Unveiling learning behaviours of Upper Palaeolithic foragers in the landscape: a comparative study of lithic assemblages and refitting from the Hirosato techno-complex in Hokkaido, Northern Japan

Many researchers agree that Pleistocene lithic knappers, who were also foragers, may conduct lithic production at various locations as they move across the landscape at many scales. The diversity of the lithic reduction sequence between locations is presumed to exert a major influence on the opportunities of novices to acquire lithic knapping skills and the transmissibility of lithic technology between knappers. This study aims to clarify the contexts of the learning behaviour of lithic knappers in the landscape by analysing lithic assemblages and refitting belonging to the Hirosato techno-complex, which appeared in the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Hokkaido, Northern Japan. To approach this question, the study analyses and identifies which stages of blade reduction occurred at each site by comparing between the composition of lithic artefact categories and refitted sets among the lithic assemblages distributed across the landscape. This can offer insights into situations where learning technological knowledge and know-how related to the blade reduction process was possible for novices. The results show that specific archaeological sites located in places with an abundance of raw materials may have played an important role in the transmission of the domain of blade production technology. The learning process of lithic technology among highly mobile foragers of the Upper Palaeolithic in Northern Japan can be interpreted as being organized in both temporal and spatial dimensions. The lithic refitted sets from the Kamishirataki-2 and Kyushirataki-3 sites, which are located near a huge obsidian source, provide several lines of evidence that support the occurrence of learning behaviours, such as active teaching involving demonstration. Considering the potential for knowledge and know-how transmission between lithic knappers facilitates the interpretation of lithic refitting data regarding the reconstruction of learning behaviour.