ANALYSIS AND REPLICATION OF LITHIC ARTIFACTS FROM THE SUGAR FACTORY PIER SITE, ST. KITTS

Jeff Walker Washington State University

Caribbean archaeologists have long slighted a significant auxiliary source of information—lithics from the Ceramic Age. In previous reports of Antillean sites, lithic assemblages have been ignored or only superficially analyzed. The exceptions are: 1) assemblages from aceramie sites, consisting primarily of lithic artifacts, which are thought to represent the Lithic or Archaic Ages (cf. Alegria et al. 1955; Davis 1975; Fontan et al. 1973; Kozlowski 1974; Maggiolo and Ortega 1973; Pantel 1974; Petitjean-Roget 1974; Rouse 1941) and, 2) elaborate ground stone artifacts, such as three-pointers and stone collars, which occur in Ceramic Age sites (cf. Fewkes 1907, 1922; Kay 1976; Mason 1877).

Since there has been little description or analysis of flaked stone assemblages from ceramic sites, it is difficult to determine if a particular aceramie site is indeed of preceramic age, or simply a specialized lithic workshop or quarry exploited by Ceramic Age people. Description of the lithic technology employed in the Saladoid ceramic component of the Sugar Factory Pier site (SK-SFP-1) on St. Kitts, should provide a basis for analyzing these problematic sites.

It is the intent of this paper to demonstrate the importance of studying Ceramic Age lithics and show their contribution to archaeo­logical interpretations, both independently of, and in conjunction with, interpretations based on ceramics, faunal remains and intra-site activities. This research entails analyses of the manufacturing tech­niques and functions of lithic artifacts from the Sugar Factory Pier site and incorporate ethnographic parallel as well as data from other archaeological artifact classes.

First, inferences were drawn about tool functions and use based on the ethnographic and archaeological evidence. These inferences were then tested by replicative analysis and by comparing the replicated specimens with the Sugar Factory Pier lithic assemblage which served as the aboriginal control.

Preliminary analysis of the morphology of this site's lithic assemblage indicated a bipolar manufacturing technique was employed. Bipolar flaking is a relatively unsophisticated technology for reducing stone. Crabtree (1972:42) defines the bipolar techniques as follows:

Technique of resting core, or lithic implement, on anvil and striking the core with a percussor. Contrary to popular belief, bulbs of force are not present on both ends of bipolar flakes or blades. This technique causes the cone to be shattered or severed. Cone confined to one end and is some­times sheared.

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In the Sugar Factory Pier collection, flakes tend to be straight, flat and to have crushing on either or both ends. Flake scars usually occur parallel to the long axis; at times the flakes approach small blades in morphology. Sheared and shattered cones are common. Other classes in the collection include angular chunks (shatter), as well as oval and irregular flakes. Little percussion retouch was noted and pressure flaking is completely absent.

To demonstrate that this lithic assemblage was produced by a bipolar technique, replicative analysis was conducted. In replicative analysis a present day flintknapper reproduces aboriginal examples of tools and debitage. Using identical lithic raw material, hammerstones, anvils, etc., the research duplicates the reduction methods and tool functions believed to have been employed aboriginally. This approach serves to substantiate hypotheses on manufacturing techniques and function that have initially been based primarily upon study of artifact morphology. More importantly, replicative analysis often provides new insights about lithic technologies. To demonstrate that a particular reduction sequence was employed aboriginally, the contemporary flintknapper must reproduce the same end product types and the same debitage classes as those produced aboriginally.

Observing flake morphology, hypothesizing a reduction sequence and attempting to replicate the process can be a time consuming undertaking if the worker has little idea of which reduction method was used. One important source of hypotheses about aboriginal manufacturing techniques is ethnographic parallel. Roth's (1924:279) description of the lithic reduction techniques used by the Waiwai of then British Guiana is illustrative. This account describes steps in the production and mounting of stone 'teeth* for manioc graters.

Blocks of from 10 to 50 pounds are removed, one piece of stone being broken upon another. The stone may be sometimes roasted to render it more brittle.

