Continuities in stone flaking technology at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia

Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526

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Continuities in stone flaking technology at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia M.W. Moore a, *, T. Sutikna b, Jatmiko b, M.J. Morwood a, c, A. Brumm d a

Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, School of Human and Environmental Studies, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia Indonesian Centre for Archaeology, Jl. Raya Condet Pejaten No. 4, Jakarta 12001, Indonesia c GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia d McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK b

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 18 January 2008 Accepted 14 October 2008

This study examines trends in stone tool reduction technology at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia, where excavations have revealed a stratified artifact sequence spanning 95 k.yr. The reduction sequence practiced throughout the Pleistocene was straightforward and unchanging. Large flakes were produced offsite and carried into the cave where they were reduced centripetally and bifacially by four techniques: freehand, burination, truncation, and bipolar. The locus of technological complexity at Liang Bua was not in knapping products, but in the way techniques were integrated. This reduction sequence persisted across the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary with a minor shift favoring unifacial flaking after 11 ka. Other stone-related changes occurred at the same time, including the first appearance of edge-glossed flakes, a change in raw material selection, and more frequent fire-induced damage to stone artifacts. Later in the Holocene, technological complexity was generated by ‘‘adding-on’’ rectangular-sectioned stone adzes to the reduction sequence. The Pleistocene pattern is directly associated with Homo floresiensis skeletal remains and the Holocene changes correlate with the appearance of Homo sapiens. The one reduction sequence continues across this hominin replacement. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Liang Bua Homo floresiensis Flores Stone tools Reduction sequence Modern human behavior

Introduction Excavations at Liang Bua, a limestone cave in West Flores, Indonesia, have yielded a well-dated archaeological sequence which spans some 95 k.yr. and two hominin species: Homo floresiensis from 95 ka to 17 ka and Homo sapiens from 11 ka to the present (Brown et al., 2004; Morwood et al., 2004, 2005). The Liang Bua archaeological sequence offers an unparalleled opportunity to examine long-term trends in stone artifact production in the context of hominin evolution and behavior in Southeast Asia (Moore, 2005). Recent studies have emphasized continuities in Southeast Asian stone reduction technology. For example, similar patterns of stone procurementdwith differentially distributed large-sized and small-sized reduction productsdpersisted from the Pleistocene through the Holocene (Moore and Brumm, 2007). Knapping techniques and reduction sequences also remained remarkably similar from Pleistocene sites occupied by non-modern hominins (e.g., Brumm et al., 2006) to Holocene sites created by H. sapiens (Bellwood, 1997; Moore, 2005:695–700). This undermines the

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.W. Moore). 0047-2484/$ – see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.10.006

common assumption that large-sized ‘‘core tool’’ assemblages were made by early hominins (e.g., Homo erectus) while small-sized ‘‘flake tool’’ assemblages were made by H. sapiens (Moore and Brumm, 2007). Some authors see technological change across hominin species as inevitable (e.g., Hublin, 2000; Mellars, 2005), and models explaining the modern human colonization of Southeast Asia are premised on abrupt industrial change (e.g., Foley and Lahr, 1997, 2003; Mellars, 2006), but the empirical evidence in Southeast Asia indicates technological continuity (Moore and Brumm, 2007). The Liang Bua sequence reflects this regional pattern; little variation occurs in the stone reduction sequence across the period of cave occupation. Other stone-related changes occur in the early Holocene, ca. 11 ka, including a shift in preferred knapping material, increased use of fire in areas where stone tools were made and/or used, and the abrupt appearance of flakes with prominent edgegloss. A workshop for manufacturing Neolithic rectangularsectioned stone adzes was discovered near Liang Bua, but no evidence for adze manufacture occurs in deposits inside the cave. Adze manufacture was an independent technological ‘‘add-on’’ to the far-simpler Liang Bua reduction sequence. The Holocene variations correlate with modern H. sapiens skeletal remains, but the same reduction sequence is associated with both H. floresiensis and H. sapiens.

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Table 1 Sedimentary units at Liang Bua (after Roberts et al., 2009; Westaway et al., 2009). Unit

Age (ka)

Description

9a 8 7a

w11–3 w16–12 w17–19

6 5 4a

w50–40 w55–50 w74–61

3a 2a

w100–95 w130–100

1

w190–130

Horizontal beds of clayey silts. The uneven cave floor was leveled by silt deposition. Modern H. sapiens burials occur in this deposit. Reworked volcanic tephras and lenses of black volcanic sands. Pool and pool-edge deposits containing Homo floresiensis remains, including the holotype, LB1. Results of the 2008 field season indicate that H. floresiensis predates 17 ka. Reworked conglomerate deposited into a newly formed pool by the east wall. Channel deposits by the cave’s east wall. Channel infilling and scouring occurred periodically. Layers of silty clay with interbedded and capping flowstones, dense concentrations of stone artifacts, and H. floresiensis skeletal remains (Morwood and Jungers, 2009: Table 1). The principal occupation surface was near the center of the cave and elevated some six m above the channel floor. Blocks of roof collapse and brown clay infilling the channel. Basal cave sediments eroded from the conglomerate deposits by water entering via sinkholes. A lake filled part of the cave chamber during this period but drained by 100 ka, creating a channel. Stone artifacts were recovered from the uppermost part of this unit, at or near the contact with Unit 3, and probably date close to 100 ka. Conglomerate deposit adhering to the walls of the cave. Stone artifacts were recovered from this unit (Morwood et al., 2004:1098; Westaway et al., 2007).

a

The analytical sample includes artifacts from these stratigraphic units.

Methodology

dataset. The approach of the study was to reconstruct stone tool reduction sequences by stratigraphic unit and to track them across the hominin replacement event. A ‘reduction sequence’ is ‘‘the culturally and physically patterned way that people reduced pieces of stone to useful tools’’ (Shott, 2003:95–96). Reconstructing the reduction sequence involved matching Liang Bua artifacts to products and attributes that correlate with known knapping

There are nine main stratigraphic divisions, or ‘‘units,’’ at Liang Bua (Westaway et al., 2009) (Table 1). For this study we used 11,667 artifacts drawn from Units 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 (Table 2, Supplementary Table 1). This subsumes the original sample (Moore, 2005, 2007; Brumm et al., 2006; Moore and Brumm, 2007, 2009) within a larger Table 2 Liang Bua Stone Artifacts by Stratigraphic Unit. Artifact Type

Stratigraphic Unit 9

7

Contact Removal Flake Early Reduction Flake Redirecting Flake Uniface Retouching Flake Truncation Flake Redirecting/Contact Removal Flake Eraillure Flakea Reflex Flakea Unidentified Flake Assayed Cobble Flake Blank Core Radial Core Multiplatform Core Single Platform Core Unidentified Core Bipolar Artifact Retouched Contact Removal Flake Retouched Early Reduction Flake Retouched Redirecting Flake Retouched Truncation Flake Retouched Slab Truncated Early Reduction Flake Truncated Redirecting Flake Early Reduction Flake with edge polish Flake Blank Core with edge polish Radial Core with edge polish Redirecting Flake with edge polish Retouched Early Reduction Flake with edge polish Retouched Redirecting Flake with edge polish Potlid Heat Fracture Fragment Anvil Anvil/Hammerstone Hammerstone Hammerstone Spall Multiplatform Core/Hammerstone Radial Core/Hammerstone

20 1980 158 31 46 2 12 4 378 9 40 24 27 12 3 7

Total

3255

a

64 2 1 9 18 2 1 4 3 1 58 317 3 2 11 4 1 1

141 26 1 9

21 7 2 2

6

1

4

3

47 5088 538 124 274 1 22 2 446 9 178 100 59 4 5 74 1 166 6 2

8 648 58 23 30 1 2

2 1 67 10 2 3

Total

36

4

13 13 3 1 1 4

9 2

14

2

60 2

8 1

2 13 2 4 1

1

217

7230

1

864

101

76 7924 790 181 362 4 36 6 885 18 247 141 91 17 9 85 1 252 8 2 1 78 3 18 2 1 4 3 1 60 330 5 2 16 4 3 1 11667

These are ‘spin-off’ flakesduncontrolled byproducts of stone flaking of little technological significance. For eraillures see Crabtree (1972:60–62) and Faulkner (1974). For reflex flakes see Sollberger (1986:103) and Cotterell and Kamminga (1987:703).

