Session 7. Technology

This session focuses on one of the most important aspects of Mesolithic societies: their knowledge and their ways of converting raw materials into objects. Technology is a form of cultural expression that reveals different traditions, peoples, landscapes, and modes of production and operation, contributing to the knowledge of economic, social and symbolic aspects of humanity. Stone, bone, antler and shell, among other materials that have survived time and erosion, have been processed and used by groups for food, shelter, warmth and comfort, adornment, clothing, and so on. In this session we would like to bring emphasis on the enormous richness and diversity of technological solutions implemented by Mesolithic groups across time and space. We will explore the potential of new instrumentation (e.g. XRF, FTIR, 3D digital microscopy), approaches (e.g. artificial intelligence) and other analytical infrastructures and statistical tools for the study of Mesolithic technologies. Particular attention will be paid to current advances in the study of: (i) manufacturing processes; (ii) raw material procurement and circulation; (iii) function and use of objects; (iv) recognition of fashions and styles; and (v) role of experimentation. We would like to approach these subjects in a relational way, drawing on variables of past human behaviour that triggered differences in technical choices over various chronological sequences and/or geographic contexts.