Flaking is now commenced in the usual manner along any convenient ridge, with the edge corner (back or front) of a broken piece of cutlass, about 6 inches long, which acts as a ' hammerstone. ' Flakes come off, as a rule, about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in width and one-sixteenth inch in thickness: and in various shapes - circular, semilunar, lanceolate, and foliate, the latter frequently with a 'shoulder.' Great care is taken to get uniformity in thickness, but width and length do not matter. Experience gives great skill in this maniupulation, and a good worker (invariably a woman) will only discard about 5 percent of her flakes. Sitting on the ground, she rests the board lengthwise on her legs extended in front, and places a flake on the free end margin of the board, using the same cutlass corner edgewise. She will, with a sharp blow at the center, smash the flake into a varying number of pieces. Of these latter only a few will be suitable for her purpose, and of these few one or perhaps two may be of the necessary shape to be driven into the board straight away, while others may

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require narrowing or pointing. To do this she securely presses the chip under her left forefinger nail, covering with it all that portion which she wishes to retain, and leaving exposed that which is not required. The latter she then pulverizes with a blow of her cutlass. By this means the chip can be limited to any size or shape desired. Her aim is to get each chip pyramidal with two opposite sides broader (more flattened) than the intervening ones (p1.67 A). When finally inserted in the board, the broader sides are fixed parallel with the long axis of the grater.

Based upon the above description and a similar one provided by Richard Wilk (personal communication 1979) for contemporary Caribs of Belize, the reduction sequence for the Sugar Factory Pier lithic assemblage has been hypothesized (Fig. 1). Technological and replicative analyses were then employed to test the validity of this model.

In the first stage of reduction a flint nodule or cobble (Fig. 2) was struck with a hammerstone (Fig. 3a), either by direct free-hand percussion, or by the bipolar technique resting the cobble on an anvil (Fig. 3b). The choice of method for removing the first flakes depended on nodule size, shape and thickness of cortex. Direct free-hand per­cussion resulted in the production of cortical flakes (Fig. 4), some of which were saved for use as flake tools (Fig. 1). A bipolar action resulted in the production of split cobble cores (Figs. 1; 5) and/or large cortical flakes. The results of this initial reduction stage were sorted into flakes to be used as tools and materials suitable for further reduction. In the second stage, the split cobble cores and some of the cortical flakes were further reduced by either method of flake removal. This involved repeated blows with the hammerstone and produced numerous secondary flakes (Figs. 6; 7). As the fragment being worked became smaller, it was increasingly more practical to use the bipolar technique. Products were either saved for use as tools (Fig. 6), or further altered in a third step. This final reduction stage was conducted on an anvil by a bipolar action, and consisted of pointing and shaping flakes for use as 'teeth' in a manioc grater board (Fig 9 ) . Debitage in the form of flakes having excessive cortex, shatter, and flakes too small to be used (Fig. 10 a,b,c respectively) were produced at all stages of this sequence. Some of the cortical and secondary flakes were later employed in a variety of tasks—cutting, sawing, peeling, scraping and planing.

A diagnostic side product of bipolar reduction was one or more exhausted cores (Fig. 8). These cores were typically crushed on both ends with two or more flake scars on either face perpendicular to the crushed surfaces; in the literature these are often confused with PIECES ESQUILLIES. They are usually produced during the second stage of reduction. There was some variance between this proposed sequence and that described by Roth (1924:279), as bipolar reduction began much earlier in the above sequence. Differences in the raw materials used by the Waiwai and the aboriginal Kittians, such as size, shape, cortex and flakeability, probably account for this discrepancy.

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The preliminary morphological analysis of the archaeological lithic artifacts revealed a high incidence of bipolar flakes and cores. After completing the replication experiments of the bipolar techniques, the products and debitage were compared with the archaeological controls. The close morphological resemblance of these two sets of lithics, the replicated examples and the archaeological controls, indicates the bipolar technology was employed aboriginally. In the archaeological collection there are specimens representing each reduction stage and, morphologically they can be easily matched with replicated examples; compare groups labeled A, archaeological, and R, replicated (Figs. 4 -10). Furthermore, the replication served to sequentially order the archaeological specimens by providing the reduction sequence, as products of each successive stage are distinguishable by their own set of morphological attributes.

