cracking. Data show discrimination of tool functions based on tool features. We identified the most technologically complex tool for nut cracking, which was composed of four stones. We found regional diversity in chimpanzee stone assemblages. Raw-material type and tool mobility constrain technological development in human and nonhuman primates. Spatial analysis of tool distribution indicates a pattern of resource-exploitation strategy, revealing affinities with Oldowan.     

关于“中国旧石器时代中期”的探讨

本文探讨了中国旧石器时代中期考古学研究的若干问题,包括研究历史、资料现状、年代学手段、石器技术的特点及发展变化,以及与西方旧石器时代考古学的历史渊源及现状比较。通过对“中国旧石器时代中期”这一术语的来源及其所涵盖的时限及文化内涵的演变,对这一时代界定所采取的原则和方法,以及中国旧石器时代文化特点的考察,作者认为“中国旧石器时代中期”不是一个严格和有意义的学术概念,因而中国旧石器时代考古学应摒弃传统的3期断代模式,而改为早、晚两期的2分法。文章并对中国旧石器时代早期延续时间的长久和晚期出现新的文化内容的动因进行了讨论。     

Examining the Causes and Consequences of Short-Term Behavioral Change during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu,South Africa

Sibudu in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) with its rich and high-resolution archaeological sequence provides an ideal case study to examine the causes and consequences of short-term variation in the behavior of modern humans during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). We present the results from a technological analysis of 11 stratified lithic assemblages which overlie the Howiesons Poort deposits and all date to ~58 ka. Based on technological and typological attributes, we conducted inter-assemblage comparisons to characterize the nature and tempo of cultural change in successive occupations. This work identified considerable short-term variation with clear temporal trends throughout the sequence, demonstrating that knappers at Sibudu varied their technology over short time spans. The lithic assemblages can be grouped into three cohesive units which differ from each other in the procurement of raw materials, the frequency in the methods of core reduction, the kind of blanks produced, and in the nature of tools the inhabitants of Sibudu made and used. These groups of assemblages represent different strategies of lithic technology, which build upon each other in a gradual, cumulative manner. We also identify a clear pattern of development toward what we have previously defined as the Sibudan cultural taxonomic unit. Contextualizing these results on larger geographical scales shows that the later phase of the MSA during MIS 3 in KwaZulu-Natal and southern Africa is one of dynamic cultural change rather than of stasis or stagnation as has at times been claimed. In combination with environmental, subsistence and contextual information, our high-resolution data on lithic technology suggest that short-term behavioral variability at Sibudu can be best explained by changes in technological organization and socio-economic dynamics instead of environmental forcing.     

Le site acheuléen d’Erg Tihodaïne : caractéristiques technologiques de l’industrie lithique du Pléistocène moyen (Sahara central,Algérie)

For more than a century, the Acheulian site of Erg Tihodaïne has been the subject of several research works that yielded an abundant lithic material from surface and from the morphostratigraphic unit related to the Middle Pleistocene. Despite the importance of the lithic industry, no overall technological analysis has been conducted so far. In this article, we provide the characteristics of a strategy of lithic production through technological analysis of three series, in an attempt to identify key technical behavior of the Acheulian hominids settled on the former lakeshore of Erg Tihodaïne.     

Variabilité et homogénéité des modes de débitage en Chine entre 300 000 et 50 000 ans

The position of lithic industries of Chinese Paleolithic in comparison with those of other regions in the world is always a controversial topic. The typological analysis has made Chinese prehistorians reveal some variability between lithic industries of different regions of China in terms of technical tradition and industrial structure. But this recognition, based upon some morphological characters of stone artifacts, failed to define systematically the modes of production that exist in each site. To answer these problematic some new methods need to be applied. So the lithic materials from 8 Chinese sites dated from 300 ka to 50 ka B.P. were selected and analyzed by means of lithic technological analysis and a new approach for analyzing the structures of cores. This paper presents principally the analytical results of modes of débitage and revealed that the modes of débitage during this period were characterized essentially by system C (“simple débitage”) and E (discoid) and that the concept Levallois was absent during this period in technical systems of lithic production in China. The Chinese lithic industries between 300 ka and 50 ka B.P. saw some homogeneity in the scale of the continent and remarkable difference from those of other regions in the world. So a stable, continuous but independent even isolated evolution in comparison with those of other regions was observed in this period. In addition, despite of apparent homogeneity, some variability exists also between these industries.     

