Editing Microlith (section)

==Discoveries==

=== Australia ===
The most common form of microliths found in Australia are backed artefacts. The earliest backed artefacts have been dated to the terminal [[Pleistocene]], however they become increasingly common in [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australian]] societies in the mid-[[Holocene]], before declining in use and disappearing from the archaeological record approximately 1000 years before the [[History of Australia (1788–1850)|British invasion of the continent in 1788]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Slack |first1=Michael J. |last2=Fullagar |first2=Richard L.K. |last3=Field |first3=Judith H. |last4=Border |first4=Andrew |date=October 2004 |title=New Pleistocene ages for backed artefact technology in Australia |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.2004.tb00569.x |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=131–137 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2004.tb00569.x|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hiscock |first1=Peter |last2=Attenbrow |first2=Val |date=July 2004 |title=A revised sequence of backed artefact production at Capertee 3, New South Wales |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.2004.tb00566.x |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=94–99 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2004.tb00566.x|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The cause of this proliferation event is debated amongst archaeologists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Attenbrow |first1=Val |last2=Robertson |first2=Gail |last3=Hiscock |first3=Peter |date=2009-12-01 |title=The changing abundance of backed artefacts in south-eastern Australia: a response to Holocene climate change? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440309002994 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |language=en |volume=36 |issue=12 |pages=2765–2770 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2009.08.018 |bibcode=2009JArSc..36.2765A |issn=0305-4403|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hiscock |first=Peter |date=2008-06-28 |title=Pattern and Context in the Holocene Proliferation of Backed Artifacts in Australia |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1525/ap3a.2002.12.1.163 |journal=Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=163–177 |doi=10.1525/ap3a.2002.12.1.163|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Peter |last2=Bowdler |first2=Sandra |last3=Kuhn |first3=Steven |last4=McNiven |first4=Ian |last5=Shott |first5=Michael |last6=Veth |first6=Peter |last7=White |first7=Peter |date=2011-06-01 |title=Forum: Backed Artefacts: Useful Socially and Operationally |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2011.11690534 |journal=Australian Archaeology |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=67–75 |doi=10.1080/03122417.2011.11690534 |issn=0312-2417|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Geographically they are found across almost all of continental Australia, except for the far north, but are particularly common in south-east Australia. Historically, backed artefacts were divided into asymmetrical Bondi points and symmetrical geometric microliths, however there appears to be no geographic or temporal pattern in the distribution of these shapes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hiscock |first=Peter |date=2014-12-01 |title=Geographical variation in Australian backed artefacts: Trialling a new index of symmetry |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2014.11682028 |journal=Australian Archaeology |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=124–130 |doi=10.1080/03122417.2014.11682028 |issn=0312-2417|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mcdonald |first1=Jo |last2=Reynen |first2=Wendy |last3=Fullagar |first3=Richard |date=October 2018 |title=Testing predictions for symmetry, variability and chronology of backed artefact production in Australia's Western Desert |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5162 |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=179–190 |doi=10.1002/arco.5162 |issn=0728-4896}}</ref> Backed artefact manufacturing workshops have been identified at [[Lake George (New South Wales)|Ngungara]] show significant variation in shape, which has been linked to the need to replace components of composite tools.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Way |first1=Amy Mosig |last2=Koungoulos |first2=Loukas |last3=Wyatt-Spratt |first3=Simon |last4=Hiscock |first4=Peter |date=2023-04-26 |title=Investigating hafting and composite tool repair as factors creating variability in backed artefacts: Evidence from Ngungara (Weereewa/Lake George), south-eastern Australia |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |volume=58 |issue=2 |language=en |pages=214–222 |doi=10.1002/arco.5292 |issn=0728-4896|doi-access=free |hdl=10072/428642 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Several studies in the production of backed artefacts have linked identified [[Heat treating|heat treatment]] as a key component as well as the use of large flank blanks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hiscock |first=Peter |date=July 1993 |title=Bondaian Technology in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.1993.tb00317.x |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=65–76 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.1993.tb00317.x|hdl=1885/41387 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=White |first=Beth |date=2012-12-01 |title=Minimum Analytical Nodules and lithic activities at site W2, Hunter Valley, New South Wales |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2012.11681947 |journal=Australian Archaeology |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=25–36 |doi=10.1080/03122417.2012.11681947 |issn=0312-2417|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Functional studies of backed artefacts from south-eastern Australia show that they were multipurpose and multifunctional tools with a similar range of uses as unretouched flakes found at the same sites.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Gail |last2=Attenbrow |first2=Val |last3=Hiscock |first3=Peter |date=June 2009 |title=Multiple uses for Australian backed artefacts |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/multiple-uses-for-australian-backed-artefacts/779DCA6DF8D1261CB1D86150107FE138 |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=83 |issue=320 |pages=296–308 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00098446 |issn=0003-598X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Gail |last2=Attenbrow |first2=Val |last3=Hiscock |first3=Peter |date=July 2019 |title=Residue and use-wear analysis of non-backed retouched artefacts from Deep Creek Shelter, Sydney Basin: Implications for the role of backed artefacts |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5177 |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=73–89 |doi=10.1002/arco.5177 |issn=0728-4896|url-access=subscription }}</ref> There is one unambiguous example of them being used as part of composite weapon, either a spear or a club, as 17 backed artefacts were found embedded into the skeleton of an adult male dated to approximately 4000 years BP in the Sydney suburb of [[Narrabeen]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McDonald |first1=Josephine J. |last2=Donlon |first2=Denise |last3=Field |first3=Judith H. |last4=Fullagar |first4=Richard L. K. |last5=Coltrain |first5=Joan Brenner |last6=Mitchell |first6=Peter |last7=Rawson |first7=Mark |date=December 2007 |title=The first archaeological evidence for death by spearing in Australia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/first-archaeological-evidence-for-death-by-spearing-in-australia/E7C597E0CF13DBA8EF76738797BE3101 |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=81 |issue=314 |pages=877–885 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00095971 |issn=0003-598X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===France===
[[File:Sépulture de Teviec Global.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Two skeletons in the [[Téviec|Tomb of Téviec]]]]