Figure 1. Contact removal flakes from Units 9 (A, B), 2 (C), and 4 (D–H). A contact removal flake was struck from the ventral surface of a larger flake, removing part of the larger flake’s platform, ring crack, and bulb of percussion. The larger flake’s ring crack is marked by a dot. The arrows show the percussion axis of the contact removal flakes (convention adapted from Inizan et al., 1999:122). Artifact F is retouched along the dotted lines. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 2. Flake blank cores from Unit 4. Contact removal flakes were struck from the scars marked by arrows. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

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Figure 3. Redirecting flakes from Units 9 (A, B) and 4 (C, D). A redirecting flake removed a core’s former platform edge. Scars from the former platform edge are marked by arrows. Small arrows on the artifact shown in Fig. 3B indicate embedded cones from prior unsuccessful strikes on the former platform surface. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

gestures and techniques. This knowledge derives from ethnographic observations of knapping and modern experiments in fracture mechanics and stone toolmaking (Moore, 2005:29–84). Analytical methods for identifying these matches include artifact and attribute classification, reconstruction of flake scar overlap sequences, and the conjoining of sequentially removed flakes (Moore, 2005:85–115). Artifact classification Flaked-stone artifacts were divided into flakes and ‘formed objects’, or stones with flakes removed from them. Flakes Flakes were subdivided into a number of types that correlate with knapping technique. ‘Early reduction flakes’dcalled ‘macroflakes’ by Flenniken and White (1985) and ‘interior’ or ‘decortication’ flakes by Flenniken and Stanfill (1980)dare a byproduct of core reduction by freehand hard-hammer percussion. Early reduction flakes dominate the Liang Bua flake assemblage. A ‘contact removal flake’ was struck from the ventral surface of a larger flake and retained part of the larger flake’s platform, ring crack, and bulb of percussion (Figs. 1 and 2). ‘Redirecting flakes’ were produced when core reduction was ‘‘re-directed’’ to a new platform (McCarthy, 1976:22). They retained previous platform features on their dorsal surface (Fig. 3). ‘Uniface retouching flakes’ were struck from the dorsal surfaces of flakes by freehand blows. Their platforms are part of the parent flake’s ventral surface. Exterior platform angles usually measure between 50 –70 , reflecting the edge-angle of the retouched flake. ‘Truncated flakes’ and ‘truncation flakes’ were made by placing flakes flat on an anvil

and breaking them with a hammerstone. The truncated flake (a type of formed object) retains the flake blank’s platform and ring crack; the other fragments are truncation flakes (Fig. 4A). ‘Potlids’ are plano-convex flakes detached when stone was heated (Fig. 5). ‘Heat-fracture fragments’ are angular or cuboidal pieces with crenelated and sugary surfaces. ‘Hammerstone spalls’ were detached from a cobble hammerstone during use. ‘Unidentified flakes’ includes technologically ambiguous flakes or flake fragments. Formed objects Modified flakes were designated as ‘flake blank cores’ (Fig. 6) if they have mostly invasive negative scars extending at least half-way to the center of the face (after Odell, 2004:74), or as ‘retouched flakes’ (Fig. 7) if non-invasive scars predominate. The dichotomy is blurred, however, because invasive and non-invasive scars sometimes occur together. ‘Radial cores’, like flake blank cores, were knapped bifacially and centripetally in relation to a single reduction plane (Fig. 8). Some radial cores may have been made on flakes (they are flake blank cores) but they no longer retain the identifying characteristics. A ‘multiplatform core’ was knapped in relation to more than one reduction plane, creating two or more platform surfaces (Fig. 9). A ‘single platform core’ is a cobble or angular fragment knapped unifacially in relation to a single reduction plane. ‘Bipolar artifacts’ are the byproducts of holding a flake on an anvil edge-on and striking the uppermost edge (Figs. 4B and 10). This contrasts with truncating, where a core was placed flat on an anvil and the blow was delivered to the face (Fig. 4A). Bipolar cores and flakes are combined into the one category. A cobble with three or fewer flake scars is ‘assayed.’ ‘Unidentified core’ includes

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Attribute recording Attributes occur across artifact types and were recorded independently from typological classification. Flakes were often struck from the ventral surfaces of flake blanks at Liang Bua. A ‘detachment scar’ is a part of this ventral surface occurring on a flake as a dorsal facet (Fig. 13). Platform types recorded on flakes include ‘cortical’ (the ring crack occurs on a cortical surface), ‘single facet’ (the ring crack occurs on a negative flake scar), ‘dihedral’ (the ring crack occurs on an arris between two flake scars), and ‘multifacet’ (the ring crack zone is marked by more than two flake scars). Detachment scars occurring on platforms were classified as single facet. Potlid scars and crenellation cracks were recorded as evidence for burning (e.g., Fig. 5B and 5D). ‘Polish’ consists of a discrete, bright patch of silica deposition on the edge of an artifact (Sinha and Glover, 1983/1984). Polish was visible without magnification (Fig. 14). A number of metrical attributes, described below, were recorded to allow certain comparisons. Flake scar analysis Sequences of flake removals from cores can be determined by conjoin studies, and several conjoin sets were reconstructed at Liang Bua. However, most data on flake removal sequences were generated through ‘flake scar analysis.’ The order of scar overlap can be determined by differences in scar convexity, by the nature and orientation of tiny step fractures on scar edges, and by the interruption of linear striae and propagation ripples (Moore, 2005:107–112). ‘Quadrant analysis,’ described below, is a method for recording and manipulating the results of flake scar analysis. Flake scars were classified into three types: ‘freehand’ scars, created by the freehand reduction technique; ‘truncation’ scars, created by the truncation technique; and ‘burin’ scars, created by freehand blows oriented down the edge of a modified flake or radial core. Reduction sequence, stratigraphic Unit 4, ca. 74–61 ka The reduction sequence for artifacts from Unit 4 is shown in Fig. 15. Blank procurement

Figure 4. Schematic representations of the truncation technique (A) and the bipolar technique (B). In the truncation technique, blows were delivered to the face of a flake blank; in the bipolar technique, blows were delivered to the edge.

technologically ambiguous formed objects. ‘Anvils’ are cobbles with pitted wear facets on one or both faces (Fig. 11) and ‘hammerstones’ are cobbles with pitted wear facets on the ends or periphery (Fig. 12).

