Stone Tools

We've now begun a bit of community service.  The aim is to digitize the prehistoric artifact collection at the UCAD Archaeology Lab.  The intent is to systematically work our way through the collection, site by site, photographing a cross-section of the artifacts.  It will take months, if not longer.  It's a large collection.  The work benefits the lab, providing a digitized record, available to visiting researchers and teacher outreach;  and it benefits my students, who will assist in the work, and I will certainly use the images in our study of human ancestry generally, and the prehistory of the Cap Vert Peninsula specifically.  The second photo from the top is an example of what will come out of this project.

Ile de Madeleine has an abundance of Neolithic shell middens and pottery shards.  Last Sunday, after ROVing, I explored middens looking for stone tools, or stone tool candidates.  Though my eye is largely naive and untrained, I did find a number of possible tools, including the two above, with evidence of faceting.  My sense is that they are present in abundance.