The session proposed by the Commission ‘Flint mining in Pre and Protohistoric Times’ on the topic ‘New methods for exploring flint mines – From producers to consumers, from Prehistory to History‘ had been accepted by the organisers of the UISPP congress. The next meeting of the UISPP will be held in Meknes, Marocco, from 1st to 6th September 2020.
More information about the UISPP Congress https://uispp2020.sciencesconf.org
The deadline for submission of communication proposals is April 30, but please do not wait until the last moment to submit your abstracts on the website of the UISPP Congress.
New methods uispp propos session flint mining commission
Abstract
The primary objective of this session is to offer a broad overview of current methods used to analyze mining sites from Prehistory to the present day. In order to achieve this task, the papers will be divided into three general topics.
The first part will be methodological, focusing on both destructive and non-destructive techniques for detecting mines and quarries (e.g. excavations, geophysics, Lidar, etc.), in tandem with well-established and innovative techniques for the characterization of lithic raw materials and methods implemented to understand the organization of the systems of exploitation.
The second part of the session will concern technological approaches to mining production. By detailing the full breadth of potential ‘chaines operatoires’ involved in lithic tool manufacture, differences in the treatment of specific raw materials, varying levels of know-how and issues related to social inferences such as specialization or apprenticeship will be addressed.
Discussing socio-economic contexts of production will constitute the last part of the envisioned approaches. By taking both, the perspective of the producers and the consumers of mining products, the role of the mining sites in relation to the territorial organization of the involved cultural groups will be examined, as well as perceptible changes in the structuration of technological production systems
