P.R.B. Kozowyk
15 records found
1
Authored
Complicating the debate
Evaluating the potential of gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry for differentiating prehistoric aceramic tar production techniques
Birch bark tar was used extensively throughout human history. While later ceramic-based production technologies are known, prehistoric aceramic techniques leave little to no archaeological evidence. Experimental tar production attempts to fill this gap and suggest potential te ...
Archaeological findings prove the appearance and use of birch bark tar since the Middle Palaeolithic. The production and use of birch bark tar and pine wood tar has overlapped since at least the late Neolithic, but probably for much longer. The reliable chemical identification ...
The dynamic lives of osseous points from Late Palaeolithic/Early Mesolithic Doggerland
A detailed functional study of barbed and unbarbed points from the Dutch North Sea
We implement a method from computer sciences to address a challenge in Paleolithic archaeology: how to infer cognition differences from material culture. Archaeological material culture is linked to cognition, and more complex ancient technologies are assumed to have required ...
Identifying Palaeolithic birch tar production techniques
Challenges from an experimental biomolecular approach
The intentional production of birch bark tar by European Neanderthals as early as 190,000 years ago plays an important role in discussions about the technological and behavioural complexity of Pleistocene hominins. However, research is hampered because it is currently unknown ...
Technological processes, reconstructed from the archaeological record, are used to study the evolution of behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals and early modern humans. In comparisons, technologies that are more complex infer more complex behaviour and cognition. The manufac ...
Reply to Schmidt et al.
Interpretation of Paleolithic adhesive production: Combining experimental and paleoenvironmental information
Adhesive production is one of the earliest forms of transformative technology, predating ceramics and metallurgy by over 150,000 years. The study of the adhesives used by Neandertals and early modern humans currently plays a significant role in debates about human technologica ...
The use of adhesives for hafting stone tools at least 191 ka was a major technological development. Stone tools could be more securely attached to handles, thus improving their efficiency and practicality. To produce functional adhesives required forethought and planning, as w ...