Knappers reduced water-rolled cobbles from the local riverbed, terraces, and conglomerates. The closest extensive cobble source is the Wae Racang River, presently located about 200 m to the north and 30 m below the level of the cave. Selected materials consist mainly (82.7%) of fine- to medium-grained silicified tuff deposited by Late Miocene-Early Pliocene submarine volcanic eruptions that created the local tuff-bearing clastic limestone (Koesoemadinata et al., 1994). A distinctive fine-grained marine chert was gathered mainly from river gravels but sometimes from an exposure near bedrock, judging from a chalky cortex occurring on a few artifacts. The chert category includes a small number of artifacts made from cobbles of chalcedony, jasper, and opal. The sizes of the flake scars on the Liang Bua cores indicate that blanks for the relatively large modified flakes were usually made outside the cave, probably at the stone source, whereas smaller, unmodified flakes that dominate the assemblage were generally knapped on-site from the imported blanks (Fig. 16). In absolute terms, imported flake blanks were small (Table 3). Flake types chosen for modification included early reduction, redirecting, truncation, and contact removal (Table 2). The modified contact removal flakes are relatively large (Fig. 1F and 6H) and they

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Figure 5. Potlid flakes and scars on artifacts from Units 9 (A–C) and 4 (D). Artifacts in Fig. 5A and 5C are potlid flakes that conjoin to potlid scars on the ventral face of the retouched flake in Fig. 5B (arrows). The potlid in Fig. 5C removed the retouched flake’s ring crack and part of the bulb of percussion. The early reduction flake in Fig. 5D is tinted red and has small potlid scars on the bulb of percussion. The artifact was recovered 5.2 m below the cave surface in Sector IVD. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

were probably struck outside the cave. If so, this implies that there were at least two off-site reduction options for making flake blanks carried to Liang Bua: by removing flakes directly from cobbles, or by removing flakes from larger flakes. Differential weathering of flake scars on some artifacts indicates that Unit 4 knappers also scavenged older flaking debris for reuse (Fig. 17). Whole cobbles were carried into the cave for reduction, although this was very rare in comparison to the transport of flake blanks struck outside the cave. A few cobbles were abandoned after being assayed. These abandoned cobbles tend to be tablet-shaped,

like large flakes, rather than spherical. Single-platform cores, which are rare in Unit 4, may be an end-point in reducing small, angular cobble sections, while the distribution of remnant cortex on several multiplatform cores suggests they resulted from cobble reduction. Hammerstones are volcanic river cobbles with large interlocking crystals that made them unsuitable as knapping material. Hammerstones from Unit 4 are small and oblong in shape with somewhat flat faces and well-defined ends. Use-wear pitting occurs on the ends or slightly offset (Fig. 12).

Figure 6. Flake blank cores from Units 9 (A), 4 (B–G), and 2 (H). The flake blanks were reduced bifacially and centripetally. Artifact H was made on a contact removal flake. The parent flake’s ring crack is marked by a dot. The arrows show the percussion axes of the flake blanks. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 7. Retouched flakes from Units 9 (A–C), 7 (D), and 4 (E–H). Dotted lines indicate the retouched edges. Artifact E is made on a redirecting flake and the others are made on early reduction flakes. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 8. Radial cores from Units 9 (A–C), 4 (D–F), 3 (G), and 2 (H). The cores were reduced bifacially and centripetally. They were probably made on flakes but reduction has eliminated the relevant features. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 9. Multiplatform cores from Units 9 (A, B) and 4 (C–E). These cores were knapped in relation to more than one reduction plane, creating two or more platform edges (indicated by the dotted lines). Scales ¼ 10 mm.

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511

Figure 10. Bipolar artifacts from Units 4 (A–C, E, F) and 3 (D). Artifacts A, C, E, and F were made on flake blanks. Arrows indicate opposed areas of crushing. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Reduction techniques and the products of flake modification Flakes were modified at Liang Bua by four techniques: freehand percussion, burination, truncation, and bipolar percussion. Early reduction flakes were the principal byproducts of freehand percussion. Some 42.8% of these were struck parallel to prior removals, and 9.7% are elongated, measuring twice as long as wide (Fig. 18). Some 7.4% have both features and can be considered ‘‘blades’’ (Fig. 19). Core scars are rarely elongated (Fig. 20) and this, combined with the low proportion of blades, suggests that elongation and parallelness were not combined in any deliberate way by the Unit 4 knappers. Long, slender flakes in the assemblage were probably the fortuitous result of occasionally applying an ‘‘inparallel’’ strategy of flake removal to elongated zones of core mass created incidentally during reduction (Moore, 2007). Most contact removal flakes were removed using platforms on the lateral margins of flakes near the proximal ends. Others were removed by a freehand percussion blow delivered directly onto the bulb of percussion, or by a burin blow that removed the proximal end of the flake (Figs. 1 and 2). Detachment scars occur on 3.1% of the early reduction flakes in Unit 4. Uniface retouching flakes were a byproduct of non-invasively flaking the dorsal surfaces of flake blanks. Most ‘‘perforators’’ (Fig. 21) were produced this way. Sometimes unifacial retouching was directed towards the blank’s ventral surface (e.g., Fig. 21C). Burination is a variety of freehand percussion, but instead of striking flakes onto the relatively flat surfaces of the core, the knapper struck flakes from the core’s edge (Fig. 22). The core edge forms a ‘‘ridge’’ on the dorsal surface of the resulting flake (Fig. 23).

If the flake was struck directly down the core edge, the ridge is located near the center of the flake, giving it a roughly triangular cross-section. A blow skewed more towards the flat surface of the core (a ‘tranchet’ blow [Debe´nath and Dibble, 1994]) resulted in a flake with a wedge-shaped cross-section. The Liang Bua flakes vary between these two extremes. Redirecting flakes were created if the core edge was reduced prior to being burinated. One or more burin scars were recorded on 84 of the 439 radial cores, flake blank cores, and retouched flakes from Unit 4. Platforms on flakes resulting from the burin and freehand techniques are always unprepared, mostly single facet (86%), and

Figure 11. River cobble anvil from Unit 4. Percussion pitting is visible on both faces (circled). Scale ¼ 10 mm.

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Figure 13. Early reduction flake from Unit 4 with a detachment scar (‘DS’). This flake was struck from the ventral surface of a flake blank. Scale ¼ 10 mm.

(Barnes, 1937; Knowles and Barnes, 1937) was sometimes produced (Fig. 26). Ring cracks are visible on the faces of some artifacts (Fig. 27). Crushing sometimes occurs on faces that were subjected to repeated blows (particularly if the blows landed on an arris) (Fig. 25A). Other truncation features were more subtle, consisting of ripples radiating from a ring crack and fracture features such as an eraillure scar and hackles appearing below the ring crack. Some 49 of the 439 radial cores, flake blank cores, and retouched flakes analyzed in Unit 4 have one or more truncation scars. All 62 truncated flakes and 274 truncation flakes were produced by the technique. Like the truncation technique, bipolar flaking involved the use of an anvil, but instead of placing the stone flat on the anvil and striking the face, the knapper held the stone upright and struck the upper edge (Figs. 4B and 10). These stones were unmodified flakes; detachment scars appear on 37% of the 74 bipolar artifacts from

Figure 12. River cobble hammerstone from Unit 4. Percussion pitting is located on and offset slightly from the ends, as indicated by the dotted lines. The offset pitting implies a precision grip. Scale ¼ 10 mm.

usually relatively shallow (Table 4). The Unit 4 knappers were proficient at applying strong hard-hammer blows very close to core margins. The truncation technique involved placing a flake on an anvil and striking the face (Fig. 4A). This often shattered the stone into two or more fragments (Fig. 24). The technique detached early reduction flakes with steep exterior platform angles from thicker, more robust stones (Fig. 25). Shatter fragments have characteristic features (Crabtree, 1973:49; Elston, 1986:116; Bergman et al., 1987; Root et al., 1999). Although the fracture was often initiated by wedging, a ‘‘demicone’’ like that seen in gunflint manufacture

Figure 14. Edge-glossed early reduction flake from Unit 9. Gloss is visible as the bright patch on the right-hand margin of the flake. Scale ¼ 10 mm.

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513

Figure 15. Unit 4 reduction sequence.

Unit 4, and none of the artifacts show signs of prior reduction by freehand techniques. There is no evidence that pebbles were knapped in this way. The bipolar technique was not practiced in combination with any other knapping technique at Liang Bua. Many of the multiplatform cores in the assemblage (Fig. 9) probably began as flake blank cores or radial cores and became multiplatform through the bridging technique of edge burination or truncation. The steep scars produced by these techniques provided one or more non-centripetal platforms. Reduction from these often eliminated evidence of the core’s original radial form. Heavy bashing on two multiplatform cores from Unit 4 indicates that they were used as hammerstones (Fig. 28) and three redirecting flakes were recovered that removed heavily-bashed core ridges.

