Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change
Abstract Lithic artefacts provide the principal means to study cultural change in the deep human past. Tools and cores have been the focus of much prior research based on their perceived information content and cultural relevance. Unretouched flakes rarely attract comparable attention in archaeologi...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85399-z |
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| author | Manuel Will Hannes Rathmann |
| author_facet | Manuel Will Hannes Rathmann |
| author_sort | Manuel Will |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Lithic artefacts provide the principal means to study cultural change in the deep human past. Tools and cores have been the focus of much prior research based on their perceived information content and cultural relevance. Unretouched flakes rarely attract comparable attention in archaeological studies, despite being the most abundant assemblage elements and featuring prominently in ethnographic and experimental work. Here, we examine the potential of flake morphology for tracing cultural change utilising 4,512 flakes, each characterised by 16 standard mixed-scale attributes, from a well-documented cultural sequence at the Middle Stone Age site of Sibhudu, South Africa. We quantified multivariate similarities among flakes using FLEXDIST, a highly versatile method capable of handling mixed, correlated, incomplete, and high-dimensional data. Our findings reveal a significant gradual change in flake morphology that aligns with the documented cultural succession at Sibhudu. Furthermore, our analysis provides new insights into the patterning of variability throughout the studied sequence. The demonstrated potential of flakes to track cultural change opens up additional avenues for comparative research due to their ubiquity, the availability of commonly recorded attributes, and especially in the absence of cores or tools. FLEXDIST, with its versatile applicability to complex lithic datasets, holds particular promise in this regard. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f8aaa4b0d4964967ad79985378a5ddd1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-f8aaa4b0d4964967ad79985378a5ddd12025-01-12T12:14:59ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-85399-zExploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural changeManuel Will0Hannes Rathmann1Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of TübingenSenckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of TübingenAbstract Lithic artefacts provide the principal means to study cultural change in the deep human past. Tools and cores have been the focus of much prior research based on their perceived information content and cultural relevance. Unretouched flakes rarely attract comparable attention in archaeological studies, despite being the most abundant assemblage elements and featuring prominently in ethnographic and experimental work. Here, we examine the potential of flake morphology for tracing cultural change utilising 4,512 flakes, each characterised by 16 standard mixed-scale attributes, from a well-documented cultural sequence at the Middle Stone Age site of Sibhudu, South Africa. We quantified multivariate similarities among flakes using FLEXDIST, a highly versatile method capable of handling mixed, correlated, incomplete, and high-dimensional data. Our findings reveal a significant gradual change in flake morphology that aligns with the documented cultural succession at Sibhudu. Furthermore, our analysis provides new insights into the patterning of variability throughout the studied sequence. The demonstrated potential of flakes to track cultural change opens up additional avenues for comparative research due to their ubiquity, the availability of commonly recorded attributes, and especially in the absence of cores or tools. FLEXDIST, with its versatile applicability to complex lithic datasets, holds particular promise in this regard.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85399-zStone toolsPalaeolithicStone AgeMultivariate statisticsOpen scienceMethod development |
| spellingShingle | Manuel Will Hannes Rathmann Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change Scientific Reports Stone tools Palaeolithic Stone Age Multivariate statistics Open science Method development |
| title | Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change |
| title_full | Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change |
| title_short | Exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change |
| title_sort | exploring the utility of unretouched lithic flakes as markers of cultural change |
| topic | Stone tools Palaeolithic Stone Age Multivariate statistics Open science Method development |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85399-z |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT manuelwill exploringtheutilityofunretouchedlithicflakesasmarkersofculturalchange AT hannesrathmann exploringtheutilityofunretouchedlithicflakesasmarkersofculturalchange |