Papers by Timothy Lambert-Law de Lauriston
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilmen... more A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Archaeology. Johannesburg, 2015
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2015
ABSTRACT Several types of smoking pipes have been manufactured and used throughout later prehisto... more ABSTRACT Several types of smoking pipes have been manufactured and used throughout later prehistoric and historic times around the world. Although substantial information exists on the styles of these pipes, little is known about their methods of manufacture or the types of sites on which they were made. This study focuses on testing a postulated model of pipe manufacture through the experimental replication of an artifact type known as the Florence/Windom pipe, made of soft red argillite (pipestone), and the use-wear analysis of chipped stone artifacts, representative of stone tools found in association with these pipes.
Lithic Technology, 2014
ABSTRACT
Journal of Archaeological Science , May 1, 2015
Several types of smoking pipes have been manufactured and used throughout later prehistoric and h... more Several types of smoking pipes have been manufactured and used throughout later prehistoric and historic times around the world. Although substantial information exists on the styles of these pipes, little is known about their methods of manufacture or the types of sites on which they were made. This study focuses on testing a postulated model of pipe manufacture through the experimental replication of an artifact type known as the Florence/ Windom pipe, made of soft red argillite (pipestone), and the use-wear analysis of chipped stone artifacts, representative of stone tools found in association with these pipes.
Results of analyses showed that certain tool types, such as reamers, drills, tabular tools, scrapers, and gouges, were integral parts of the manufacture process. Other types, such as punches and awls, proved not to have been employed in this activity. While the model was applied to a regionally specific pipe style and raw material, we suggest that the methods and approach can easily be used generally and more broadly in the analyses of similar archaeological assemblages worldwide.
Pipe Manufacture on the Plains and Experimental Archaeology: Not Just Blowing Smoke, Jul 2014
Several types of smoking pipes have been manufactured and used by native North American peoples t... more Several types of smoking pipes have been manufactured and used by native North American peoples throughout later prehistoric and historic times. Although substantial information exists on the styles of these pipes, very little is known about their methods of manufacture. This paper examines one particular style of pipe, the Florence Pipe, associated with the proto-Wichita Great Bend peoples. A block of Minnesota pipestone was manufactured into a pipe using stone tools replicated after those found in the Robb Collection from central Kansas. This archaeological assemblage was proposed to have been used in the manufacture of Florence pipes, which was confirmed through use-wear analysis of the collection. The steps and labor requirements for the creation of Florence pipes are illuminated in this paper in a way that cannot be accomplished through archaeological analysis and use-wear analysis alone.
decolonizing" yields 425,000 results! Even a search on an "academic" search engine, such as JSTOR... more decolonizing" yields 425,000 results! Even a search on an "academic" search engine, such as JSTOR, yielded 2,672 articles, reviews, and comments, showing that decolonization is indeed a fast growing area of study. One particular "traditional" field of study that has been in need of decolonization is that of archaeology. For years archaeologists have studied the cultures and material remains of seemingly dead or extinct cultures, disregarding the wishes and thoughts of the descendant communities of these "dead" cultures about how their ancestors, and ancestral sites, should be treated, handled, represented, and studied. This sentiment has been changing in recent years though, and archaeologists trained in the modern era of post-colonial critiques are actively striving in multiple ways to "do" an archaeology that is beneficial and respectful to living descendant communities. Long gone are the days of archaeology, where archaeologists can literally rob graves, just so long as they shout "This should be in a museum" as their justification. In addition to this, the traditional joke among archeologists and anthropologists that "archaeologists become archaeologists, instead of anthropologists, so they do not have to deal with living peoples" is no longer valid, though it certainly has been in the past (personal communication, Garrick Bailey 2012).
From 2500 B.C. onward, the continent of Europe experienced changes in their societies, economies,... more From 2500 B.C. onward, the continent of Europe experienced changes in their societies, economies, and technologies that occur very rapidly, relative to the changes that occurred from the Paleolithic to Neolithic times. For thousands of years before the Late Neolithic, the life of a normal European inhabitant was the same and moved at a slow pace. Major changes occurred on the order of thousands of years, rather than the scale of hundreds of years that happened in the Bronze and Iron Ages. There is no one particular reason for the change of pace that is apparent, but rather it is a complex set of factors that caused this to happen, and this set of factors will be discussed thoroughly starting with the Early Bronze Age (EBA) and working through time to the Late Iron Age (LIA) and ending right before the start of the Roman Empire.