Combinations of reduction processes: results of flake scar analysis The relationships between the freehand, burination, and truncation techniques were examined through flake scar analysis. Flake scars with intact edge features were created more recently than the flake scars with bisected features. This patterning allows the reconstruction of an artifact’s reduction history. Modified flakes and radial cores were selected for ‘quadrant analysis’da procedure for recording the sequence of flake scar creation (Moore, 2005)dbecause they consist of two core volumes separated by a centripetal platform edge. Artifacts were divided into four quadrants labeled by cardinal directions. If the orientation of the flake blank could be determined, the blank’s platform end was placed at the top, or ‘‘North.’’ If not, North was assigned arbitrarily. Flake scar type and the order of scar intrusion on and between faces were recorded in reference to these quadrants (Fig. 29). The quadrant data were parsed to identify the way that stoneworkers integrated their knapping techniques. The quadrant data were first divided into series of knapping blows. This was done by drawing ‘‘hard’’ breaks between reduction series that occurred in non-adjacent quadrants; hard breaks are similar to starting reduction anew. In other words, knapping occurs on a new part of a previously-reduced artifact. Reduction series separated by hard breaks are referred to as ‘cells.’

The cell data were then divided according to knapping gesture. ‘Soft’ breaks were gestural changesdsuch as a change in technique or flipping the stonedthat occurred between sequential flake scars. Soft breaks divided cells into 13 combinations called ‘permutations’ (Table 5). Some 782 reduction cells were recorded on 439 formed objects from Unit 4, and the cells were parsed into 1384 permutations. The permutations are arranged into a cyclical diagram (Fig. 30), with the numbers of blows delivered in permutations counted for each item (Fig. 31). Reduction in Unit 4 was a dynamic process characterized by a short sequence (3 blows on average) followed by a change in orientation or technique, followed by another short sequence, and so on. Sequences were made up of 2 gestural changes on average, although up to 8 changes sometimes occurred. Many artifacts were abandoned after 1 blow, and the average number of blows per artifact was 9. The maximum number of blows on an artifact was 39, and the maximum number of blows without a gestural change was 23. The freehand technique was the most common: some threequarters of the permutations began with freehand reduction. Nearly half of the freehand blows were applied in the unifacial permutation, but the bifacial permutation is also well-represented. Over one quarter of reduction cells began with a truncation blow and nearly one-fifth ended with one. The stone was rarely flipped in the middle of a truncation sequence. Burination was uncommon compared to freehand and truncation techniques. Burination was frequently interspersed with freehand reduction, but only occasionally with the truncation technique. Technological continuity and change at Liang Bua Continuity in technological proxies Dramatic technological change should be indicated by the appearance or disappearance of artifact types and attributes that serve as proxy indicators of reduction sequences. Most of the Unit 4 proxies are found in all of the stratigraphic units at Liang Bua (Table 6). This indicates that one reduction sequence persisted throughout the history of cave occupation.

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M.W. Moore et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526 Table 3 Maximum sizes (mm) of modified and unmodified flakes at Liang Bua, Unit 4.

A 45

Core Scars

40

Modified Flakes Modified Flakes (N ¼ 395) Unmodified Early Reduction Flakes (N ¼ 846)

35

Percent

30

Maximum Thickness

Range

Average

SD

Range

Average

SD

12 to 87a 9 to 116

39.2a 28.0

11.0 11.4

5 to 43 2 to 28

14.1 6.9

5.2 3.7

20

10 5 0 0 to 10

11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 Over 71

Range (mm) 45 ER Flakes

40

Modified Flakes

35 30

Percent

Maximum Dimension

a These are minimum dimensions because flake size was usually reduced during modification.

25

15

B

Artifact Type

25 20 15

Bipolar artifacts are absent from Units 2 and 7. The absence of bipolar reduction in Unit 2 possibly relates to the small sample from this deposit. Bipolar reduction is present in the units before and after Unit 7 and its absence there is probably a sampling phenomenon. Aside from bipolar artifacts, the frequency of the proxy types varies little in the cave’s Pleistocene deposits. No significant difference exists between Unit 4 and Units 2/3 (chi-square ¼ 3.02; df ¼ 2; p > 0.05), or between Unit 4 and Unit 7 (chi-square ¼ 3.37; df ¼ 2; p > 0.05). However, the frequency varies significantly between these units and Holocene Unit 9 (chi-square ¼ 10.60; df ¼ 2; p < 0.01). Continuity in reduction sequence is evident across the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, but there are differences in the expression of the technology. The following sections explore these differences by comparing and contrasting the Pleistocene pattern in combined Units 2, 3, 4, and 7 with the Holocene pattern in Unit 9.

10 5

Continuity and change in flake/blow counts

0 0 to 5

6 to 10

11 to 15

16 to 20

21 to 25

26 to 30

Over 30

Range (mm)

C 45

ER Flakes

40

Core Scars

35

Percent

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 Over 71

Range (mm) Figure 16. Charts comparing artifact and core scar sizes, Unit 4. Chart A compares maximum core scar sizes (N ¼ 3145) and maximum modified flake sizes (N ¼ 392). The scars on cores discarded in the cave are too small to account for the sizes of blanks chosen for modification. Chart B compares the maximum thicknesses of unmodified early reduction (‘ER’) flakes (N ¼ 846) and modified flakes (N ¼ 392). The unmodified flakes are consistently thinner than the modified flakes. Chart C compares maximum core scar sizes (N ¼ 3145) and maximum unmodified early reduction flake sizes (N ¼ 1654, complete flakes only). The substantial overlap suggests that the unmodified flakes in the cave were struck from the cores discarded there. Elimination of larger scars through progressive reductiondcalled ‘flake scar erasure’ by Braun et al. (2005)dmight explain a lack of large scars on cores. However, if large flakes were frequently produced in the cave, a continuous distribution in flake thicknesses should occur, but Chart B shows this is not the case. Flake scar erasure begins after the removal of around 15 flakes (Braun et al., 2005) and the average number of blows on knapped objects in Unit 4 is 9.2. Detachment scars and other ventral attributes are ‘‘unerased’’ on a large proportion of cores. These data suggest that blanks for modification were struck from cores that were discarded somewhere outside the cave.

A valuable approach to exploring technological expression is to compare and contrast blow counts from various techniques. It can be assumed that one knapping blow produces a flake and a scar, which are studied as objects (artifacts) and attributes (scars). The median number of blows per object for the combined Pleistocene and Holocene assemblages was 9. A median test (Siegel, 1956) shows that the individual assemblages differ little in this regard (chi-square ¼ 0.31; df ¼ 1; p > 0.05). Table 7 shows the total number of blows per object by knapping technique. The freehand technique appears to have been more popular in the Holocene, at the expense of the burin and truncation techniques. No statistical difference occurs between the burination and truncation techniques for the two samples (chi-square ¼ 2.02, df ¼ 1, p > 0.05) but a comparison of combined burin/truncation data to the freehand data shows significantly more use of the freehand technique in the Holocene (chi-square ¼ 39.11; df ¼ 1; p < 0.001). This trend in blow type is also visible in the artifact count data: there are significantly greater numbers of early reduction flakes relative to truncation flakes and redirecting flakes (a proxy of the burin technique) in the Holocene deposits (chisquare ¼ 27.54, df ¼ 1, p < 0.001). Comparing freehand blows to bipolar blows, there is a significant increase in freehand blows in the Holocene (chi-square ¼ 52.72, df ¼ 1, p < 0.001, where the number of bipolar blows is equivalent to the number of negative scars on bipolar artifacts). Much of this variation is attributable to an increase in the popularity of freehand blows relative to the other techniques. Flake shape and size differed little between the Pleistocene and Holocene. Ratios of blades to non-blades do not differ significantly (chi-square ¼ 0.33, df ¼ 1, p > 0.05), nor does maximum flake size (chi-square ¼ 0.21, df ¼ 1, p > 0.05; the median value for pooled data is 29 mm).

