From the Yenisei to the Yukon: Interpreting Lithic Assemblage Variability in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Beringia

5. Identifying Pressure Flaking Modes at Diuktai Cave:

75 5. Identifying Pressure Flaking Modes at Diuktai Cave: A Case Study of the Siberian Upper Paleolithic Microblade Tradition yan axel gómez coutouly P ressure flaking to produce microblades was first identified in Siberia by J. Flenniken (1987) and has been suggested for most of the Paleolithic microblade material from northeast Asia and North America. However, different modes for the removal by pressure flaking of blades and microblades to reproduce various archaeological results have been proposed by J. Pelegrin, and these vary widely in size, from small microblades to very large blades. My purpose in this chapter is to apply his experimental data and results to the Diuktai Cave microblade assemblage to identify different modes of pressure flaking utilized at the site, or at least to propose arguments in favor or against them. This reevaluation of the Diuktai Cave microblade assemblage (Sakha Republic , eastern Siberia) and its relationship with other microblade sites of eastern Siberia is based on firsthand research on Siberian Late Paleolithic microblade sites carried out in Yakutsk and Magadan in the spring of 2007. Pressure Flaking in Experimental Replication: A Reminder of Pressure Flaking Modes Pressure flaking as a possible technique for producing blade tools was first discovered by Crabtree (1968) when trying to reproduce Mesoamerican polyhedral and prismatic obsidian blade cores after interpreting ethnographic documents on obsidian knapping by the Aztecs. After Crabtree’s demonstration of pressure flaking to some of his French colleagues in 1964 (Pelegrin 2003:55), this technique was soon identified in new archaeological contexts such as the Epipaleolithic industries from Maghreb (Tixier 1976). Since then, the production of microblades and blades has been attributed to pressure flaking in diverse geographic and chronological contexts worldwide, such as France (e.g., Binder 1984), Greece (e.g., Perlès 1984), Denmark (e.g., Callahan 1985), Turkey (e.g., BalkanAtli et al. 1999; Binder and Balkan-Atli 2001), the Arctic (e.g., Desrosiers 1999), and central Asia (Brunet 2002). In Siberia, pressure flaking was first identified by Flenniken (1987), but it has been suggested for most of the Paleolithic microblade material from northeast Asia and North America (e.g., Derevianko and Kononenko 2003; Gryba 2006; Inizan et al. 1992; Inizan et al. 1999; Kobayashi 1970; Morlan 1976; Tabarev 1997; West 1996), although Ames and Maschner (1999:65) have suggested indirect percussion as a method for producing microblades. So far, five main pressure flaking modes for removing blades and microblades have been proposed by Pelegrin to explain various archaeological cases: (1) hand-held, (2) shoulder-crutch, (3) short-crutch in sitting position, (4) crutch in standing position, and (5) with a lever device (Pelegrin 1988, in press; Pelegrin and Yamanaka 2007). Other modern flintknappers have worked on variations of these modes to attempt to reproduce the pressure flaking methods attested to in different archaeological contexts (e.g., Callahan 1985; Flenniken and Hirth 2003; Gryba 2006; Tabarev 1997). In this case study, the Paleolithic microblade industries of Siberia, interest lies in the first three modes (figure 5.1). Indeed, a crutch in standing position and with a lever device are not believed to have produced microblades and large blades in Pleistocene-age sites of northeast Asia and North America. However, the use of a crutch in standing position and the use of pressure with a lever device have been identified (Gómez Coutouly, Ph.D. thesis in progress) in other archaeological contexts in Siberia: the former has been used in various Mesolithic and Neolithic complexes, and the latter is documented, at least in one instance, in a Neolithic context. 76 Yan Axel Gómez Coutouly Unfortunately, Gryba does not provide information concerning the mean or maximal width of his microblade productions, nor does he provide information on the regularity or the breaking ratio compared to hand-held pressure flaking with longer flakers. Moreover , there were apparently no experiments to combine a short flaker and a holding device for microblade production. Based on the handful of published pictures (Gryba 2006:64), the microblades seem to range from 5 to 10 mm (most of them around 5–7.5 mm) in width. Shoulder-Crutch (Mode 2). Blade products obtained with this technique range from 4 to 10–11 mm wide and up to 50–60 mm long. Short-Crutch in Sitting Position (Mode 3). Blades obtained with this pressure flaking mode range from 4 to 12–13 mm wide and up to 70 mm long. Again, there is a gain in regularity compared with the previous mode. In each...