Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T11:49:20.827Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

17 - Lithics

from Part V - Materials Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2019

By
Shannon P. McPherron
Edited by
Michael P. Richards  and
Kate Britton
Michael P. Richards
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
Kate Britton
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
Get access

Summary

Lithic analysis is primarily about understanding the factors that lead to variability in stone tool assemblages. These include properties of the raw materials used to make stone tools and the ways the sources for these raw materials were managed; the techniques and strategies used to reduce these materials into useable tools; the functional needs these tools were designed to meet; and stylistic preferences. Underlying these factors is fracture mechanics, the basic physical laws, which make stone knapping possible. Through the study of these various factors and how they each contribute to formation of a lithic assemblage, archaeologists hope to say something about prehistoric behavior.

Type
Chapter
Information
Archaeological Science
An Introduction
 , pp. 387 - 404
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitken, M. 1985. Thermoluminescence Dating. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Alperson-Afil, N., Richter, D., and Goren-Inbar, N. 2007. Phantom hearths and the use of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. PaleoAnthropology 2007:1–15.Google Scholar
Andrefsky, W. 2005. Lithics: Macroscopic Approaches to Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Archer, W., Gunz, P, van Niekerk, K. L., Henshilwood, C. S., and McPherron, S. P. 2015. Diachronic change within the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, South Africa. PLoS One 10(7):e0132428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, R. M. in press. Luminescence dating. In: `Richards, M. P. and `Britton, K. (eds.) Archaeological Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bamforth, D. 1988. Investigating microwear polishes with blind tests: The Institute results in context. Journal of Archaeological Science 15:11–23.Google Scholar
Bamforth, D., Burns, G., and Woodman, C. 1990. Ambiguous use traces and blind test results: New data. Journal of Archaeological Science 17:413–430.Google Scholar
Banks, W. and Kay, M. 2003. High-resolution casts for lithic use-wear analysis. Lithic Technology 28:27–34.Google Scholar
Bienenfeld, P. 1995. Duplicating archaeological microwear polishes with epoxy casts. Lithic Technology 20:29–39.Google Scholar
Borradaile, G., Kissin, S., Stewart, J., Ross, W., and Werner, T. 1993. Magnetic and optical methods for detecting the heat treatment of chert. Journal of Archaeological Science 20:57–66.Google Scholar
Brantingham, P., Olsen, J., Rech, J., and Krivoshapkin, A. 2000. Raw material quality and prepared core technologies in northeast Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science 27(3):255–271.Google Scholar
Braun, D., Plummer, T., Ferraro, J., Ditchfield, P., and Bishop, L. 2009. Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: evidence from Kanjera South, Kenya. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(7):1605–1614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, K., Marean, C., Herries, A., Jacobs, Z., Tribolo, C., Braun, D., Roberts, D., Meyer, M., and Bernatchez, J. 2009. Fire as an engineering tool of early modern humans. Science 325(5942):859–862.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burroni, D., Donahue, R. E., Pollard, A. M., and Mussi, M. 2002. The surface alteration features of flint artefacts as a record of environmental processes. Journal of Archaeological Science 29(11):1277–1287.Google Scholar
Clarkson, C., Vinicius, L., and Lahr, M. 2006. Quantifying flake scar patterning on cores using 3D recording techniques. Journal of Archaeological Science 33(1):132–142.Google Scholar
Cooper, J. and Qiu, F. 2006. Expediting and standardizing stone artifact refitting using a computerized suitability model. Journal of Archaeological Science 33(7):987–998.Google Scholar
Cotterell, B. and Kamminga, J. 1979. The mechanics of flaking. In: `Hayden, B. (ed.) Lithic Use-Wear Analysis, pp. 97–112, New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cotterell, B. and Kamminga, J. 1987. The formation of flakes. American Antiquity 52(4):675–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dibble, H. and Rezek, Z. 2009. Introducing a new experimental design for controlled studies of flake formation: Results for exterior platform angle, platform depth, angle of blow, velocity, and force. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(9):1945–1954.Google Scholar
Domanski, M. and Webb, J. 1992. Effect of heat treatment on siliceous rocks used in prehistoric lithic technology. Journal of Archaeological Science 19:601–614.Google Scholar