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515

Figure 17. Flake blank core made on a recycled flake, Unit 4. The blank’s unmodified scars show a darker patination than the more recent scars. The arrow shows the percussion axis of the flake blank. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Continuity and change in permutation data Quadrant data indicate how many blows were applied before a break in reduction gesture, including the hard breaks that define reduction cells and the soft breaks that divide the cell into knapping permutations. In contrast to flake/scar counts, blows and cells/ permutations do not always relate to each other in a 1:1 ratiodcells and permutations might be made up of any number of blows depending on how they were broken-up by gestural breaks. All of the 13 possible knapping permutations applied in the Pleistocene were also applied in the Holocene (Table 8). Permutations were also used in the same frequencies: no significant difference occurs between these two samples for the burin technique (chi-square ¼ 1.66, df ¼ 2, p > 0.05), the freehand technique

(chi-square ¼ 8.20, df ¼ 4, p > 0.05), or the truncation technique (chi-square ¼ 1.91, df ¼ 4, p > 0.05). Quadrant data include the numbers of blows delivered prior to a gestural switch. This figure is the same in the Pleistocene and Holocene for the burin technique (chi-square ¼ 0.008, df ¼ 1, p > 0.05; the median value for pooled data is 2 blows) and the truncation technique (chi-square ¼ 0.67, df ¼ 1, p > 0.05; the median value for pooled data is 1 blow). However, significantly more freehand blows preceded a gestural switch in the Holocene (chi-square ¼ 34.45, df ¼ 1, p < 0.001; the median value for pooled data is 3 blows). This is consistent with the flake/scar count patterns. Freehand permutations consist of bifacial and unifacial variants. In the bifacial variant, blows are delivered to one face, the stone is flipped, and a blow is delivered to the opposite face. The number of

Figure 18. Blades from Unit 4. Blades are early reduction flakes that are twice as long as wide and have a parallel index of 20 (see Fig. 19). The arrows show the percussion axes. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

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3.5

Elongation (length/width)

3 2.5 Blades (Elongation > 2.0)

2 1.5 1 0.5 Blades (Parallel Index < 20.0)

0 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170

Parallel Index (degrees) Figure 19. Scatterplot of early reduction flake elongation and parallel index, Unit 4. Elongation was calculated by dividing length by width. An elongated flake is one that scores 2.0 or more (after Bar-Yosef and Kuhn, 1999). A flake’s parallelness was determined by measuring the orientation of negative scars relative to the flake’s percussion axis. This was done on whole flakes with at least two identifiable dorsal scars. Individual measurements were averaged, giving the flake’s ‘‘parallel index.’’ Because the ripples that indicate scar orientation form an arc, parallel flakes were defined as those with dorsal scar orientations averaging 20 . ‘‘Blades’’ occur in the box at upper left. The data distribution does not suggest that elongation and parallelness were combined in any deliberate way by the Unit 4 knappers.

blows before this flip is statistically the same in the Pleistocene and Holocene (chi-square ¼ 0.46, df ¼ 1, p > 0.05; the median value for pooled data is 3 blows). The stone is not flipped in the unifacial variant. Holocene knappers delivered significantly more unifacial blows than Pleistocene knappers (chi-square ¼ 19.97, df ¼ 1, p < 0.001; the median value for pooled data is 4 blows).

in Holocene assemblages (Glover, 1981:22–25; Sinha and Glover, 1983/1984). The lack of edge-damage associated with the gloss suggests relatively soft materials were cut and not, for example, bamboo (Glover, 1986:207–209). The gloss patches may have been created by splitting canes or grasses for use in mat weaving or basketry (Sinha and Glover, 1983/1984).

Changes in the lithic assemblage

Discussion

The lithic analysis demonstrates that technological variation in the Liang Bua sequence did not involve change in reduction sequence or stone knapping techniques, but by a shift in emphasis: Holocene knappers delivered more freehand blows in unifacial series. However, the Pleistocene/Holocene transition was marked by other sorts of changes in the stone artifact assemblages: the amount of burned stone increased dramatically, the use of chert became predominant, and edge-glossed chert flakes appear.

The reduction sequence at Liang Bua was uncomplicated: small flakes were produced from large flakes by technically

Raw materials Chert artifacts comprise less than 17% of the Pleistocene assemblage but more than 60% of the Holocene assemblage (Table 9). In the latter case, most of the chert was obtained from bedrock or colluvial sources, as shown by patches of soft, chalky cortex. Burned fragments The frequency of burning is negligible in the Pleistocene, composing less than 1% in Unit 4 and absent entirely from Units 2, 3, and 7. In contrast, nearly 18% of the Holocene artifacts are heat-fracture fragments or artifacts that show signs of burning (Table 10). There is no evidence that this damage resulted from deliberate heat-treatment, such as differential gloss indicating pre-heating and post-heating reduction (Crabtree and Butler, 1964). Rather, the chert was burned by accidental exposure of artifacts to fire. Edge-glossed artifacts Edge-glossed artifacts are limited to the Holocene deposits at Liang Bua. Most are chert early reduction flakes (Table 11). Gloss occurs on these tools as a discrete patch of silica deposited mostly on the flake’s dorsal surface adjacent to an unmodified edge (Fig. 14). The edge itself may be polished and slightly rounded but is rarely damaged by microflaking. Tools with similar edge gloss are found throughout the islands of Indonesia, dating perhaps as early as 38 ka on Sulawesi, and are very common

Figure 20. Scatterplot of core scar elongation, Unit 4. Length is the dimension parallel to the percussion axis projected to the existing platform edge (where necessary), and width is the maximum dimension at right angles to length. Scars were measured to the nearest mm and multiple instances of the same measurements are obscured. Relatively few core scars were elongated. Given that progressive flake scar elimination tends to decrease flake scar width to a greater degree than flake length, the scatterplot probably overestimates of the number of elongated flakes removed from these cores.

Figure 21. Early reduction flakes retouched into ‘‘perforators,’’ Units 9 (A, B) and 4 (C, D). Artifacts A, B, and D were retouched towards the dorsal surface. Artifact C was retouched towards the dorsal surface on one edge and towards the ventral surface on the opposite edge. The projections on perforators were often oriented at an angle to the blanks’ percussion axes, indicated by arrows (A, B, D; see also Brumm et al., 2006: Fig. 4). Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 22. Flake blank cores with burin scars, Unit 4. The burin scars are indicated by arrows. Burin flakes were removed directly down the edge on artifacts B–D. The orientation of the scar in 22A is tranchet-like (after Debe´nath and Dibble, 1994:36). Scales ¼ 10 mm.

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M.W. Moore et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526 Table 4 Platform type and size data for early reduction, redirecting, and contact removal flakes at Liang Bua, Unit 4. Platform Type

No

Platform Depth (mm)a Range

Mean

SD

Single Facet Dihedral Cortical Multifaceted

1197 123 53 25

0.62–22.1 1.5–18.0 3.0–16.4 2.7–10.8

5.5 5.9 7.6 6.3

3.5 2.9 4.1 2.3

Total

1398

0.62–22.1

5.6

3.5

a

Platform depth was measured on conchoidally-initiated flakes as the distance from the point of force application to the dorsal edge of the platform. This attribute measures how far from the core edge the knapper delivered the percussion blow.

