Gadi Herzlinger E-mail: svampfest0@gmail.com M.A. thesis topic: Individual Patterns of Knapping on Experimental Handaxes Advisor: Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar

Abstract:

The Handaxe is a bifacial tool commonly produced and used during the Lower Palaeolithic. It can be found throughout the old world and is indicative of the Acheulian techno-complex. The production of a handaxe is a complex process which requires a great amount of skill and experience. Ethnographic studies and experimental works have demonstrated that the knapping technique used in stone tools production can vary greatly among different cultures and even different knappers.
This study uses the advantages of a 3-D optical scanner as well as statistical analyses in order to examine handaxes produced by different modern knappers. The aim of this research is to establish a quantitative method for identification of unique "fingerprints" of each knapper. Considering that such a method could be applied to actual archaeological assemblages, it can provide prehistoric research with a better understanding of the professionalism of stone tools production in the Lower Paleolithic.

Projects:

• The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov: multidisciplinary research project based on excavations carried out in 1989-1997 (directed by Prof. N. Goren-Inbar)
• Excavations at the open-air Middle Paleolithic site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet
• Experiment with down-slope movement of flint flakes

Research interests:

• Taphonomy and post-depositional processes
• Experimental archaeology
• Flint knapping
• Lithic Industries of the Lower Paleolithic in the Levant