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Between the hammerstone and the anvil: bipolar knapping and other percussive activities in the late Mousterian and the Uluzzian of Grotta di Castelcivita (Italy)

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Abstract

Hammerstones and anvils are among the oldest tools used by hominins to perform a variety of tasks including knapping activities. The bipolar technique on anvil is well documented in Prehistory since the Lower Palaeolithic and is usually considered to be an expedient technique in comparison to other knapping systems. This technique plays a pivotal role in the Uluzzian techno-complex lithic production where it is largely used. In the present study, we analyse the anvils and hammerstones recovered in the Mousterian and Uluzzian layers of the site of Castelcivita (Campania region-southern Italy) by a multi-disciplinary approach. Our aim is to investigate the function and functioning of anvils and hammerstones by evaluating the presence and the role of bipolar knapping in these two assemblages. To do this, we integrated techno-functional analysis (sensu Boëda) and use-wear study, by defining each techno-functional unit (transformative and prehensile unities) of anvils and hammerstones and identifying the specific use-wear left by the bipolar technique by means of a dedicated experimental programme. The obtained results allowed us to observe different technical behaviours, concerning both the production and the use of hammerstones and anvils, between Mousterian and Uluzzian. Differences were encountered in the selection of raw material (limestone in the Uluzzian, sandstone in the Mousterian) and in the technical way of approaching the tool as well as in the function: the Mousterian anvil was used ‘as is’ for crushing materials, unlike the Uluzzian anvils which were exclusively employed for bipolar knapping, after adapting their original volume. Hammerstones were mainly used as pestles or retouchers in the Mousterian and for direct percussion in knapping activities during the Uluzzian.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Salerno e Avellino, for supporting our research and fieldwork over the years (MIBACT permission DG-ABAP_SERV II_UO1|15/05/2018|0013226-P| [34.31.07/3.5.1/2018]). We would also like to acknowledge the contribution from the Municipality of Castelcivita, Società Grotte di Castelcivita S.r.l. and Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano, in the form of logistic support. We are grateful to Prof. Paolo Gambassini for giving us the possibility of studying the material from his excavations. A special thanks to Mandala Macgregor for revising the English manuscript. We would also like to thank the two reviewers for their valuable comments, which greatly improved the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

This project has been realised through funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 724046 to S. Benazzi) http://www.erc-success.eu/. The sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis at Castelcivita were funded by the National Geographic Society/Exploration Grant Program (grant NGS-61617R-19 to I. Martini).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università di Bologna, Ravenna, Italy

    Simona Arrighi, Giulia Marciani, Andrea Fiorini, Federica Badino, Eugenio Bortolini, Carla Figus, Federico Lugli, Gregorio Oxilia, Matteo Romandini, Sara Silvestrini & Stefano Benazzi

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, Università di Siena, Siena, Italy

    Simona Arrighi, Giulia Marciani, Matteo Rossini, Ivan Martini, Daniele Aureli, Annamaria Ronchitelli & Adriana Moroni

  3. Centro Studi sul Quaternario, 52037, Sansepolcro, Italy

    Simona Arrighi & Adriana Moroni

  4. Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Matteo Rossini & Matteo Romandini

  5. Núcleo de Estudos Paleoambientais-NEPA, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Francisco Beltrão, Brazil

    Marcos César Pereira Santos

  6. UMR 7041 ArScAn Equipe An-TET, Université Parigi Ouest Nanterre La Défense, 92023, Nanterre, France

    Daniele Aureli

  7. C.N.R, Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Milan, Italy

    Federica Badino

  8. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Federico Lugli

  9. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

    Stefano Benazzi

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  1. Simona Arrighi
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Contributions

Conceptualisation, original draft: Simona Arrighi, Giulia Marciani, and Matteo Rossini

Experimental protocol analysis: Simona Arrighi, Matteo Rossini, Giulia Marciani, and Marcos César Pereira Santos

Use-wear analysis: Simona Arrighi

Techno-functional analysis: Giulia Marciani

Experiment: Marcos César Pereira Santos

Clast morphometry: Matteo Rossini and Ivan Martini

Raw material procurement: Daniele Aureli

RTI: Andrea Fiorini

Review and editing: Simona Arrighi, Matteo Rossini, Giulia Marciani, Marcos César Pereira Santos, Adriana Moroni, Annamaria Ronchitelli, Ivan Martini, Andrea Fiorini, Stefano Benazzi, Federica Badino, Eugenio Bortolini, Carla Figus, Federico Lugli, Gregorio Oxilia, and Matteo Romandini

Scientific direction of the research project at Castelcivita: Adriana Moroni and Annamaria Ronchitelli

Scientific direction of the ERC research project SUCCESS: Stefano Benazzi

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simona Arrighi.

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Arrighi, S., Marciani, G., Rossini, M. et al. Between the hammerstone and the anvil: bipolar knapping and other percussive activities in the late Mousterian and the Uluzzian of Grotta di Castelcivita (Italy). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 271 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01216-w

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