Examining the distribution of Middle Paleolithic Nubian cores relative to chert quality in southern (Nejd, Dhofar) and south-central (Duqm, Al Wusta) Oman

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61389005%3A_____%2F25%3A00599324" target="_blank" >RIV/61389005:_____/25:00599324 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/68081758:_____/25:00601761 RIV/67985912:_____/25:00601761

Result on the web

<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gea.22019" target="_blank" >https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gea.22019</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gea.22019" target="_blank" >10.1002/gea.22019</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Examining the distribution of Middle Paleolithic Nubian cores relative to chert quality in southern (Nejd, Dhofar) and south-central (Duqm, Al Wusta) Oman

Original language description

Lithic raw material properties are often invoked to explain the presence, absence, form, or ontogeny of Paleolithic stone tools. Here, we explore whether the frequency of the Middle Paleolithic Nubian core form and core-reduction systems co-varies with toolstone quality in two neighboring regions in Oman: the southern region of Nejd, Dhofar, and the south-central region of Duqm, Al Wusta. Specifically, we predicted that if raw material differences were influencing the distribution of Nubian cores, the chert would be of higher quality in the southern region, where Nubian cores were frequent, and of lower quality in the south-central region, where they were scarce. We tested this prediction by collecting 124 chert samples from 22 outcrops and then quantitatively assessed two geochemical variables that are widely thought to influence knapping: impurity amount and silica content. We also examined the mineralogical composition, and the crystallite size and lattice strain for quartz (crystalline alpha-SiO2) of representative chert samples. Our results suggest that the cherts in the two regions are similar, which is not consistent with the hypothesis that lithic raw material quality contributed to Nubian core spatial distribution in Oman. We discuss potential alternative hypotheses to explain Nubian core geographic patterning, and provisionally suggest that the scarcity of Nubian cores in south-central Oman may be due to a concomitant scarcity of toolmakers, given a lack of water availability.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10406 - Analytical chemistry

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Geoarchaeology: an international journal

ISSN

0883-6353

e-ISSN

1520-6548

Volume of the periodical

40

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

17

Pages from-to

e22019

UT code for WoS article

001280309200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85200041062