In France, one unusual site stands out: the Mesolithic cemetery of [[Téviec]], an island in [[Brittany]]. Numerous flint microliths were discovered here. They are believed to date to between 6740 and 5680 years BP - quite a long occupation. The end of the settlement came at the beginning of the [[Neolithic]] period.<ref>Schulting, R.J. (1999) - "[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/bspf_0249-7638_1999_num_96_2_10942 Nouvelles dates AMS à Téviec et Hoëdic (Quiberon, Morbihan)]", ''Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française'', issue 96, number 2, pp. 203–207.</ref>

One of the skeletons that has been found has a geometric microlith lodged in one of its vertebra. All indications suggest that the person died because of this projectile; whether by intention or by accident is unknown. It is widely agreed that geometric microliths were mainly used in [[hunting]] and [[fishing]], but they may also have been used as [[weapon]]s.<ref>{{Cite book
| author = Piel-Desruisseaux, Jean-Luc
| title = Outils préhistoriques. Forme. Fabrication. Utilisation.
| year = 1986
| publisher = Masson, Paris
| isbn = 2-225-80847-3
| pages =147–149}}</ref>

===Scandinavia===
Well-preserved examples of arrows with microliths in Scandinavia have been found at Loshult, at [[Osby Municipality|Osby]] in [[Sweden]], and Tværmose, at [[Ringkjøbing County|Vinderup]] in [[Denmark]]. These finds, which have been preserved practically intact due to the special conditions of the [[peat bog]]s, have included wooden arrows with microliths attached to the tip by resinous substances and cords.

According to radiocarbon measurements, the Loshult arrows are dated to around 8000 BC, which represents a middle part of the [[Maglemose culture]]. This is close to the Early Boreal/Late Boreal transition.<ref>Lars Larsson (2018), [https://www.academia.edu/42478221/THE_LOSHULT_ARROWS_CULTURAL_RELATIONS_AND_CHRONOLOGY The Loshult Arrows: Cultural Relations and Chronology ] academia.edu</ref>

