User:Phoeb.mh/Choose an Article

Article Selection

Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

Article title

Lithic Technology

Article Evaluation

This article is rated "start-class" by Wikipedia. The talk page has not been updated since around 2017. From 2008-2011 there was a discussion to merge this article with "Lithic reduction". The final decision was to not merge, which I agree is the right decision. I see "lithic reduction" as the process of removing mass from a core, and "lithic technology" as the overall collection of stone tools that are both modern and ancient/ found in the archaeological record. The pages are also structured quite differently (I evaluate "lithic reduction" below). Overall, this article is promising because it already mentions many different aspects of lithic technology, including types of tools, reduction methods, and fracture mechanics. However, so much of this article is not backed up with sources. The article definitely needs the addition of many recent scholarly works. It could also benefit with labeled diagrams in the conchoidal fracture or EPA sections. I feel that a reader with no lithic background may need to visually see on a flake diagram where everything is and how a flake is removed from a core in order to grasp Hertzian cone/conchoidal fracture or flake optimization techniques.

- There is a message at the top of the article that says the article needs additional citations for verification

-From the start, some phrasing is grammatically awkward. For instance, "The earliest stone tools to date have been found at the site of Lomekwi 3 (LOM3) in Kenya and they have been dated to around 3.3 million years ago" should be changed to "The earliest stone tools to date have been found at the Lomekwi 3 (LOM3) site in Kenya and dated to around 3.3 million years ago."

-"There are numerous factors as to why some raw materials would be chosen over others and can result in the use of low quality materials. A few examples of such factors include the availability of materials, the proximity to materials, and the quality of materials." There should be a paper cited here about material selection

"To make a stone material ideal for tool production, it must be non-crystalline or glassy, which allows for conchoidal fracturing. These characteristics allow the person forming the stone (the flintknapper) to control the reduction precisely to make a wide variety of tools." There should be a paper cited here about the mechanics of conchoidal fracturing

-There are no sources in the manufacture section, which discusses the various knapping techniques. The papers that I would use are mentioned below.

"The exterior platform angle is an angle formed by hitting the intersection of the platform surface and the exterior of the core." I feel as though this description of EPA isn't very digestible for people unfamiliar with flake morphology. Here I would include a flake diagram showing where the platform lies between the dorsal and ventral surfaces, and indicate that the EPA is at the intersection of the platform and the dorsal surface. I would also add in details about theories on EPA in the context of cognition, shape planning, and strategies for increasing flake economy. I've included some sources on this below

Sources

Buchanan, B., Mraz, V., & Eren, M. I. (2016). On identifying stone tool production techniques: An experimental and statistical assessment of pressure versus soft hammer percussion flake form. American Antiquity, 81(4), 737-751.

Byrne, F., Proffitt, T., Arroyo, A., & de la Torre, I. (2016). A comparative analysis of bipolar and freehand experimental knapping products from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Quaternary International, 424, 58-68.

De La Pena, P. (2015). A qualitative guide to recognize bipolar knapping for flint and quartz. Lithic technology, 40(4), 316-331.

Dibble, H. L. (1997). Platform variability and flake morphology: a comparison of experimental and archaeological data and implications for interpreting prehistoric lithic technological strategies. Lithic technology, 22(2), 150-170.

Driscoll, K., & García-Rojas, M. (2014). Their lips are sealed: identifying hard stone, soft stone, and antler hammer direct percussion in Palaeolithic prismatic blade production. Journal of Archaeological Science, 47, 134-141.

Lin, S. C., Rezek, Z., Braun, D., & Dibble, H. L. (2013). On the utility and economization of unretouched flakes: the effects of exterior platform angle and platform depth. American Antiquity, 78(4), 724-745.

Nonaka, T., Bril, B., & Rein, R. (2010). How do stone knappers predict and control the outcome of flaking? Implications for understanding early stone tool technology. Journal of Human Evolution, 59(2), 155-167.

Speth, J. D. (1981). The role of platform angle and core size in hard-hammer percussion flaking. Lithic Technology, 10(1), 16-21.

Will, M. (2021). The role of different Raw materials in lithic technology and settlement patterns during the middle stone Age of Southern Africa. African Archaeological Review, 38(3), 477-500.

Option 2

Article title

Howiesons Poort

Article Evaluation

According to the talk page, this article was last edited in 2017. Therefore, the article could benefit from more recent published works on the technocomplex. The sections could be better organized. New subsections could include history of discovery/excvations, interpretations (which "symbolism" should be put under), controversy of dating, as well as different subsections under "technology" for different types of artifacts that have been found.