楔形石核概念内涵与细石核分类初探

细石叶技术是晚更新世末-全新世早期在东北亚及北美地区流行的石制品生产技术,其中楔形石核技术的研究格外引人关注,在楔形石核的内涵和研究中,存在很大分歧.本文回顾楔形石核的研究历史,就目前楔形石核最为关键的分类标准和技术内涵问题,尝试运用操作链的理念,借鉴“概念型版”的思想,建立细石叶技术分类系统,揭示楔形石核技术的内涵....     

Early Evidence of Acheulean Settlement in Northwestern Europe - La Noira Site,a 700 000 Year-Old Occupation in the Center of France

The human settlement of Europe during Pleistocene times was sporadic and several stages have been recognized, both from paleaoanthropological and archaeological records. If the first phase of hominin occupation (as early as 1.4 Ma) seems mainly restricted to the southern part of the continent, the second phase, characterized by specific lithic tools (handaxes), is linked to Acheulean settlements and to the emergence of Homo heidelbergensis, the ancestor of Neanderthals. This phase reached northwestern Europe and is documented in numerous sites in Germany, Great Britain and northern France, generally after 600 ka.At la Noira (Brinay, Central France), the Middle Pleistocene alluvial formation of the Cher River covers an archaeological level associated with a slope deposit (diamicton). The lithic assemblage from this level includes Large Cutting Tools (LCTs), flakes and cores, associated with numerous millstone slabs. The lithic series is classified as Acheulean on the basis of both technological and typological analyses. Cryoturbation features indicate that the slope deposits and associated archaeological level were strongly frozen and disturbed after hominin occupation and before fluvial deposition. Eight sediment samples were dated by the electron spin resonance (ESR) method and the weighted average age obtained for the fluvial sands overlying the slope deposits is 665±55 ka. This age is older than previous chronological data placing the first European Acheulean assemblages north of 45^th parallel north at around 500 ka and modifies our current vision of the initial peopling of northern Europe. Acheulean settlements are older than previously assumed and the oldest evidences are not only located in southern Europe. La Noira is the oldest evidence of Acheulean presence in north-western Europe and attests to the possibility of pioneering phases of Acheulean settlement which would have taken place on a Mode 1-type substratum as early as 700 ka. The lithic assemblage from la Noira thus provides behavioral and technological data on early Acheulean occupation in Europe and contributes to our understanding of the diffusion of this tradition.     

Étude techno-économique du Moustérien de Pradayrol (Caniac-du-Causse,Lot) : entre mobilité des ressources lithiques et adaptation aux matériaux locaux,un exemple de gestion complémentaire des quartz et silex au Paléolithique moyen récent en Quercy

The Mousterian locus at Pradayrol (Caniac-du-Causse, Lot, France) produced an important lithic assemblage, composed primarily of quartz, alongside a varied flint component. Our technological analysis reveals the presence of several chaînes opératoires adapted to the morphology and mechanical properties of different raw materials. This is especially evident in the use of the bipolar on-anvil technique on quartz cobbles and discoidal flaking methods on both quartz and relatively local flints. Flint from the Périgord region provides evidence for a fragmented and ramified Levallois chaîne opératoire, different from that observed with local raw materials. These techno-economic features are similar to those documented for many late Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in the Quercy. The Neanderthal occupation of Pradayrol seems to reflect a balance between technical know-how and adaptations to the raw material constraints.