===England===
There are many examples of possible tools from Mesolithic deposits in England. Possibly the best known is a microlith from [[Star Carr]] in [[Yorkshire]] that retains residues of resin, probably used to fix it to the tip of a projectile. Recent excavations have found other examples. Archeologists at the Risby Warren V site in [[Lincolnshire]] have uncovered a row of eight triangular microliths that are equidistantly aligned along a dark stain indicating organic remains (possibly the wood from an arrow shaft). Another clear indication is from the Readycon Dene site in [[West Yorkshire]], where 35 microliths appear to be associated with a single projectile. In Urra Moor, [[North Yorkshire]], 25 microliths give the appearance of being related to one another, due to the extreme regularity and symmetry of their arrangement in the ground.<ref name="myers">{{Cite book
| author = Myers, Andrew
| chapter = Reliable and mantainable technological strategies in the Mesolithic of mainland Britain
| title = Time, energy and stone tools: New directions in Archaeology (edited by Robin Torrence)
| year = 1989
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| location = [[Cambridge]]
| isbn = 0-521-25350-0
| pages = 78&ndash;91
}}</ref>

The study of English and European artifacts in general has revealed that projectiles were made with a widely variable number of microliths: in ''Tværmose'' there was only one, in ''Loshult'' there were two (one for the tip and the other as a fin),<ref>{{Cite book
| author = Petersson, M.
| title = Microlithen als Pfeilspitzen. Ein Fund aus dem Lilla-Loshult Moor: Ksp. Loshult, Skane.
| work = Meddelanden fram Lunds Universitets
| year = 1951
| publisher = Historika Museum
| id = (Pagies 123&ndash;137
}}</ref> in White Hassocks, in [[West Yorkshire]], more than 40 have been found together; the [[average]] is between 6 and 18 pieces for each projectile.<ref name="myers"/>

===India===
Early research regard the microlithic industry in India as a Holocene phenomenon, however a new research provides solid data to put the South Asia microliths industry up to 45 ka across whole South Asia subcontinent. This new research also synthesizes the data from genetic, paleoenvironmental and archaeological research, and proposes that the emergence of microlith in India subcontinent could reflect the increase of population and adaptation of environmental deterioration.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Petraglia| year=2009 | title=Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago| journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| volume=106 | number=30 | pages=12261–12266 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0810842106|display-authors=etal | pmid=19620737 | pmc=2718386| bibcode=2009PNAS..10612261P | url=http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:2243596/component/escidoc:2246725/shh291.pdf| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Malik 1966 p=162">{{cite journal | last=Malik | first=S. C. | title=The Late Stone Age Industries from Excavated Sites in Gujarat, India | journal=Artibus Asiae | publisher= | volume=28 | issue=2/3 | year=1966 | pages=162–174 | doi=10.2307/3249352 | jstor=3249352 }}</ref><ref name="Wedage 2019"></ref>

=== Sri Lanka ===
In 1968 human burials sites were uncovered inside the [[Fa Hien Cave]] in Sri Lanka. A further excavation in 1988 yielded microlith stone tools, remnants of prehistoric fireplaces and organic material, such as floral and human remains. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the cave had been occupied from about 33,000 years ago, the Late Pleistocene and Mesolithic to 4,750 years ago, the Neolithic in the Middle Holocene. Human remains of the several sediment deposits were analyzed at Cornell University and studied by Kenneth A. R. Kennedy and graduate student Joanne L. Zahorsky.  Sri Lanka has yielded the earliest known microliths, which did not appear in Europe until the Early Holocene.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lakdiva.org/books/fahsin/contents.html|title=The Travels of Pahiyangala|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927093454/http://lakdiva.org/books/fahsin/contents.html|archive-date=2006-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/dera1.html|title=Pre- and Protohistoric Settlement in Sri Lanka |website=www.lankalibrary.com|access-date=2020-04-01}}</ref> 2019 study found Fa-Hien Lena cave microlith assemblage represents the earliest microlith assemblage in South Asia dating back to c. 48,000–45,000 years ago.<ref name="Wedage 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Wedage |first1=Oshan |last2=Picin |first2=Andrea |last3=Blinkhorn |first3=James |last4=Douka |first4=Katerina |last5=Deraniyagala |first5=Siran |last6=Kourampas |first6=Nikos |last7=Perera |first7=Nimal |last8=Simpson |first8=Ian |last9=Boivin |first9=Nicole |last10=Petraglia |first10=Michael |last11=Roberts |first11=Patrick |title=Microliths in the South Asian rainforest ~45-4 ka: New insights from Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2 October 2019 |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=e0222606 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0222606 |doi-access=free |pmid=31577796 |pmc=6774521 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1422606W |language=en |issn=1932-6203|hdl=10072/412746 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>