in particularly low frequencies (Table 5.1). As a result, the small limestone assemblages often do not allow in-depth analysis for each of the archaeological layers, and hence only layers that yielded a minimal number of 10 limestone artifacts (larger than 2 cm) are included in the following analysis. These layers display varying frequencies of limestone product categories – cores and core-tools (CCT), flakes and flake-tools (FFT), and only rarely handaxes (HX) or cleavers (CL). Microartifacts (smaller than 2 cm) occur in higher frequencies than all of the above categories (Table 5.1).

As for the origin of the limestone nodules, they were apparently transported into the site by Acheulean occupants. Although there are sedimentary limestone rocks in the vicinity of the site (the Pliocene Gadot Formation), these are usually marly (soft) and characterized by a hard crust on the exposures’ upper surfaces. They are unsuitable for knapping, and hence the limestone artifacts of GBY are foreign to the lake margin sediments (Feibel 2001), therefore the origin of the limestone raw material should be searched elsewhere. According to Belitzky (2002), four Early-Middle Pleistocene fluvial systems drained the sedimentary rocks of the Galilee

into the Benot Ya'aqov Embayment, depositing limestone clasts suitable in morphology and size for knapping. Such limestone components were documented during a survey of the terraces of the southernmost fluvial system.

Typology of Limestone Artifacts

Cores and Core-Tools

The typological classification of the cores and core-tools (CCTs) shows that percussors (hammerstones), modified artifacts, and chopping tools form the bulk of the assemblage, while cores occur in very low frequencies (Table 5.2).

Percussors

The typological classification of percussors is based on their general morphology, i.e., cortical cobbles ranging from flat to globular in form, and on the presence of impact signs on their

surfaces and/or edges. Two distinct groups can be identified within the assemblage of percussors originating in the excavated archaeological horizons (N = 34). Percussion marks resulting from impact on hard materials (e.g., during knapping and retouching) occur on 32 artifacts. Items of this group of knapping percussors, percuteurs de taille (de Beaune 2000), are often flat and rounded (6–9 in the roundness scale of 1–9: Krumbein 1941). Their flat morphology ranges from flat discs (44 % of the cases) to plano-convex (sub-discoid) cobbles (52 %). The impact signs on these knapping percussors vary in intensity from minimal pecking traces to extensive weathering of the surface and/or edges. They are located mainly on the narrow edges (in 61.54 % of the cases) and to a lesser extent (38.46 %) on both the edges and the large semi-flat surfaces of the artifacts (Fig. 5.1).

The second group of percussors is very small and differs distinctly from the first. It comprises five artifacts, two originating in the excavated archaeological horizons (Layer II-6 Level 7) and the rest in the unconformity of Area B (N = 2) and in the excavation of Trench II (N = 1). These percussors are characterized by signs of heavy wear (battering, crushing, flaking, pounding), which damaged the original morphology and clearly resulted from heavy and repeated blows inflicted on a very hard surface. In addition, the damaged area is associated with intensive scars, typical of spontaneous flake removals and shattering. Such scars generally exhibit very shallow surfaces that on the one hand lack the distinctive depressions left by bulbs of percussion, but on the other hand are very rugged and unevenly broken (Fig. 5.2). It is evident that both features (battering and

shattering) derived from actions that used an extensive, violent force, most probably blows repeatedly inflicted on the same hard surface. These artifacts are classified as percuteurs de concassage (de Beaune 2000; see also percuteurs de fracturation in Soressi et al. 2011) rather than percuteurs de taille, as no knapper would use a percussor with such an uneven surface. We refrain from using the terminology of Mora and de la Torre (2005) or de la Torre (2011) “active hammerstones with fracture angles”, but rather find de Beaune’s (2000) terminology more precise. According to de Beaune, percuteurs de concassage are usually larger (“volumineux”) and exhibit pronounced impact signs resulting from far stronger actions than those of regular percussors used for knapping.

Analysis of the few limestone percuteurs de concassage from GBY demonstrates that, like the knapping percussors, they exhibit a relatively rounded-flat morphology (either flat discs or plano-convex). The damage signs, however, occur in all cases on both the edges and the surfaces of the percussors and result in far more scars than those observed on the knapping percussors (mean number of scars: 11.6 vs. 2.9). Despite the general morphological similarity of the percuteurs de concassage to the knapping percussors, they are slightly larger (mean dimensions in cm – length: 9.78 vs. 9.03, width: 8.72 vs. 7.36, thickness: 6.24 vs. 5.06, circumference: 30.7 vs. 27.02).

