I am a researcher in Archaeology, focusing on the emergence of the first farming societies in Southwest Asia. I am currently a Marie Skłodowska Curie-IF Fellow at the Archaeology of Social Dynamics (ASD) research group of the Milá y Fontanals Institution (IMF, Barcelona) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). I am the leader of the research project ObsTrade: https://obstrade.wordpress.com.
My approach is based on the analysis of stone tools to define the interaction processes between technical innovations and social practices when the last groups of hunter-gatherers adopted a sedentary lifestyle and became food producers. I am specialized in the study of the chipped lithic assemblages and, in particular, of the use-wear traces.
My approach is based on the analysis of stone tools to define the interaction processes between technical innovations and social practices when the last groups of hunter-gatherers adopted a sedentary lifestyle and became food producers. I am specialized in the study of the chipped lithic assemblages and, in particular, of the use-wear traces.
less
InterestsView All (26)
Uploads
Thesis by Fiona Pichon
Online by Fiona Pichon
Posters by Fiona Pichon
To go beyond the morphometric characteristics, we conducted experiments that document simultaneously the evolution of use-wear on both tools and stones during the process of drilling. The tools were flit tips, and the stones represent common varieties, of different physical proprieties, used for beads in the Neolithic Levant (serpentine, amazonite and carnelian). The results of the microscopic optical analyses conducted on the experimental collection were presented in the last AWRANA congress in Nice. In this poster, we address the second part of our analytical protocol: the characterization of the micro-textures of the experimental collection, as well as those of sampled Neolithic beads and flint drilling tools, applying confocal microscopy and metrology software. The aim is to understand how the micro-topography evolves during the drilling process on both the perforations and the flint tools despite the differences in the nature of the raw materials.
In this poster, we present the results of the traceological analysis conducted on selected tools, coming from the JKSH P52 occupation soil layers. Despite frequent alterations to the tools, obtained results allowed to present the range of activities carried out at the site and to discuss relevant issues linked to the massive exploitation and processing of animal resources during the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in the southern Levant.
In this poster, we present the technological and functional analysis of these tools coming from the neolithic site of Dja’de el-Mughara, located in the Northern Levant (Syria) and occupated during the 9th millenium (Early PPNB). Results obtained demonstrate that these types of tools are really complex, reflecting the the new concerns of the first agricultural societies during the so-called Neolithization process.
Talks by Fiona Pichon
This paper introduces the assemblage of arrowheads from the PPNB levels of Kharaysin, located in the Zarqa Valley in Jordan, to investigate the tool function through macro- and microscopic observations and standard use-wear analyses involving the examinations of impact stigmata and other use traces. Newly obtained data will be used to compare this Southern Levantine dataset with the evidence from the Northern Levant, in particular with Dja’de el-Mughara, in order to inspect whether similar practices in the use of projectiles are encountered in both regions.
This study is an attempt to address issues concerning the primary and secondary use of “hunting tools” and their implications on socio-economic strategies during the PPN period. The outcomes of this talk regard the very first results of the ARROWFUNC project, a new research framework designed to study hunting at the onset of farming in SW Asia, where major economic, cultural and symbolic changes decisively reshaped lithic toolkits.
In this contribution, we explore the capacity of confocal microscopy to quantitively discriminate use-wear on obsidian tools. The experimental samples used in this study are part of the larger reference ObsiLab collection, hosted at the Laboratory of Sardinian Antiquities and Palaeoethnology in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). Experimentally worn areas produced by four contact materials (meat, dry hide, cereals, and wood) were scanned using a Sensofar PLu Neox confocal microscopy, with 20x and 50x objectives, and then processed with surface measurement parameters through metrology software. The analytical protocol will be presented and discussed in order to evaluate the ability of texture parameters to discriminate use-wear surfaces on obsidian tools.
