| Lithic objects are essential tools for prehistoric occupantss.Research has shown that starch residues on lithic artifacts represent one of the most important pieces of evidence for exploring the function and use-pattern of stone tools and reconstructing the paleoenvironment,diet and subsistence strategies of ancient populations.Fenghuangzui Site(111°59′20.39″E,32°14′42.67″N,with the highest elevation of94 m asl)is located in Yanying Village and Qianwang Village,Longwang Town,Xiangzhou District,Xiangyang City,Hubei Province.Situated in the middle reaches of the Han River and the southern margin of the Nanyang Basin,the site is an important central settlement in the late Neolithic period of the Nanyang Basin.For over twenty years,Hubei Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology,in conjunction with the School of History of Wuhan University,Xiangyang Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology,has conducted several large-scale excavations at the site.The present thesis conducts a preliminary study of more than 400 lithic artifacts excavated by the School of History of Wuhan University in 2018-2020,and selects a batch of lithic artifacts with clear typological and distinctive characteristics to extract residue samples.The analytical steps are the followings: first,observe the chipping traces and grinding traces on lithic artifacts,distinguish the chipping and grinding behaviors during the lithic production process.According to the characteristics of the lithic artifacts,these lithics can be divided into four categories with the help of theories of “technological analysis” and “techno-functional analysis”: lithic artifacts with chipping traces and polishing traces,lithic artifacts with only polishing traces,lithic artifacts with only chipping traces,and lithic artifacts without either chipping traces or polishing traces.Then,taking the using areas such as cutting edges,grinding parts,hammering parts,and other parts as the priorities for observation and analysis,these lithic artifacts are classified and described according to their morphologies and types.Finally,discussthe use and management strategies of stone tools by the Neolithic residents of Fenghuangzui.After completing the technological classification,we select 40 lithic artifacts for starch granules extraction in laboratory.These lithic artifacts are mainly divided into three categories.The first category includes tools using the cutting edges as the main contact parts,including polished stone tools such as stone axes and adzes,as well as flake tools and block tools with potential active techno-functional units;The second category is lithic artifacts mainly used with surfaces including grinding slab,pestles,hammering tools,and digging tools.The third category belongs to lithic artifacts with unknown functions.The present research provides a new case study for the analysis of starch granules in the middle Neolithic sites in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.The results of starch analysis indicate that:1.The starch granules on the surface of the lithic artifacts show a high degree of similarity with those of millet,roots and tubers,nut and weed.This result reflects the diversity of food sources of the inhabitants of the Fenghuangzui site.While developing rice farming and planting millet,they also collected wild roots and tubers,nuts and weeds for consumption.2.Tools identified through techno-functional analysis have indeed been used.Stone axe was a versatile tool,and stone adze was also used as an agricultural tool.Grinding slab and pestle are used in combination to process the roots and tubers of plants and the threshing of millet crops.3.During the production of stone tools,the ancestors of Fenghuangzui could not only adopt systematical shaping and polishing methods to produce tools and tool-blanks with cobbles and fragments but also retouch simple flakes to obtain cutting edges directly.This study integrating the techno-functional analysis of stone tools and starch granule analysis provides new approaches to studying Neolithic lithic artifacts.Combining these two methods can improve our understanding of the function and usepattern of lithic artifacts unearthed in the Neolithic sites,which contributes a new potential approach to exploring the complexity of ancient populations’ cognition and behaviors. |
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