Ethnographic analogy may also aid in establishing stone tool functions as well as reconstrucing production technology. Several potential tool functions have been suggested above. Archaeological and ethnographic examples of stone-toothed manioc graters are reported by Harrington (1921:57,98) from the Greater Antilles. Ethnographic, archaeological and historical sources all indicate a well developed woodworking complex from the Antilles—duhos, batons, canoes, etc.; presumably stone as well as shell implements were employed here. Archaeological specimens such as engraved and drilled shell and stone suggest further uses of stone tools.

Replicative analysis can be taken one step further and employed to identify suspected functions of stone tools. Semenov (1964) wrote an early work on ' traces of wear and use, * but many more recent studies have provided additional information (Brose 1975; Tringham et al. 1974; Walker 1978). Most illuminating with regard to this study is Davis's (1975) simulation of a grater board with obsidian teeth. His study was concerned with an Ocos phase site in coastal Guatemala. It differs from this research in that he did not actually do replicative analysis; his raw material was from an unknown source and he was unconcerned with the reduction sequence and its resultant products.

Determining function by replicative analysis requires the use of replicated tools to produce tasks thought to have been undertaken by aboriginal peoples. A binocular microscope or scanning electron microscope is used to observe the use-wear patterns created. If the use-wear patterns on the replicated tools closely resemble those on the archaeological controls, the researcher can state that the replicated uses are among those that would have been employed by the aboriginal tool-users.

I have replicated tools and employed them in the following tasks: peeling and grating tubers, sawing, whittling and planing wood, and engraving shell. As yet the results are not quantified, but examples of use-wear similar to that produced on the replicated examples by each of these tasks has been observed on the stone tools from the Sugar Factory Pier site. An investigator must exercise some caution when attributing

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function to a tool. The exact function cannot be known because dif­ferent tasks do produce similar use-wear patterns (Flenniken and Haggarty, in press). Secondly, one must be able to distinguish use-wear from attributes produced during tool manufacture. Thirdly, as a modern researcher, I am not skilled in prehistoric tool use; therefore, cutting actions, direction and angle of pull, etc., may differ from those used aboriginally.

Replication experiments demonstrated that the bipolar sequence was an unsophisticated, but highly efficient method of producing flakes well suited to manioc graters. They were straight, flat and required little modification before being inserted as grater teeth. Curved and thin flakes proved to be unacceptable as grater teeth because of their tendency to snap during grating. The reduction sequence also produced flakes well suited for other jobs believed to have been undertaken prehistorieally.

The Antiguan flint used in replicating artifacts (Figs. 4-10, R), and the lithic material most used in artifcacts from the Sugar Factory Pier archaeological site (Figs. 4-10, A), are very similar in appearance. Close inspection of these two groups of material reveals that they are nearly identifical in color, cortex, nodule size, texture and in the patterns of colors—swirls, bands, etc. Lithic raw material was collected on St. Kitts from the beach near the site, from the big Salt Pond area and at Majors Bay, but the nodules were usually small, coarse and of different hues than seen in the above mentioned flint. Unless there is another source of flint on St. Kitts, there is either trade for Antiguan flint or the prehistoric Kittians transported flint from Antigua. Pétrographie analysis will be conducted to determine the source of the archaeological flint.

In addition to ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts, examination of the Sugar Factory Pier site assemblage provided additional clues as to how stone tools may have been used. Engraved and drilled artifacts of shell, bone and stone present in the collection may have been worked with stone tools. Pottery was most likely burnished with smoothing stones and some Sugar Factory Pier specimens show striations like one would expect from this activity. The evidence for manioc cultivation, present in the form of clay griddles, supports the identification of some lithic items as stone grater teeth. Interestingly, there is also negative evidence: Elisabeth Wing (personal communication 1979) noted no butchering marks on the agouti bones, suggesting they were not dismembered with stone tools.