To go beyond the morphometric characteristics, we conducted experiments that document simultaneously the evolution of use-wear on both tools and stones during the process of drilling. The tools were flit tips, and the stones represent common varieties, of different physical proprieties, used for beads in the Neolithic Levant (serpentine, amazonite and carnelian). The results of the microscopic optical analyses conducted on the experimental collection were presented in the last AWRANA congress in Nice. In this poster, we address the second part of our analytical protocol: the characterization of the micro-textures of the experimental collection, as well as those of sampled Neolithic beads and flint drilling tools, applying confocal microscopy and metrology software. The aim is to understand how the micro-topography evolves during the drilling process on both the perforations and the flint tools despite the differences in the nature of the raw materials.
In this poster, we present the results of the traceological analysis conducted on selected tools, coming from the JKSH P52 occupation soil layers. Despite frequent alterations to the tools, obtained results allowed to present the range of activities carried out at the site and to discuss relevant issues linked to the massive exploitation and processing of animal resources during the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in the southern Levant.
In this poster, we present the technological and functional analysis of these tools coming from the neolithic site of Dja’de el-Mughara, located in the Northern Levant (Syria) and occupated during the 9th millenium (Early PPNB). Results obtained demonstrate that these types of tools are really complex, reflecting the the new concerns of the first agricultural societies during the so-called Neolithization process.
This paper introduces the assemblage of arrowheads from the PPNB levels of Kharaysin, located in the Zarqa Valley in Jordan, to investigate the tool function through macro- and microscopic observations and standard use-wear analyses involving the examinations of impact stigmata and other use traces. Newly obtained data will be used to compare this Southern Levantine dataset with the evidence from the Northern Levant, in particular with Dja’de el-Mughara, in order to inspect whether similar practices in the use of projectiles are encountered in both regions.
This study is an attempt to address issues concerning the primary and secondary use of “hunting tools” and their implications on socio-economic strategies during the PPN period. The outcomes of this talk regard the very first results of the ARROWFUNC project, a new research framework designed to study hunting at the onset of farming in SW Asia, where major economic, cultural and symbolic changes decisively reshaped lithic toolkits.
In this contribution, we explore the capacity of confocal microscopy to quantitively discriminate use-wear on obsidian tools. The experimental samples used in this study are part of the larger reference ObsiLab collection, hosted at the Laboratory of Sardinian Antiquities and Palaeoethnology in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). Experimentally worn areas produced by four contact materials (meat, dry hide, cereals, and wood) were scanned using a Sensofar PLu Neox confocal microscopy, with 20x and 50x objectives, and then processed with surface measurement parameters through metrology software. The analytical protocol will be presented and discussed in order to evaluate the ability of texture parameters to discriminate use-wear surfaces on obsidian tools.
Cet article a pour objectif de présenter les résultats préliminaires de l’étude fonctionnelle des outils en silex utilisés pour l’exploitation alimentaire et artisanale des végétaux à Dja’de. L’outillage provenant des niveaux les plus anciens du site étant actuellement conservé en Syrie, l’analyse fonctionnelle ne porte que sur le matériel de la phase récente (Dja’de III) daté de la seconde moitié du 9ème millénaire. Elle apporte néanmoins des éléments nouveaux sur la manière dont les villageois ont exploité les ressources végétales disponibles dans leur environnement, en particulier en terme de matières travaillées—céréales, roseaux, bois—de gestes techniques et de savoir-faire.
La variabilité des traces observées associée aux di érents modes d’action identi és—longitudinaux et transversaux—témoigne de la diversité des opérations mises en œuvre dans le traitement de ces matières en vue de leur acquisition et/ou de leur transformation. Une a ention particulière est donnée à l’identi cation des faucilles et à la caractérisation précise des traces d’utilisation qui perme ent d’éme re des hypothèses sur les modalités de la moisson et de déterminer certains choix techniques e ectués par les villageois. La détermination du travail d’autres végétaux exploités par les habitants permet également d’aborder leur éventuelle utilisation à des ns domestiques. L’étude montre aussi que l’outillage impliqué dans
Fiona Pichon
ces diverses activités est plus ou moins standardisé : alors que les faucilles présentent une morphologie régulière, tributaire de l’emmanchement systématique de ces lames pour la moisson, les outils de raclage des matières végétales sont typologiquement très divers, ce qui pourrait re éter à la fois un mode de préhension plus souple et une utilisation plus opportune de ces outils.