Figure 23. Early reduction ‘‘burin’’ flakes from Units 9 (A) and 4 (B–E). These flakes were struck down unmodified edges of flake blanks. The orientations of the flake blanks, as indicated by detachment scar features (‘‘DS’’), are shown by arrows. Artifact A is tranchet-like (see Fig. 22A). Artifacts B–D were struck directly down lateral (A, B, D, E) or distal (C) flake blank edges. Artifact E was preceded by at least one burin blow. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

undemanding knapping techniques. Large flakes were made outside the cave, reflecting an economic decision to reduce cobbles at the source into maximally useful pieces. Small flakes were struck inside the cave by hammerstone blows delivered 6 mm from the core edge on average, a precision that attests to exceptional handeye coordination. A combination of three techniques was used: freehand (unifacial and bifacial), truncation, and burin. The three

Figure 24. Conjoined truncation flakes from Unit 7. Figure 24A is the conjoined artifact, and B and C are truncation flakes. The first truncation blow was struck at arrow ‘‘1,’’ creating an embedded ring crack (indicated by a dot) and propagation crack (marked by a line). The stone was then struck at arrow ‘‘2’’ bisecting the blank and creating a ring crack (indicated by a dot) and the conchoidal features visible in the ventral view. The embedded crack then separated, bisecting the artifact into B and C. The conjoin surfaces are slightly stained, probably from groundwater penetration prior to the crack separating. Scale ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 25. Truncation scars on cores from Units 2 (A, B) and 4 (C). Radial core A was repeatedly struck along a central arris, creating a linear zone of bashing (white arrow). The artifact was successfully truncated at the bottom end (black arrows). Flake blank core B was truncated by two blows towards the ventral face on opposite edges (arrows), and flake blank core C was truncated by two blows towards the dorsal face (arrows). Burin scars are present down the edge of C and the truncated surface was used as a platform for striking freehand flakes towards the dorsal and ventral faces. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

Figure 26. Truncation scars with well-developed demicones on artifacts from Units 9 (A–C), 3 (D), 4 (E–H), and 7 (I). The demicones are indicated by arrows. Artifacts B, C, D, and H are truncated flakes and artifacts F, G, and I are retouched flakes. Artifact A is a flake blank core, and artifact E is a truncation flake. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

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Figure 27. Truncation flake from Unit 4. The ventral surface is covered by scores of embedded ring cracks (enlarged view at bottom). The high points on the dorsal surface are marked by similar ring cracks. One of the ventral blows truncated the stone (arrow). The artifact was retouched unifacially prior to truncation. Embedded ring cracks were noted on several truncated artifacts at Liang Bua, but the number occurring on this specimen is exceptional. Scale ¼ 10 mm.

techniques were integrated in repeated patterns; most often the freehand technique anchored a reduction event, and the truncation and burin techniques were applied at the beginning or end. Reduction followed a staccato rhythm with, on average, 3 blows followed by a change in orientation or technique, followed by a few more blows, and so on. Cores were usually abandoned after 9 blows and never more than 39. Extended series of blows were exceptional but sometimes practiced; this is how retouched pieces called ‘perforators’ were created. Flakes were reduced by bipolar flaking but not in combination with the other three techniques.

The Liang Bua stone technology can be seen as unsophisticated when measured against archaeological convention. However, the locus of complexity at Liang Buadthe ways the three knapping techniques were integrateddis not described by conventional morphological, typological, and technological criteria (e.g., BarYosef and Kuhn, 1999; Ambrose, 2001; Foley and Lahr, 2003). There is ample evidence that the Liang Bua knappers were not only skilled at applying their chosen techniques, but they also had a large repertoire of reduction gesturesdpermutations of technique combinationsdthat were themselves mixed in non-random ways

Figure 28. Multiplatform cores used as hammerstones from Units 7 (A) and 4 (B). Bashed areas are circled. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

M.W. Moore et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526

521

Figure 29. Quadrant analysis on a radial core from Unit 3. The arrows show the direction and sequence of flake removals. The results are recorded by quadrant, face, blow type, and according to whether or not they overlap (1). These results are annotated by numbers and shading corresponding to blow type and vertical bars indicating a change of reduction face. Reduction in non-contiguous quadrants is marked by Xs (2). The annotation is divided according to the Xs into reduction ‘‘cells’’ (3). The cells are in turn divided according to changes in reduction face or technique. These are knapping ‘‘permutations’’ (4). Scale ¼ 10 mm.

(or, in the case of bipolar flaking, were always practiced in isolation). A complex decision-making process was operating, although the factors governing these decisions are presently unknown. Stone flaking at Liang Bua was neither a random nor a casual exercise in rock-breaking. Also worth noting is that a significant development in local stone knapping technologydthe manufacture of edge-ground, rectangular-sectioned adzes from about 4 ka (Fig. 32)dis poorly represented within Liang Bua, consisting exclusively of finished examples found as grave goods with Neolithic and Palaeo-Metallic

H. sapiens burials excavated at the site by Verhoeven and Soejono (see Morwood et al., 2009). Stone debris from edge-ground adze manufacture from the open-air Neolithic site of Golo Roang, located about 500 m to the northeast of Liang Bua, shows how these artifacts were produced. The adzes were made on large chert flakes. Edge-squaring was accomplished by indirect percussion (see Stafford, 1993, 1999) in two or three reduction stages (Moore, 2005:183–184). The process produced distinctive adze flaking debris with near-90 exterior platform angles, exaggerated bulbs of percussion, expanding

Table 5 Types of Gestural Permutations. Technique

Permutation Types

Description

Freehand

Freehand-freehand Freehand-flip-freehand Freehand-flip-burination Freehand-flip-truncation Freehand-truncation

Truncation

Truncation-truncation Truncation-flip-truncation Truncation-flip-burination Truncation-flip-freehand

A series of freehand blows are struck without significantly reorienting the stone. ‘Unifacial’ reduction. Freehand blows are struck, the stone is flipped, and more freehand blows are struck to the opposite face. ‘Bifacial’ reduction. Freehand blows are struck, the stone is rotated, and burin blows are struck down the edge. Freehand blows are struck, the stone is flipped and placed on an anvil, and truncation blows are struck to the opposite face. Freehand blows are struck, the stone is placed on an anvil, and truncation blows are struck to the same face as the freehand blows. A series of truncation blows are struck without significantly reorienting the stone. Truncation blows are struck, the stone is flipped on the anvil, and more truncation blows are struck to the opposite face. Truncation blows are struck, the stone is removed from the anvil and rotated, and burin blows are struck down the edge. Truncation blows are struck, the stone is removed from the anvil and flipped, and freehand blows are struck to the opposite face. Truncation blows are struck, the stone is removed from the anvil, and freehand blows are struck to the same face as the truncation blows. Burin blows are struck down the edge, the stone is rotated, and freehand blows are struck to the face. Burin blows are struck down the edge, the stone is rotated and placed on the anvil, and truncation blows are struck to the face. A series of burination blows are struck without significantly reorienting the stone.

Truncation-freehand Burinationa

a

Burination-flip-freehand Burination-flip-truncation Burination-burination

The burin technique always required the rotation of the stone when switching from a different technique. Thus a switch is always preceded by a rotation, or ‘‘flip.’’

522

M.W. Moore et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526 Table 6 Distribution of Artifact Types Serving as Proxy Indicators of the Unit 4 Reduction Sequence. Artifact Typea

Stratigraphic Unit

Early Reduction Flakes Redirecting Flakes Modified Flakes Bipolar Artifacts Truncation Flakes Truncated Flakes Truncations on Formed Objectsb

9

7

4

3

2

1999 164 112 7 46 9 56

148 26 13 0 9 1 7

5088 539 353 74 274 62 381

648 59 27 4 30 9 36

76 10 11 0 3 0 5

a Early reduction flakes are the proxy of freehand percussion; redirecting flakes are the proxy of burination on cores whose edges were previously reduced; modified flakes are the proxy of small flake production; bipolar artifacts are the proxy of the bipolar technique; and truncation flakes, truncated flakes, and truncations on formed objects are the proxy of the truncation technique. b Including retouched flakes, flake blank cores, and radial cores.