As for their cultural affinities, there seems to be no connection between the occurrence of percuteurs de concassage

and specific cultural entities. These artifacts are recorded in the Oldowan and the Developed Oldowan (where they are termed “active hammerstones with fracture angles”: Mora and de la Torre 2005), in the Acheulean (de la Torre 2011), and in non-Acheulean Lower Paleolithic assemblages (e.g., Rufo et al. 2009). In terms of function, the unique damage signs of the percuteurs de concassage, in which they do not resemble any other percussion tool, enable the proposition of a variety of possible functions. In addition, unlike Mora and de la Torre (2005), we can be more precise in addressing the function of these percussors because of the variety of finds found in association with each other on the archaeological horizons of GBY:

(1)Knapping: considering their rugged and uneven surfaces, it is unlikely that they were used for knapping, which requires a surface that is convex but smooth rather than uneven. Furthermore, the powerful pounding that eventually changed the artifacts’ morphology contrasts with the limited impact typical of lithic knapping.

(2)Nut cracking: the presence of pitted anvils at GBY has enabled a better understanding of the cracking of different types of nuts, also recovered from the archaeological levels (Goren-Inbar et al. 2002a). The pits that were formed on the anvils are usually small, shallow and rounded in form, and no damage signs are exhibited elsewhere. Percuteurs de concassage, however, demonstrate the employment of great force that is not focused on a small, limited surface. The characteristics of

the working edge of the percuteurs de concassage are not suitable for the focal pounding required for nut cracking.

(3)Wood working: Mora and de la Torre (2005) suggested that percuteurs de concassage were used for wood working. The GBY excavations did indeed uncover a preserved wood assemblage, including a worked (polished) wooden artifact (Belitzky et al. 1991) suggesting that wood working was carried out at the site. However, the use of percuteurs de concassage for wood working is not feasible in the context of GBY. The wood identification at GBY provided a list of 26 Mediterranean species of trees, bushes, and climbers (Goren-Inbar et al. 2002b). Of these, the oaks (Quercus sp.) are the hardest species but are not massive enough to produce such an extensive damage pattern as that observed on the limestone percussors. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that no pounding damage signs have been identified on the logs and wood fragments from the site.

(4)Bone cracking: de Beaune (2000) noted that percussors are often identified as flint knapping percussors, while

they were actually used for bone fragmentation. The globular morphology of the percuteurs de concassage and the dullness of their edges suggest they were

indeed used for recurrent battering during prolonged sessions of bone fragmentation (Célérier and Kervazo 1988 in de Beaune 2000:61). At GBY, there is great variability in the frequencies of faunal remains in the different archaeological horizons, two of which are extremely rich and display the highest quantities, density, and taxonomic diversity at the site (Rabinovich et al. 2008, 2012). A separate faunal occurrence is an elephant skull with extensive pounding damage marks around its nasal foramen. The skull bears signs of

pounding and cracking for marrow extraction (e.g., Goren-Inbar et al. 1994, pl. II, 102) and is associated with numerous small skull fragments (Goren-Inbar et al. 1994). The presence of fragmented bones of large mammals (e.g., elephants, rhinoceros, bovids, hippos) at GBY suggests that percuteurs de concassage were instrumental in the process of bone cracking.

While it is clear that the two groups of percussors – knapping and battering – differ distinctly from one another, they are both classified as percussors. The typological category of percussors at GBY includes two artifacts exhibiting signs of both knapping and battering damage on their edges and surfaces. These two cases illustrate that certain percussors were used for knapping as well as battering during their life history. The location of the damage signs, however, does not allow us to determine the order of percussion functions for these artifacts.

The Typological “Life History”

of Percussors

In addition to the two percussors discussed above, the GBY limestone assemblage includes artifacts that were classified under two typological categories, being defined as a knapping percussor and assigned to an additional category as well. The necessity of such dual typological classification derives from the occurrence of percussion marks (i.e., damaged edges/surfaces) on other artifacts. Of the entire limestone CCT assemblage (N = 114), 24 items that were not typologically defined as percussors exhibit percussion marks. These include 15 items classified as “modified”, six chopping tools, two percuteurs de concassage and a discoid. The presence of these artifacts in the limestone assemblage illustrates their exploitation as knapping percussors in earlier stages of their life histories. These items are remnants of the reduction sequence in which percussors were transformed into other core-tools, and it is clear that percussion marks could not have been preserved on items (e.g., cores) that had undergone further modification, removing most of their original outer surface.

Modified Artifacts

Modified artifacts (cobbles with a maximum of three flake scars and no working edges and/or platforms) are the largest category of CCTs in the limestone assemblage (N = 35; Table 5.2). As discussed above, 15 modified artifacts exhibit percussion damage on their edges and/or surfaces, suggesting their use as percussors (Fig. 5.3). As some 42 % of the modified artifacts exhibit percussion (knapping) damage, it is likely that the remaining scarred modified artifacts had

Fig. 5.3 Limestone modified artifact, scar resulting from spontaneous shattering (#7354 Trench II; scale = 1 cm)