- Some of the phrasing is awkward throughout the paper. I want to go through and rewrite some sentences to improve the flow of the article. For example, "Humans of this period as in the earlier Stillbay cultural period showed signs of having used symbolism and having engaged in the cultural exchange of gifts." should be changed to, "Similar to artifacts found during the Stillbay cultural period, the Howiesons Poort materials showed signed of symbolism and the culture exchange of gifts." Also, there is a paragraph in "Date" that begins with: "In the South African Middle Stone Age sequence culture it occurs following a gap of 7 ka after the Stillbay period." This is very unclear to me. What, exactly, occurs following a gap? I assume they are talking about Howiesons Poort itself, but the paragraph should not start with a sentence that doesn't indicate a subject. I want to rework this to: "The period associated with Howiesons Poort occurs within the South African Middle Stone Age, following a 7 thousand year gap preceded by the Stillbay period."

-There are not enough academic sources linked to this article. I've listed below the sources that I want to integrate into the article.

- There are gaps of missing information. The previous authors have not included details on the controversy surrounding OSL dating for the artifacts, and this has caused some ambiguity in the section. I want to include a subsection within "Date" talking about this. I have a source (listed below) that will work well in this subsection.

- There are grammatical errors such as missing commas throughout the article. Many paragraphs begin by referring to Howiesons Poort as "it", which is rather poor writing. I will go through the article slowly and fix these errors so that the subject of each paragraph is clearly indicated from the beginning.

-There is a paragraph in "Date" that reads: "Artifacts from it were first described in 1927 by Rev. P. Stapleton, a Jesuit schoolteacher at St Aidan's College and John Hewitt a zoologist and the director of the local Albany museum. The period name was given to their finds by AJH Goodwin and Clarence van Riet Lowe in 1929." I believe that this should be taken out of the "Date" section. There is no history of discovery section, so I want to create that section and add in this information there.

-"Sarah Wurz's study shows that the general assemblage, frequency of retouch pieces, and the variability in formal tool morphologies still need to be looked into further. Meanwhile, Harper's study at Rose Cottage contain a confusion concerning the backed pieces and laterally crested blades". These studies should be linked. I've included them in the sources section below.

-There are no photos in the article. When I search "Howiesons Poort" on Wikimedia Commons, there is only one image that appears (I inserted it on the right). If I add it, it will definitely help readers visualize some of what has been found, but an actual photograph will be better. I am going to look further into Wikipedia's copyright rules to determine if I can use a photograph from a scholarly article.

- There is nothing in the article about the transition out of the period associated with the techno complex, besides a vague sentence about how it is unknown. There have been a couple papers published in the past 15 years about the transition period, so I will be adding them in and creating a section about "Transition to Post-Howiesons".

Sources

de la Peña, P. (2020). Howiesons Poort. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology.

Dusseldorp, G. L. (2014). Explaining the Howiesons Poort to post-Howiesons Poort transition: a review of demographic and foraging adaptation models. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 49(3), 317-353.

Harper, P. T. (1997). The Middle Stone Age sequences at Rose Cottage Cave: a search for continuity and discontinuity. South African Journal of Science, 93(10), 470-475.

Jacobs, Z., & Roberts, R. G. (2008). Testing times: old and new chronologies for the Howieson's Poort and Still Bay industries in environmental context. Goodwin Series, 9-34.

Lombard, M., & Parsons, I. (2011). What happened to the human mind after the Howiesons Poort?. Antiquity, 85(330), 1433-1443.

Tribolo, C., Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Joron, J. L., Guibert, P., Lefrais, Y., ... & Lenoble, A. (2009). Thermoluminescence dating of a Stillbay–Howiesons Poort sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape, South Africa). Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(3), 730-739.

Wurz, S. (1999). The Howiesons Poort backed artefacts from Klasies River: an argument for symbolic behaviour. The South African Archaeological Bulletin, 38-50.

Option 3

Article title

Rose Cottage Cave

Article Evaluation

This article appears to have been created as part of an archaeology university course in 2019. It was created by one studied and peer reviewed by two others, but they had no ongoing discussion in the talk page. Perhaps they collaborated in person, but the lack of a record on this is not helpful for future work on the page.

- There are no photos, and no relevant photos on Wikimedia Commons. I would have to see about getting permission from authors to use photos. There are some good images in sources, including maps and diagrams of the site in Wadley's 1997 paper, and a photograph of the excavation in Hodgskiss and Wadley's 2017 paper.

-Certain terms in the paper that seem clear to researchers but may not be clear to the general public including "anthropogenic", should be linked to sub articles.

-There are grammatical errors. In the sentence "A boulder encloses the front, protecting the cave, but allowing a small opening for a skylight and narrow entrances on both the east and west sides", "allowing" should be changed to "allows". This indicates that the entire article should be thoroughly scanned for other grammatical issues.

-The "archaeological excavations" sections includes information on Malan and Beaumont's excavations, but only Wadley's paper is cited. There should be the addition of more primary source material.

-"RCC is an important site because of its long cultural sequence, its roots of modern human behavior, and the movement of early modern humans out of Africa." The term "important site" is too subjective for Wikipedia's standards; I would change it to "RCC is known for its...".

