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Chair: Verenice Heredia

"Keeping What Works: The Continued Use of Stone Tools in the Eastern Mediterranean over Time"
P. Nick Kardulias , College of Wooster


El Colegio de Michoacán A.C. © 2013 - Martínez de Navarrete 505, Las Fuentes, 59699
Zamora Michoacán, México. Tel. +52 (351) 515 7100 Ext. 2312 y 2308. E-mail: coloquio@colmich.edu.mx

SUMMARY (11:30 – 12:00)

Keeping What Works: The Continued Use of Stone Tools in the Eastern Mediterranean over Time

Stone tools have served a major role in human survival since their initial introduction over 2.5 million years ago. In part because of their lack of plasticity (compared to ceramics, for example), lithics exhibited relatively little change over long periods of time. This rigidity of form also conferred great benefits on lithics. With some modification, various stones could make extremely useful implements for cutting, scraping, drilling, incising, and abrading, grinding, or crushing various materials, even when compared to tools provided by new technologies. Indeed, both flaked and ground stone tools persisted over long periods even as new materials and technologies were introduced because their relatively low cost and high durability provided on-going value for people. Specifically, I have looked at the continuation of lithic technology from the end of the prehistoric period (Bronze Age) into subsequent historical phases (Archaic, Classical, Roman, Byzantine) in the eastern Mediterranean region. In some instances, such as with threshing sledges and the use of millstones to grind grains, the technology persisted well into the 20th century, and I also present examples of this phenomenon. The concepts that underlie this technological persistence are strategic thinking and economizing behavior on the part of people in cultures past and present.

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P. NICK KARDULIAS

P. Nick Kardulias is Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, and also Chair of the Program in Archaeology at the College of Wooster. His research interests include the analysis of stone tools (examination involving macroscopic and microscopic techniques), specifically as they relate to the study of agriculture and their role in craft specialization in ancient cultures, and the use of world-systems analysis and evolutionary theory in archaeological contexts. He has participated in and directed survey, excavation, and ethnoarchaeological projects in Greece, Cyprus, and the United States. Among his publications are six edited volumes, a monograph (From Classical to Byzantine: Social Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Fortress at Isthmia, Greece, 2005, Archaeopress), and over sixty articles and chapters in books. In 2002, he received the National Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the Archaeological Institute of America. In 2012 he was President of the Central States Anthropological Society. He is a life member of the American Anthropological Association, Archaeological Institute of America, Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, and Sigma Xi.

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