Caitlin Withnell

Functional adaptation among early stone tool assemblages in south-eastern Wallacea and north-western Australia

The dispersal of Homo sapiens into island south-east Asia and Australia represents a shift in the behavioural patterns from that of earlier Homo, characterised by the need for adaptations to coastal environments. This project seeks to identify these adaptations by modern humans in the region, specifically those relating to resource acquisition and landscape-specific behaviours, to clarify the extent to which variation in tool use exists between the three sites, and to determine what these reflect about technological innovation in response to environmental novelty.

Lithic material from three assemblages in the region will be assessed: Laili and Asitau Kuru, both in Timor-Leste, and Widgingarri, in Australia. The Timorese sites have been found to have a chronology dating back at least 44,000 years, rendering them the oldest evidence of human occupation in Wallacea. Widgingarri, on the northwest coast of the Kimberley in Western Australia, has strata dated as early as 50,000 years ago. Prior research on these lithic assemblages has focused on production technology and tool types, with no investigation of function through microscopy.

Scanning electron and optical microscopy will be used to perform use-wear analysis on the lithic material from these three assemblages in order to identify how the stones tools were used and the material they were used on. Functional analysis through use-wear presents the opportunity to provide specific insight into the use of individual artefacts, as well as comparative analysis at the assemblage level.

Education

• BA, Anthropology and History, Indiana University, 2017

• MSc, Palaeoanthropology and Palaeolithic Archaeology, University College London, 2018