Flexible Stones. Ground Stone Tools from Franchthi Cave

Anna Stroulia

City: Bloomington & Indianapolis

Year: 2010

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Series: Excavations at Franchthi Cave, Greece, Fascicle 14

Description: Paperback, 242 p., 30 b&w illus., 2 maps, CD-Rom with 209 additional plates, 28x21 cm

Abstract

Despite their ubiquitous presence among prehistoric remains in Greece, ground stone tools have yet to attract the same kind of attention as have other categories of archaeological material, such as pottery or lithics. As a consequence of this oversight the potential for this material to illuminate aspects of prehistoric life remains unexplored. Flexible Stones aims to fill in the gaps by providing a detailed analysis of the material discovered during the excavations at Franchthi Cave, Peloponnese, Greece. The Franchthi material consists of approximately 500 tools, the raw material used for their manufacture, as well as the byproducts of such manufacture. Most of this collection comes from the Neolithic component of the site—including a small number of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cases—with a large number of the studied tools indicating multiple uses. The author sees the multifunctional character of these tools not so much as a response to an environmental constraint, but rather as a conscious choice that reflects a flexible attitude of tool makers and users toward tools and raw materials.

Contents

Acknowledgments [xiv]

Chapter One: Introduction [1]

Introduction to the site and assemblage [1]
Classification [3]
Describing the material [4]
Why not a ground stone tool stratigraphy? [7]
Tool names [9]
Structure of the study [9]
Abbreviations used in the text [10]

Chapter Two: The Pre-Neolithic Material [13]

Introduction [13]
The Palaeolithic period [13]
The Mesolithic period [17]
Possible Pre-Neolithic specimens [24]

Chapter Three: The Neolithic Material (1) [27]

Introduction to the Neolithic period [27]
Passive tools [30]
Introduction [30]
1. Passive open tools (Popen) [30]
2. Passive tools with cavity (Pcav) [54]
3. Passive miscellanea (Pmisc) [56]

Chapter Four: The Neolithic Material (2) [61]

Active tools [61]
Introduction [61]
1. Active cutting edge tools (Acut) [61]
2. Active discoidal tools (Adisc) [79]
3. Active rectangular tools (Arect) [85]
4. Active square or circular tools (Asquare-circ) [90]
5. Active tools used with ends (Aend) [94]
6. Active globular tools (Aglobe) [98]
7. Active miscellanea (Amisc) [105]
Epilogue [121]

Chapter Five: Summary and Conclusions [125]

Raw material [126]
Manufacture [127]
Use and discard [128]
Chronological distribution [130]
Spatial Distribution [132]

References [135]
Appendixes [149]
Appendix A [149]
Appendix B [159]
Appendix C [165]
Figures [175]
Index [213]
Plates (CD-ROM)