Page 99 - Contribution To Phenomenology

92 MAXINE SHEETS-JOHNSTONE

Through a sensory-kinetic examination of hominid stone tool-making,
I will exemplify what that shift in attitude—and thus what a bona fide
methodology—^would provide in the way of knowledge.

II

Hominid teeth that mash and grind food have a specific tactile character;
so too do hominid teeth that bite and scrape. If you run your tongue
along the occlusal surface of your upper teeth starting at your molars and
progress toward your front teeth (and I hope you, the reader, will do
this, and several times over), you will discover a distinct tactile change:
an irregular, bumpy surface ends and an even, thin edge begins. In very
brief terms, a thick, grooved, and discontinuous array of edges gives way
to a thin, even, single edge. Although not spoken of in biology as major
hominid tooth forms, there is no doubt but that molars and incisors
constitute fundamental hominid dental types. Actual experience shows
further that these two dental types are connected with two basic kinds
of eating acts: mashing and biting.
Consider now that there are two major forms of early stone tools
recognized by paleoanthropologists: core tools and flake tools. Core tools
are relatively thick pieces of stone. As testimonial to that thickness, they
are usually held not between fingers and thumb but up against the palm
of the hand. They have several protruding edges that commonly stand out
in relief in the same way that the edges of molars stand out in relief: a
relative jaggedness with respect to functional surface is typical of each.
Flake tools are in contrast relatively thin pieces of stone. As testimonial
to their thinness, flake tools are commonly pinched between finger(s) and
thumb—like a razor blade. A flake tool has a single manually traceable
edge, and unlike a core tool, it has more readily distinguishable sides as
well as a single pronounced edge. Pinched between finger(s) and thumb,
it is a lengthier, more vertically aligned object than the more squat and
thick core tool. Its surfaces are moreover relatively flat like an incisor
rather than rounded and irregular like a molar.
The analogy between the two major tooth forms and the two major
tool forms is obvious once the tactile-kinesthetic body is recognized. The
ground of the analogy is palpably evident in the tactile experience of the
occlusal surface of teeth, of what is called the "dental arcade.'' As one
well-known paleoanthropologist described the arcade—but quite apart
from any reference to tactile-kinesthetic inspection and quite apart from any