Long distance provenance and distribution of raw materials used in stone tools production: Case studies

Abstract

Studies about the provenance of lithic raw materials along Prehistoric times have been receiving increased interest and attention from the archaeological community for a long time. Among others, the type of stones used, their sources, the methods and techniques implemented in their exploitation, the condition in which they were transported and arrived to the consumption places, the existing links among lithic tools producers and consumers, have been some of the most relevant issues approached in these investigations. In this session, we will focus the long distance origin, exploitation and distribution of raw materials used in the production of stone tools in any chronology or region prior the metallurgy. We will especially accept papers and posters where specific case studies attested the existence of a long distance between the original natural sources and the place of discard. All types of raw materials will be considered as long as they were used to produce stone-tools, knapped or polished. We would like to discuss issues such as the routs of raw materials circulation, the morphology of the transported products, the possible existence of exchange networks, thus the presentations should stress how the analysis of the raw materials was the mean to allow to propose interpretations about the economy and social organization of the pre-metallurgic Prehistoric societies.