PPT Slide

We tested the usefulness of patination and abrasion for distinguishing between MSA and Kintampo artifacts by analysisng a group of artifacts for technological and condition attributes. Cataloguers, including undergraduate students and inexperienced analysts, had classified all of these artifacts as patinated.

The results show that there is general consistency in the classifications made by different cataloguers. Only two pieces were classified as “Light Brown”

normally assumed to be unpatinated and one piece was classified as unmodified with respect to surface condition. The group of artifacts did show some

variation with respect to the degree of rounding or abraision of edges (Table 1).

Preliminary Sorting

Work on bipolar assemblages from other Kintampo Sites has shown that typical

flakes with defined platforms and bulbs were uncommon, but bruising, battered scar

edges, step and hinge fractures below the platform and platforms broken by

step fractures were frequent. These attributes also occur in freehand percussion as the

result of misaimed blows and other errors, but they occur with less frequency than in

bipolar production.

If all artifacts were contemporary, we would expect the attributes of bipolar technology to be found equally among artifacts made of both the patinated, brown mudstone and the unpatinated, bluish-grey mudstone. However, bipolar attributes rarely occur in patinated raw material (Table 2)

Technology

We examined objects with markers of bipolar reduction for patination, colour and abrasion in order to determine if there was a correlation between artifacts that were made using bipolar technology and those with less patination or of particular colours. Step and hinge fracturing on the dorsal face of the artifact below the platform was encountered more frequently than any other marker. Table 3 shows the percent distribution of different colour and patination types for artifacts with and without hinge and step fractures below the platform. Of 201 artifacts, only 12% (n=25) had hinge and step fractures on the dorsal surface. Although hinging occurs on artifacts of all colour and patina types it is more frequent on artifacts with less patination (Table 3).

The sample includes a few artifacts that appear to be unweathered

based on colouring and patination but the two artifacts that were

classified as “light brown” both show bruising. The two artifacts

that are apparently without patination include one with hinge

fracturing below the platform and one without any markers of

bipolar technology

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