Taking microliths into account.

Taking microliths into account. I thank Crombe et al. for their comment on an earlier paper(Vanmontfort 2008) and the editor of this journal for providing me withthe opportunity to reply to their critique. They use two intensivelysurveyed and studied areas in the lower Scheldt region to compare themicrolith-based method with a site-based approach. Actually thiscomparison nicely illustrates the potential of the method. My Figure 3compares the calculated frequencies of sites and microliths--which isnot quite the same as the 'Mesolithic use' of the, seregions--over the Mesolithic period Mesolithic period(mĕz'əlĭth`ĭk)or Middle Stone Age,period in human development between the end of the Paleolithic period and the beginning of the Neolithic period. for the two regions. The resultscorrespond remarkably well. This agreement is perhaps not surprising,since the presence of microliths is also one of the most determiningfactors in the attribution of sites to each of the Mesolithic phases.However, the results from the two methods might easily have divergedfrom each other. Contrary to Crombe et al.'s expectation ofcorrespondence, the distribution of a particular artefact See artifact. type may offerdifferent and complementary information to site-based data (Vanmonffort2008: 250). The microlith-based method claims to provide an image ofinter-regional land use variability on a large scale, without claimingto grasp 'the behavioural complexities (...) within particularMesolithic phases'. This implies a different scale than that Crombeet al. prefer to use. It should be kept in mind that the microlith-basedmethod was developed to tackle the problem of Mesolithic hunter-gathereractivity in the loamy region of the Lower Rhine Lower RhineThe portion of the Rhine River between Bonn, Germany, and the North Sea. Area, where detailedinformation on sites and their ecological context is not available. Atthis scale, the Somme Valley data approximates to what is expected inthe Scheldt and Meuse basins (see also Crombe & Cauwe 2001: 52,Figure 3) and covers the endre Mesolithic period. Possible deviationsbetween the Somme Valley and Scheldt Basin regions are supposed to havehad a similar effect on the data from e.g. Hainaut and south-westBrabant and thus do not impede a relevant inter-regional comparison.Evidently, adjusting the method to a new and better chronologicalframework is part of the continuous improvement in the application ofthe method. The work of Crombe and collaborators during the last decadehas added valuable data and it can only be hoped that it will also yieldsufficient data for the later Mesolithic stages in the near future, thusmaking available a better chronological reference than the one used inthe original paper. As for the results of Robinson (2009) (2), I amanxious to learn how the striking differences in the technologicaltrajectories of Somme and Scheldt affect the microlith-based method. The sampling in the Hainaut area can be regarded as representativefor archaeological data that can be collected by fieldwalking, exceptperhaps for its north-western part, for which I would not want toquestion Crombe's claim. The rest of the area has been covered byseveral fieldwalkers whose data has been gathered recently by M. VanAssche (2005: 48). The survey zones together almost attain a fullcoverage of the area and focus on all landscape positions, just like thearchaeological surveys and excavations that accompanied the constructionof a gas pipeline, a highway and a railway, all three crossing the area(Van Assche, pers. comm.). These surveys yielded some rare sites invalley position, such as Ormeignies-Autreppe, Masnuy-Saint-Pierre andRebecq-Le Spinoi (Van Assche 2005: 50). [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] The survival problem is fundamental and related m the taphonomicprocesses in this region, which includes plateaux, slopes and valleys(see also Vanmontfort 2008: 150). Such processes, however, are supposedto have played a similar role over the entire loess belt. Thedifferences in pattern between Hainaut and the neighbouring south-westBrabant area thus seem to be real. The Kleine Gete and Hesbaye areas,mentioned by Crombe et al., were not part of the analysis, simplybecause no reliable datasets were available. In Hesbaye, J. Haeck--oneof the most active fieldwalkers in the region--confirmed the rarity ofMesolithic artefacts in his collection (pers. comm.) and it remains tobe seen whether more microliths are to be expected in the othercollections (also A. Hauzeur, pers. comm.). Since absence of evidencedoes not equal evidence of absence, this claim should only be madecautiously, awaiting a detailed scrutiny of the collections. For theGraetheide, another primary region of LBK LBK Lubbock (Texas)LBK Linearbandkeramik (European Archaeological Culture)LBK Landing Barge, Kitchen (US Navy)LBK Lutherske BekjennelseskirkeLBK Location-Based Key settlement and one that wasintegrated in the original paper, on the other hand, such scrutiny wasperformed by L. Verhart and M. Wansleeben and allows an endorsement ofthe very limited number of microliths. 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DE BOCK Noun 1. bock - a very strong lager traditionally brewed in the fall and aged through the winter for consumption in the springbock beerlager beer, lager - a general term for beer made with bottom fermenting yeast (usually by decoction mashing); originally & M. DE M. 2006.Steentijdvondsten in de Moervaart (Archeologische Inventaris Vlaanderen,Buitengewone reeks 9). Gent: Archeologische Inventaris Vlaanderen. Bart Vanmontfort (1) (1) Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University c/o PrehistoricArchaeology Unir, K.U. Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E--pb 2469, 3001Leuven, Belgium (Email: bart.vanmontfort@ees.kuleuven.be) (2) This paper was not available to the author during the editingof this reply.