Figure 30. Diagram showing the ways that the three reduction techniques were integrated, Unit 4. The numerals refer to the number of times a pathway was chosen on the cores comprising the sample.

24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16

No. of Blows

15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6

shapes, relatively flat long-sections, frequent hinge terminations, and dihedral or multifacet platforms. Most of the flake scars were ground away in the final reduction stage. One squaresectioned adze recovered on Flores was reworked bifacially and centripetally by freehand percussion after edge-grinding, the same reduction approach used to reduce flake blanks at Liang Bua (Fig. 32B). Square-sectioned adze manufacture was practiced contemporaneously with the reduction sequence inside Liang Bua. Although adze manufacture was part of the reduction sequence practiced during the Neolithic on Flores, its absence from Liang Bua indicates that it occurs as an ‘‘add-on’’ reduction trajectory with little crossover in reduction stages or byproducts with the ‘‘base’’ reduction sequence represented in the cave (see Moore, 2003). How does the lithic technology at Liang Bua relate to H. floresiensis and H. sapiens? The continuity in reduction sequence through the Holocene may imply that modern humans were responsible for all of the stone tools at Liang Bua. In this scenario, the Holocene changes reflect adaptational shifts by modern humans and H. floresiensis did not make stone tools. This possibility introduces several interpretive challenges. First, the scenario implies that modern humans were present at Liang Bua by at least 95 ka, more than doubling the ca. 45 ka appearance of H. sapiens elsewhere in the region (O’Connell and Allen, 1998, 2004). Given the technological similarities between stone tools in the Liang Bua floor deposits, stone tools adhering to the 190–130 ka Liang Bua wall deposits (Westaway et al., 2007), and stone tools at the 840 ka Mata Menge open site (Brumm et al., 2006), an even earlier arrival date is possible, close to (or before) the origin of modern H. sapiens in Africa ca. 160 ka (White et al., 2003). Second, there is no evidence for change in the stone toolkit at Liang Bua for at least 80 k.yr. and no clear Pleistocene evidence of modern human behavior (see McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; Wadley, 2001; Henshilwood and Marean, 2003); such evidence first appears after 11 ka. And third, this scenario is contradicted by the distribution of hominin skeletal remains in the cave.

5 4 3

Table 7 Numbers of Blows by Technique on the Liang Bua Formed Objects.a

2

Technique

1 0

Freehand

Truncation

Burin

Figure 31. Chart showing the range and median number of blows for each reduction technique prior to a switch to another technique or flipping the stone, Unit 4.

Freehand Burination Truncation a

Unit 9 (Holocene)

Units 2–4, 7 (Pleistocene)

N

%

N

%

1102 39 56

92.1 3.3 4.7

3813 224 442

85.1 5.0 9.9

Including retouched flakes, flake blank cores, radial cores, and truncated flakes.

M.W. Moore et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526 Table 8 Numbers of Permutations, Formed Objects.a

Table 10 Distribution of Evidence for Artifact Burning.

Permutation

Unit 9 (Holocene)

Units 2–4, 7 (Pleistocene)

Freehand-freehand Freehand-flip-freehand Freehand-flip-burination Freehand-flip-truncation Freehand-truncation Truncation-truncation Truncation-flip-truncation Truncation-flip-burination Truncation-flip-freehand Truncation-freehand Burination-flip-freehand Burination-flip-truncation Burination-burination

138 71 16 6 14 17 3 3 12 11 15 1 5

543 430 72 41 63 122 11 18 72 98 63 4 42

a

Including retouched flakes, flake blank cores, radial cores, and truncated flakes.

To date, exclusively H. floresiensis skeletal remains have been recovered from the Pleistocene stratigraphic units at Liang Bua, predating 16.6 ka. H. floresiensis skeletal elements were recovered in direct association with stone tools in Unit 4 (dating to ca. 69 ka, 74 ka, and 74–95 ka) and Unit 7 (multiple date ranges between ca. 17.1 ka and 19 ka) (Morwood and Jungers, 2009: Table 1). Exclusively H. sapiens skeletal remains have been recovered from the Holocene stratigraphic unit, postdating 11 ka (Morwood et al., 2004, 2005, 2009). The contextual evidence suggests that the pre12 ka artifacts were made by H. floresiensis and the post-11 ka artifacts were made by H. sapiens. This is the most parsimonious way to relate the stone tools and other archaeological evidence to hominin species. H. floresiensis wrist structure does not preclude stone tool manufacture and use (Tocheri et al., 2007:1745). In this scenario, the stone artifact variations that appear at Liang Bua in the Holocenedthe greater use of the freehand technique in unifacial series, the increased use of chert, the increased amount of burned debris, the appearance of edge-glossed chert flakes, and, later, the addition of rectangular-sectioned adzes to the reduction sequencedare the result of activities by H. sapiens at Liang Bua. Conversely, the cave occupation by H. floresiensis was marked by ca. 80 k.yr. of technological stasis, an extension of stoneworking practices dating to at least 840 ka on Flores (Brumm et al., 2006). The technological continuities that occur from the Pleistocene right through the Holocene at Liang Bua imply that H. floresiensis and H. sapiens shared a similar reduction sequence. The synthetic view that emerges from our analyses suggests that H. floresiensis and H. sapiens shared a similar reduction sequence at Liang Bua, raising intriguing questions about the prehistory of Flores. For example, we might ask how such phylogenetically distant hominin populations came to share the one reduction sequence. It is important to note that a shared reduction sequence among hominin taxa is not without precedent: early H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis shared a common reduction sequence in the Levant (Henry, 2003). The latter case apparently reflects a shared technological history after divergence from a common ancestor. Technological continuity was maintained from such a remote period because the two hominins were adapted to the environment in similar ways (Shea, 2003:177–178). Table 9 Raw Material Proportions, Flaked Stone Artifacts.a Raw Material

Unit 9 (Holocene)

Units 2–4, 7 (Pleistocene)

N

%

N

%

Chert Silicified tuff

1762 1099

61.6 38.4

1391 6997

16.6 83.4

a

523

Heat-fracture fragments are not included to avoid distorting the proportions.

Evidence for Artifact Burning

Stratigraphic Unit 9

7

4

3

2

Potlid flakes and heat-fracture fragments Heat-fracture attributes on other artifact types

375 202

0 0

15 14

0 0

0 0

The Levantine pattern contrasts with the European situation where cognitively modern H. sapiens evolved elsewhere and subsequently encountered resident groups of H. neanderthalensis. In Europe, interactions between these closely-related hominin species may have stimulated the production of symbolic objects such as beads, pendants, and other bodily ornaments among cognitively modern humans (d’Errico, 2003:196). Conversely, Neanderthal populations may have adopted the technologically more complex stone toolkit of the modern human colonizers. Indeed, imitation of colonizers’ ‘‘advanced’’ behaviors by ‘‘indigenous’’ groups is said to be ‘‘inevitable and totally predictable’’ (Mellars, 2005:21). The Indonesian situation contrasts starkly with both the European and Levantine cases. H. floresiensis and H. sapiens evolved in isolation from one another, resulting in an extreme divergence in body morphology. The stone flaking technology practiced by early modern H. sapiens outside of Southeast Asia (see Mellars, 2006) differed significantly from the Oldowan-like stone technology in early Flores assemblages (Brumm et al., 2006; Moore and Brumm, 2009). Given that the Flores reduction sequence dates to 840 ka (Brumm et al., 2006), H. sapiens colonizers evidently converged on the indigenous way of making stone tools. Modern humans colonized Australia by 45 ka (O’Connell and Allen, 1998, 2004) and H. floresiensis was extinct at Liang Bua by 17 ka; the two species were contemporaneous in the wider region for nearly 30,000 years. This long period of overlap provided opportunity for mutual observation and the adoption by H. sapiens Table 11 Edge-glossed Artifacts from Liang Bua. Artifact Type

