Organizacija litičke proizvodnje na nalazištu Campanož u kontekstu srednjega paleolitika jadranske regije

In archaeological contexts, lithic technology is often seen an informative source about various aspects of human behaviour. The relationship between lithic technology and land use systems during the Middle Palaeolithic is a well-documented phenomenon. The aim of this thesis is to study the organization of production and the economy of lithic artifacts at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Campanož. Furthermore, the goal of the paper is to understand the relationship between the organization of production and economy, and the mobility patterns and land use systems of the groups that used the site, framed within the context of the known Middle Palaeolithic behaviour on the Adriatic. Campanož is a stratified open-air site located in the southern part of the Istrian Peninsula, found in association with a natural source of stone raw material. The site was excavated in 2010 and 2011, revealing a rich assemblage of more than 100.000 chert finds, among which artefacts were found. More than 6.000 artefacts were recognized among the finds, and among these a sample of about 1.500 finds was selected for analysis. The theoretical background of the research was based on an approach combining aspects of chaîne opératoire, technological organization, and human behavioural ecology. Borrowing concepts from these approaches, theoretical assumptions were made about the relationship between the use of the chert source and the characteristics of the resulting artefact assemblage. The research was conducted through techno-typological analysis, while also utilizing results from taphonomic and raw material analyses. More specifically, quantitative-based attribute analysis of the artefacts was combined with a techno-economic analysis, as well as a classification of cores according to a reading of the flaking orientations, their chronological relationships and the roles of different core parts in the reduction process. The results of the analysis show that the varieties of raw material used at the site mainly came from the source itself. The raw materials are residual, as they were released into the soil by the dissolution of the underlying limestone and subsequently exposed on the surface by erosional processes, thereby becoming available to hominin exploitation. The entire reduction process, from core decortication to the retouching of tools, was conducted on-site. Cortical elements are well represented and show that both whole and fragmented pieces of raw material were used. Raw materials of different shapes were used, and examples of nodules, lenticular nodules, thin platy pieces and fosill sponges. There is a variation among the raw material in terms of silicification, and the better-quality raw materials make up only a minor part of the entire assemblage. The differences in reduction among artefacts can, among other things, be linked to variations in the quality of the raw material. Cores were discarded at different stages of reduction, which included cores in the strict sense, as well as cores on flakes. The ways of producing flakes were diverse, with discoid and centripetal methods predominating. Less common were secant alternating orthogonal, unidirectional unifacial, orthogonal unifacial, multidirectional multiplatfom, and volumetric methods. The Levallois method is rarely represented. Discoid and centripetal cores display the greatest size ranges, while some core types are only found in small sizes. Additionally, there are differences in the utilized raw material forms among the different production methods. Thus, some of the variation in core reduction may be due to the application of similar methods on different raw material forms. Likewise, some methods may represent the final exploitation phases of other production methods. The application of different methods accounts for a certain degree of variability in flake form. Some of the artefacts were retouched into tools, and these were also almost entirely made from local raw material. Scrapers predominate, but the proportion of notches and denticulates, Upper Palaeolithic types and retouched flakes are significant. Several tools were made by directly retouching natural pieces. Interestingly, some of the typological variation in the assemblages is accounted for by differences in original flake form. Tools are significantly larger than unretouched flakes in the assemblage. Additionally, several specimens suggest that finished artefacts were brought to the site. Taphonomic processes significantly impacted the assemblage. Data on patination, frost damage. abrasion and edge damage suggest that artefacts were exposed on the surface for a long period. Furthermore, differences in the frequency of these surface alterations suggests that different parts of the assemblage experienced different amount of exposure to taphonomic processes. Thermal damage and trampling are responsible for fragmenting a significant proportion of artefacts. A small percentage of artefacts were exposed to fire, but there is no clear indication whether that was due to natural fires or from hominin activity. Particle-size analysis suggests that small-sized artefacts, i.e. those smaller than 15 mm have been selectively transported from the analysed area. Therefore, erosional processes, primarily overland flow, acting on a slightly inclined slope, resulted in the modification of the assemblage by systematically removing smaller artefacts downslope from the studied area. A comparison with certain sites in the Adriatic region shows that, considering the average dimensions of the cores and the low degree of reduction, the flakes and tools from Campanož are relatively small in size. Furthermore, comparison with open-air sites from northern Dalmatia, some of which are associated with raw material sources, indicates that the flakes from the early reduction phases are somewhat underrepresented. These data suggest that some flakes, particularly larger specimens, were likely removed from the site, and these were often cortical. The practice of transporting flakes from the site corresponds to the strategy of provisioning individuals with tools. That type of strategy is indicative of residentially highly mobile groups, which rely on portable personal toolkits for performing activities in their daily lives. On the other hand, a comparison with other case studies of open-air sites located at raw material sources indicates a relatively high proportion of tools in the Campanož assemblage, which, together with the use of expedient production techniques, suggests that the source itself might have been inhabited. The lithic assemblage of Campanož is interpreted as resulting from activities by residentially highly mobile Neanderthal groups, who used the source to supply their portable toolkits. During visits to the site, not only natural pieces of raw material were utilized but also the knapping waste from previous visits, as seen in the occurrence of recycled artifacts. In addition, raw material source sites could have been occupied occasionally, when the conditions were favourable. So far there is only evidence for the use of the local environment, within a range of up to 8 km. A preliminary model of possible environmental conditions in the Istrian karst peneplain during the Pleistocene in which the described system of environmental use would have been feasible is proposed, revolving around the sequential exploitation of resource concentrations around karstic wetland features. Also emphasized is the topographic uniformity of the area, which given the relative paucity of sites with strategic importance in monitoring animal movement, could have made open-air sites more attractive for settlement, including raw material sources. Finally, the paper emphasizes future perspectives for research on open-air Middle Paleolithic sites in the context of favourable geomorphological characteristics of the Istrian karst peneplain.