By integrating the above data, a clearer and more cohesive under­standing of how the prehistoric Kittians exploited their environment has been set forth. It has been shown that the replicative and functional analyses of Sugar Factory Pier lithics can generate supportive evidence about site activities, subsistence patterns, and potentially, trade networks. Furthermore, reconstruction of systems of lithic tool pro­duction and use from Ceramic Age sites will allow aceramic assemblages to be better evaluated. This should allow us, for example, to better

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distinguish between Ceramic Age lithic workshop sites, and those that are truly aceramic. It is hoped this study has demonstrated the relevance of replicative analysis of lithics from the Ceramic Age and will stimulate this line of inquiry throughout the Antillean area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to thank the people and Government of St. Kitts-Nevis for their willing cooperation, hospitality and foresight. I am also grateful to the following individuals: Desmond Nicholson and David Watters for providing the Antiguan flint; Bob Mierendorf for illustrating the flow chart; Mike Short for the photography; Bill Lipe for guidance and final editing; and Jeff Flenniken for his continued interest, input and encouragement through all stages of the research.

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21:113-121.

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the Role of Animal Fats. AMERICAN ANTIQUITY 40:86-96.

Crabtree, Don 1972 An Introduction to Flintworking. OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE

IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM No. 28. Pocatello, Idaho.

Davis, Dave 1974 Some Notes Concerning the Archaic Occupation of Antigua.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH INTNL CONG. FOR THE STUDY OF PRE-COL. CULT. OF THE LESS. ANTL., pp. 65-71.

1975 Patterns of Early Formative Subsistence in Southern Mesoamerica, 1500-1100 B.C. MAN 10:41-59.

Fewkes, Jesse Walter

1907 The Aborigines of Puerto Rico and Neighboring Islands. 25TH ANN. REPT. OF THE B.A.E. Wash., D.C.

1922 A Prehistoric Island Culture Area of America. 34TH ANN. REPT. OF THE B.A.E. Wash., D.C.

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1979 Trampling as an Agent in the Formation of Edge Damage: An Experiment in Lithic Technology. NORTHWEST ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH NOTES. In press.

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Fontan, Nelsa Trinsado, Nilceta Castellanos Castellanos and Gloria Sosa Montalvo

1973 ARQUEOLOGÍA DE SARDINERO. Sección Editorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba.

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SIXTH INTNL. CONG. FOR THE STUDY OF PRE-COL. CULT. OF THE LESS. ANTL., pp. 187-199.

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Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego CCCLXXXVI Prace Archelogiczne Z. 20. Warsa.

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posible relación con otros puntos del area Antillana. MUSEO DEL HOMBRE DOMINICANO, PAPELES OCASIONALES, No. 1.

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National Museum, at Washington, D.C. ANN. REPT. SMITHSON. INST, 1876, pp. 372-393-

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Tringham, Ruth, Glenn Cooper, George Odell, Barbara Voytek, and Anne Whitman

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43:710-715.

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BIPOLAR REDUCTION SEQUENCE SUGAR FACTORY PIER, ST KITTS

HAMMERSTONE / I '

À.

V w

COBBLE

— q

3

FREEHAND f i

OR BIPOLAR '

SPLIT CORE

ANVIL

CORTICAL FLAKE TOOL

BIPOLAR

SECONDARY FLAKE

/ V

i SECONDARY

FLAKE TOOL

i ' 1

BIPOLAR ->

m st,J7

EXHAUSTED CORE

WW DEBITAGE

GRAT

s

Figure 2: Flint nodules,

b Figure 3: a. Hammerstone

b. Anvil

Figure 4: Cortical flakes. Figure 5: Split cobble cores.

A - Aboriginal, R - Replicated

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R

fit Figure 6: Secondary flake

tools.

fill R !i£t

M t Figure 7: Secondary flakes suitable for reduction into grater teeth.

(Ml R MM

Figure 8: Exhausted bipolar Figure 9 : Grater teeth.

a b V.

R r;• s », Figure 10: Debitage -

a. excessive cortex b. shatter c. too small

A - Aboriginal B - Replicated

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