Material

Size (mm)a L

W

T

Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Early Reduction Flake Redirecting Flake Redirecting Flake Redirecting Flake Redirecting Flake Retouched Early Reduction Flake Retouched Early Reduction Flake Retouched Early Reduction Flake Retouched Redirecting Flake Flake Blank Core Flake Blank Core Radial Core

chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert chert silicified tuff chert chert chert chert chert chert chert silicified tuff chert silicified tuff chert

(46) (36) 34 37 38 39 41 43 43 46 46 48 52 54 56 57 60 54 40 46 53 58 28 34 69 30 (44) 66 38

41 18 22 43 28 36 45 27 46 38 28 20 41 54 26 41 28 37 33 29 21 39 36 45 35 42 29 50 37

17 8 10 13 11 17 12 9 15 10 10 9 16 15 10 12 18 20 20 10 11 12 11 12 17 20 17 35 24

a

Incomplete dimensions in parentheses.

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M.W. Moore et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 503–526

Figure 32. Rectangular-sectioned Neolithic adzes from Flores. Artifact A is an adze blank from the adze workshop at Golo Roang, located about 500 m from Liang Bua (courtesy of K. Grant). Artifact B is a reworked adze from the Soa Basin, located about 50 km from Liang Bua. The original adze faces are outlined. The adze was reworked bifacially and centripetally in a similar pattern to the cores at Liang Bua. Scales ¼ 10 mm.

of the endemic way of making stone tools. Indonesia is unique in the contemporaneous occupation of modern H. sapiens and an evolutionarily remote relative and this may be crucial for understanding early modern human adaptations in this part of the world. Conclusions The combined stone tool and hominin skeletal evidence at Liang Bua suggests that the reduction sequence of Pleistocene H. floresiensis persisted through the Holocene occupation by modern H. sapiens. Modern humans integrated this reduction sequence with new behavioral patterns that reflect major adaptive changes, as seen in the appearance of edge-glossed flakes, the shift in raw material selection, and the more intensive use of fire. The arrival of modern humans on Flores was not marked by a disjunction in stone reduction sequence (e.g., Foley and Lahr, 1997, 2003; Mellars, 2006), but by a suite of new and rather less ‘‘diagnostic’’ non-knapping behaviors. Rectangular-sectioned chert adzes were produced in the vicinity of Liang Bua from about 4 ka, but not inside the cave. They were

made by indirect percussion in a series of reduction stages (Moore, 2005:183–184). This adze-making trajectory was an add-on to the base reduction sequence practiced in the cave. Add-ons like this are not unique to Flores or to adzes. Other add-on technologies in Southeast Asia include backed and unifacially retouched points on Java’s Bandung Plateau, backed microliths and bifacial points of the Toalian Industry on Sulawesi, and widespread blade-making techniques (Presland, 1980; Bellwood, 1997). The same phenomenon is seen in Greater Australia (Jones, 1977:192; e.g., Moore, 2003; Brumm and Moore, 2005). Add-ons are not integral to the base reduction sequence and spatial differences in tool production mean that add-on reduction trajectories may not occur at every site. The lithic technology does not look particularly ‘‘advanced’’ in Southeast Asia at sites where add-ons are absent (White, 1977). Technological add-ons are perhaps the best proxies for early modern human behavior in Southeast Asia. Bifacial axes, dating at least to 30 ka in Greater Australia, are an example of a Pleistocene add-on, but most other add-ons date to the Holocene when a modern human presence is firmly established. The explosion of technological add-ons in Holocene Australia and Southeast Asia is similar to the marked increase in lithic types in Upper Palaeolithic

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Europe (Brumm and Moore, 2005). A simple stone technology occurring on a sitedthe absence of technological add-onsddoes not necessarily mean that the hominins responsible were phylogenetically ‘‘primitive’’ or cognitively challenged; add-ons are sufficientdbut not necessarydevidence of modern human behavior (Wynn and McGrew, 1989:384). Without technological add-ons, the knapping practiced by modern H. sapiens at Liang Bua appears similar to the African Oldowan (Moore and Brumm, 2009). Simple reduction sequences like the one at Liang Bua are underresearched, in part because they are deemed ‘‘unexciting’’ (e.g., Gowlett, 1991:134) and involved ‘‘opportunistic’’ knapping techniques that were perhaps prone to historical convergence (Bowdler, 1992:16–17; Culotta, 2006). The trend towards unifacial reduction among modern humans at Liang Bua suggests that variation can be identified in simple reduction sequences. Variation like this may prove immensely important in exploring stone tool making among different hominins in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Acknowledgements The Liang Bua analysis was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Postgraduate Award and Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship to M.W.M. An ARC Discovery grant to M.J. Morwood supported the Liang Bua fieldwork. The 2003-4 excavations were conducted by the Indonesian National Centre for Archaeology (ARKENAS), with R.P. Soejono (counterpart), M.J. Morwood (counterpart), T. Sutikna, E. Wahyu Saptomo, Jatmiko, S. Wasisto, Rokhus Due Awe, and D. Hobbs. The Liang Bua fieldwork was authorized by Dr. T. Djubiantono (ARKENAS Director). A.B. was funded by an Australian National University (ANU) PhD co-funded stipend scholarship and the Department of Archaeology and Natural History, ANU. M.W.M. thanks his Indonesian co-authors, Dr. Djubiantono, E. Wahyu Saptomo, and Rokhus Due Awe for facilitating the 2006 laboratory work in Jakarta, and Iain Davidson for his insightful critiques of this study. We thank John Shea and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. Appendix. Supplementary data Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.10.006 References Ambrose, S.H., 2001. Paleolithic technology and human evolution. Science 291, 1748–1753. Bar-Yosef, O., Kuhn, S.L., 1999. The big deal about blades: laminar technologies and human evolution. Am. Anthropol. 101, 322–338. Barnes, A.S., 1937. How the English and French flake-type gunflints were made. Bull. Soc. Pre´hist. Fr. 34, 328–335, English Translation in Hamilton, T.M., 1987, Colonial Frontier Guns. Pioneer Press, Union City, Tenn., pp. 160–163. Bellwood, P., 1997. Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago, Revised Edition. University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu. Bergman, C.A., Barton, R.N.E., Collcutt, S.N., Morris, G., 1987. Intentional breakage in a Late Upper Palaeolithic assemblage from Southern England. In: Sieveking, G.de G., Newcomer, M.H. (Eds.), The Human Uses of Flint and Chert: Proceedings of the Fourth International Flint Symposium. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 21–32. Bowdler, S., 1992. The earliest Australian stone tools and implications for Southeast Asia. Bull. Indo-Pacif. Prehist. Ass. 12, 10–22. Braun, D.R., Tactikos, J.C., Ferraro, J.V., Harris, J.W.K., 2005. Flake recovery rates and inferences of Oldowan hominin behavior: a response to Kimura 1999, 2002. J. Hum. Evol. 48, 525–531. Brown, P., Sutikna, T., Morwood, M.J., Soejono, R.P., Jatmiko, Saptomo, E.W., Rokus Awe Due, 2004. A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature 431, 1055–1061. Brumm, A., Moore, M.W., 2005. Symbolic revolutions and the Australian archaeological record. Cambridge Archaeol. J. 15, 157–175.

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