Ron Popeil? What am I, chopped liver???
Posted on 08/31/2010 6:53:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Minuscule flakes made from recycled flint were identified at the late Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave in Israel (Figure 1), dated to 400-200 thousand years ago (kya) (Barkai et al. 2003; Gopher et al. In press). Our ongoing research at this exceptionally well-preserved site indicates that it was repeatedly occupied by early hominins, ancestral to Homo sapiens and/or Neanderthals (Hershkovitz et al. In press), who left ample evidence of their lifestyle. Our analysis of the tiny flakes (Figure 2) suggests that they were used to cut meat.
The occupants of Qesem Cave produced innovative flint tools, and in particular sharp flint blade knives, using cutting-edge technology of the time (Barkai et al. 2009). They hunted cooperatively, bringing body-parts of fallow deer back to the cave, which were then butchered, shared (Stiner et al. 2009), and -- as suggested by fire usage throughout the cave's 7.5m-deep stratigraphy -- eventually barbecued. Microscopic use-wear analysis of flint artefacts from Qesem Cave, complemented by experimental replication work, revealed that a diversified assemblage of flint blades was manufactured and used. Thick-edged blades, shaped through retouch, were used for scraping semi-hard materials such as wood or hide, whereas blades with straight, sharp working edges were used to cut soft tissues (Lemorini et al. 2006). Functional studies point to short-lived usage of these meat-cutting blades, which were hardly ever re-sharpened for further use. This behaviour was evidently sustained by an innovative systematic blade production technology, providing a constant supply of fresh cutting edges (Barkai et al. 2009).
(Excerpt) Read more at antiquity.ac.uk ...
Ron Popeil? What am I, chopped liver???
Well, the truth is, these stone chips were *made* by the Ginsu prototype, which is still in use 400,000 years later — and it has *never* been sharpened.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1930666/posts?page=12#12
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0009&L=language&P=197
Protech Godson
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