Since the inception of archaeological research into human evolution, stone tools have been critical in assessing technological sophistication and variability. As such, the simple stone tools characteristic of Australasia have often translated to negative assessments of their makers. Recently identified tools in shell suggest that this may have been an important regional raw material. This research aims to gain a better technical understanding of shell as a raw material, so that we can adequately identify and analyse shell tools. This will allow us to more fully comprehend ancient Australasian technologies and contextualise them within a global evolutionary framework.
Since the inception of archaeological research into human evolution, stone tools have been critical in assessing technological sophistication and variability. As such, the simple stone tools characteristic of Australasia have often translated to negative assessments of their makers. Recently identified tools in shell suggest that this may have been an important regional raw material. This research aims to gain a better technical understanding of shell as a raw material, so that we can adequately identify and analyse shell tools. This will allow us to more fully comprehend ancient Australasian technologies and contextualise them within a global evolutionary framework.