Sources

Beaumont, P. B., & Vogel, J. C. (1972). On a new radiocarbon chronology for Africa south of the Equator: part 2. African Studies, 31(3), 155-182.

Hodgskiss, T., & Wadley, L. (2017). How people used ochre at Rose Cottage Cave, South Africa: Sixty thousand years of evidence from the Middle Stone Age. PloS one, 12(4), e0176317.

Maland, B. D. (1946). The distribution and chronology of the Modderpoort culture. South African Journal of Science, 42(06), 254-260.

Malan, B. D. (1952). The final phase of the Middle Stone Age in South Africa. Blackwell.

Wadley, L. (1997). Rose Cottage Cave: archaeological work 1987 to 1997. South African Journal of Science, 93(10), 439-444.

Option 4

Article title

Stillbay

Article Evaluation

This article needs an expansion. It only has one section, "Tools and Fire". I would add a section on dating, history of its discovery and excavations, and interpretations/debates. More recent articles (past 2009) should be added. There is no history of discussions on the talk page. Overall, it seems that this article has only received minimal, if any, attention since its creation.

- There is a formatting issue at the beginning of the article. The map of Stillbay sites at the top of the article is too large, so it causes the paragraph next to it to be way too thin (around 3 words fit on each line). This picture should either be reduced in size or moved to its own line.

-"Its start and end are calculated at 71.9 ka and 71.0 ka". The "ka" links to an article on a "year", which is incorrect and misleading for anyone who doesn't know what "ka" is an abbreviation for. I would just write out "thousand years ago".

-"Researchers have concluded that Stillbay people prepared the silcrete stone out of which they made their stone tools with preheating in human made fire to increase its workability." This is one example of some sentences throughout the article that could be better written. For this, I would rephrase it to: "Research has shown that the makers of Stillbay tools used silcrete as a raw material and prepared it by heating it in controlled fires in order to increase its workability."

- This section can also be expanded on by mentioning the growing body of literature on heat treatment's implications towards human cognition.

-"Experiments involved slowly heating silcrete stones to ~350 °C." Whichever experiment this was should be clearly cited.

-In the section on heat treatment: "This research identifies this not only with Stillbay sites dated to 72,000 BP but ones that could be as old as 164,000 BP." I don't believe that 72,000 BP is a relevant number, as it is not mentioned earlier. I would rewrite this sentence as: "Evidence of heat treatment is seen at Stillbay-associated sites as early as 164,000 years ago."

-The most recent article cited is from 2009. I would update the article by incorporating some more recent papers (listed below).

Sources

Archer, W., Pop, C. M., Gunz, P., & McPherron, S. P. (2016). What is Still Bay? Human biogeography and bifacial point variability. Journal of Human Evolution, 97, 58-72.

McCall, G. S., & Thomas, J. T. (2012). Still Bay and Howiesons Poort foraging strategies: recent research and models of culture change. African Archaeological Review, 29, 7-50.

Rowney, M., & White, J. P. (1997). Detecting heat treatment on silcrete: Experiments with methods. Journal of Archaeological Science, 24(7), 649-657.

Wadley, L., & Prinsloo, L. C. (2014). Experimental heat treatment of silcrete implies analogical reasoning in the Middle Stone Age. Journal of human evolution, 70, 49-60.

Option 5

Article title

Lithic reduction

Article Evaluation

Overall, this article is well organized and thorough. It explains many concepts about the lithic reduction process in a way that is accurate and detailed but also digestible for readers who are new to the subject material. Below are some edits that I would make, but overall it is a well-written and well-edited article. It is, however, considered a "Start-Class" article on Wikipedia's quality scale. The talk page doesn't seem to have been updated since 2016, and the most recent article cited is from 2010, so the page could use more recent academic papers and the implementation of recent studies.

-"It has been intensely studied" I feel that this is too subjective of a statement based on Wikipedia's standards. I would say "it has been studied for decades"

-"Normally the starting point is the selection of a piece of tool stone that has been detached by natural geological processes, and is an appropriate size and shape." This doesn't explain what an "appropriate" size and shape for a nodule is.

-"The selected piece is called the lithic core " Here I would explain the concept of a nodule versus core, and how the nodule (or sometimes cobble or pebble) is the core at its most natural state (source below).

" Controlled experiments may be performed using glass cores and consistent applied force in order to determine how varying factors affect core reduction" I would cite Dibble's glass core experiments here (source below)

Sources

Debénath, A., & Dibble, H. L. (1994). Handbook of Paleolithic Typology: Lower and middle paleolithic of Europe (Vol. 1). UPenn Museum of Archaeology.

Dibble, H. L., & Rezek, Z. (2009). Introducing a new experimental design for controlled studies of flake formation: results for exterior platform angle, platform depth, angle of blow, velocity, and force. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(9), 1945-1954.