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Grant support

This research was supported by the national project: "How, Who and Where? Variability in the Behavior of Procurement and Transformation of Resources of Neanderthal Groups" (HAR2016-76760-C3-2P2) and "On the Limits of Diversity: neanderthal Behaviour in Central and South Iberian Peninsula" (PID2019-103987GB-C33) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science. Additionally, C. Torres is a beneficiary of an FPI Grant (BES-2017-079805) from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain.

Analysis of institutional authors

Torres, ConcepciónCorresponding AuthorPreysler, Javier BaenaAuthor

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Article

Experts Also Fail: a New Methodological Approach to Skills Analysis in Lithic Industries

Publicated to:Journal Of Paleolithic Archaeology. 3 (4): 889-917 - 2020-12-01 3(4), DOI: 10.1007/s41982-020-00063-4

Authors: Torres, Concepcion; Preysler, Javier Baena

Affiliations

Autonomous Univ Madrid, Dept Prehist & Archaeol, Campus Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049, Spain - Author

Abstract

More and more contributions to the field of lithics are taking into consideration skill levels and learning processes in prehistory, with the aim of clarifying not only how individuals acted when they produced their tools but also of addressing the processes of change or continuity in the technocultural traditions of past societies and the participation of different social groups in the collective production. For this purpose, the demarcation of realistic categories of "experts" and "novices" in knapping, as well as a determination of what attributes differentiate each one, are essential. Nowadays, knapping experiments offer a more realistic approach for a comparative study in which skill technotypes can indicate the existence of different skill levels inside a particular assemblage. Through the typologies of these experimental technical entities and their comparison with the archeological record, we can deduce the presence of particular models of social production and learning processes during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic.

Keywords

AreaJaramaLearningLevelLithic technologyMiddlePaleolithicReductionSiteSkillSpainTechnotypesValley

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 12.33, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-18, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 18
  • OpenCitations: 17

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-18:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 48.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 48 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 25.63.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 18 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (TORRES NAVAS, CONCEPCION) and Last Author (BAENA PREYSLER, JAVIER).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been TORRES NAVAS, CONCEPCION.