MSc. Dissertation by Timothy Lambert-Law de Lauriston
Large cutting tools (LCTs) are a stone tool techno-group that appeared ca. 1.76 Ma in Africa and ... more Large cutting tools (LCTs) are a stone tool techno-group that appeared ca. 1.76 Ma in Africa and marked the beginning of the Acheulean. The group is conventionally comprised of three tool types called handaxes, cleavers, and picks. The function of LCTs has only been determined through assumptions (e.g., names based on historical antecedents or assigning functional names to morpho-types) or through experimental tasks designed to determine if a particular tool type was efficient for a given task, (e.g., are handaxes conducive to butchery tasks?). To date, no extensive use-wear analysis has been carried out on African Acheulean LCTs. This is the pioneering study. Utilising a multi-stranded approach comprised of experimental archaeology, blind testing and low- power use-wear analysis the functions of a sample of LCTs from The Cave of Hearths were derived.
The Cave of Hearths (CoH) lies in the Makapan Valley in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Excavations were carried out from 1947 to 1954, and it is these excavations from which this study draws its sample. Thirty-eight handaxes and cleavers from the CoH Bed 3 Acheulean (ca. 0.5 Ma) were submitted to a low-power use-wear analysis. The results showed that a full range of tasks was performed on site including: wood- working, animal and vegetal matter processing, accompanied by digging and a number of other tasks. Corroborated by faunal analysis and an environmental reconstruction, the results suggest that the cave acted as a home camp/ residential base to the hominins that inhabited the area during the Acheulean. Additionally, evidence was found which may indicate that two of the tools were possibly hafted. If this finding is corroborated by future studies it would push back by approximately 150 Ka the earliest date previously published for hafting with Mode 3 tools.
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Papers by Timothy Lambert-Law de Lauriston
Results of analyses showed that certain tool types, such as reamers, drills, tabular tools, scrapers, and gouges, were integral parts of the manufacture process. Other types, such as punches and awls, proved not to have been employed in this activity. While the model was applied to a regionally specific pipe style and raw material, we suggest that the methods and approach can easily be used generally and more broadly in the analyses of similar archaeological assemblages worldwide.
MSc. Dissertation by Timothy Lambert-Law de Lauriston
The Cave of Hearths (CoH) lies in the Makapan Valley in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Excavations were carried out from 1947 to 1954, and it is these excavations from which this study draws its sample. Thirty-eight handaxes and cleavers from the CoH Bed 3 Acheulean (ca. 0.5 Ma) were submitted to a low-power use-wear analysis. The results showed that a full range of tasks was performed on site including: wood- working, animal and vegetal matter processing, accompanied by digging and a number of other tasks. Corroborated by faunal analysis and an environmental reconstruction, the results suggest that the cave acted as a home camp/ residential base to the hominins that inhabited the area during the Acheulean. Additionally, evidence was found which may indicate that two of the tools were possibly hafted. If this finding is corroborated by future studies it would push back by approximately 150 Ka the earliest date previously published for hafting with Mode 3 tools.
Results of analyses showed that certain tool types, such as reamers, drills, tabular tools, scrapers, and gouges, were integral parts of the manufacture process. Other types, such as punches and awls, proved not to have been employed in this activity. While the model was applied to a regionally specific pipe style and raw material, we suggest that the methods and approach can easily be used generally and more broadly in the analyses of similar archaeological assemblages worldwide.
The Cave of Hearths (CoH) lies in the Makapan Valley in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Excavations were carried out from 1947 to 1954, and it is these excavations from which this study draws its sample. Thirty-eight handaxes and cleavers from the CoH Bed 3 Acheulean (ca. 0.5 Ma) were submitted to a low-power use-wear analysis. The results showed that a full range of tasks was performed on site including: wood- working, animal and vegetal matter processing, accompanied by digging and a number of other tasks. Corroborated by faunal analysis and an environmental reconstruction, the results suggest that the cave acted as a home camp/ residential base to the hominins that inhabited the area during the Acheulean. Additionally, evidence was found which may indicate that two of the tools were possibly hafted. If this finding is corroborated by future studies it would push back by approximately 150 Ka the earliest date previously published for hafting with Mode 3 tools.