A functional approach to the use of the earliest blade technology in Upper Paleolithic Hokkaido, northern Japan

To understand the behavioral significance of the emergence and proliferation of blade technology in the northeastern Asian Upper Paleolithic, this paper explores the function of the earliest blade technology in Hokkaido, northern Japan, through an integrated analysis of edge morphology and use-wears on blade tools from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) assemblage of Kawanishi C. Although varied edge morphologies (i.e., straight, convex, concave, denticulate) have been distinguished, the results of use-wear analysis suggest that morphological differences of edges are not related to specific functions. Straight and convex edges experienced different use-lives and use-trajectories: both straight and convex edges were principally served for cutting/sawing and whittling, while some edges changed their functions to scraping as edge resharpening blunted the edges. The results of use-wear analysis also suggest that LGM blades were intensively used for performing a narrow range of activities (e.g., skin and meat stripping). Because this blade technology differs from the dominant flake technology in LGM Hokkaido, LGM foragers were able to employ it to perform intensive processing activity to exploit critical faunal resources that may have been sporadically clumped in the landscape. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved