A Wasted Effort at the Quarry: Wear Analysis and Interpretation of an MSA Lanceolate Point from Taramsa-8, Egypt

Abstract

The results of a wear analysis on a broken lanceolate point from an early Upper Pleistocene workshop site at Taramsa 8 (Upper Egypt) are presented. The point was found in the fill of a chert exploitation pit, in association with its shaping flakes. Our analysis leads to the conclusion that this item was hafted before it received its final shaping. At this stage in its production sequence, the point was accidentally fractured at the edge of the hafting arrangement and was, consequently, never used. This single activity event provides evidence for the inclusion of composite tool production in the chaîne opératoire at early Nubian Complex workshops. Some larger implications, such as the evolution of socio-economic organization and behavioral complexity during the Middle Stone Age of Northeast Africa, are discussed.