Domanski, M. and Webb, J. 2007. A review of heat treatment research. Lithic Technology 32(2):153–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Domanski, M., Webb, J., Glaisher, R., Gurba, J., Libera, J., and Zakościelna, A. 2009. Heat treatment of Polish flints. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(7):1400–1408.Google Scholar
Eren, M. I., Roos, C. I., Story, B. A., von Cramon-Taubadel, N., and Lycett, S. J. 2014. The role of raw material differences in stone tool shape variation: An experimental assessment. Journal of Archaeological Science 49:472–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, A. A. 2014. On the importance of blind testing in archaeological science: the example from lithic functional studies. Journal of Archaeological Science, 48:5–14.Google Scholar
Evans, A. A. and Donahue, R. E. 2005. The elemental chemistry of lithic microwear: An experiment. Journal of Archaeological Science 32(12):733–1740.Google Scholar
González-Urquijo, J. E. and Ibáñez-Estévez, J. J. 2003. The quantification of use-wear polish using image analysis. First results. Journal of Archaeological Science 30(4):481–489.Google Scholar
Grace, R. 1996. Review article use-wear analysis: The state of the art. Archaeometry 38(2):209–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ioviţă, R. 2009. Ontogenetic scaling and lithic systematics: Method and application. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(7):1447–1457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keeley, L. and Newcomer, M. 1977. Microwear analysis of experimental flint tools: a test case. Journal of Archaeological Science 4(1):29–62.Google Scholar
Kooyman, B. 2000. Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Levi-Sala, I. 1986. Use wear and post-depositional surface modification: A word of caution. Journal of Archaeological Science 13(3):229–244.Google Scholar
Lin, S. C., Rezek, Z., Braun, D., and Dibble, H. L. 2013. On the utility and economization of unretouched flakes: The effects of exterior platform angle and platform depth. American Antiquity 78(4):724–745.Google Scholar
Lycett, S., von Cramon-Taubadel, N., and Foley, R. 2006. A crossbeam co-ordinate caliper for the morphometric analysis of lithic nuclei: A description, test and empirical examples of application. Journal of Archaeological Science 33(6):847–861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, D. A. 2014. The application of focus variation microscopy for lithic use-wear quantification. Journal of Archaeological Science 48:26–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magnani, M., Rezek, Z., Lin, S. C., Chan, A., and Dibble, H. L. 2014. Flake variation in relation to the application of force. Journal of Archaeological Science 46:37–49.Google Scholar
Mercieca, A. and Hiscock, P. 2008. Experimental insights into alternative strategies of lithic heat treatment. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(9):2634–2639.Google Scholar
Newcomer, M., Grace, R., and Unger-Hamilton, R. 1986. Investigating microwear polishes with blind tests. Journal of Archaeological Science 13:203–217.Google Scholar
Noll, M. 2000. Components of Acheulean lithic assemblage variability at Olorgesailie, Kenya. Doctoral thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.Google Scholar
Odell, G. 2000. Stone tool research at the end of the millennium: Procurement and technology. Journal of Archaeological Research 8(4):269–331.Google Scholar
Odell, G. 2001. Stone tool research at the end of the millennium: Classification, function, and behavior. Journal of Archaeological Research 9(1):45–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odell, G. 2004. Lithic Analysis. New York, NY: Plenum Pub Corp.Google Scholar
Odell, G. and Odell-Vereecken, F. 1980. Verifying the reliability of lithic use-wear assessments by’blind tests’: The low-power approach. Journal of Field Archaeology 7(1):87–120.Google Scholar
Pretola, J. 2001. A feasibility study using silica polymorph ratios for sourcing chert and chalcedony lithic materials. Journal of Archaeological Science 28(7):721–739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, T., Chappell, S., and Ives, D. 1982. Thermal alteration in Mesolithic assemblages. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 48:467–485.Google Scholar
Rezek, Z., Lin, S., Ioviţă, R., and Dibble, H. L. 2011. The relative effects of core surface morphology on flake shape and other attributes. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(6):1346–1359Google Scholar
Richter, D. 2007. Advantages and limitations of thermoluminescence dating of heated flint from Paleolithic sites. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 22(6):671–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riel-Salvatore, J., Bae, M., McCartney, P., and Razdan, A. 2002. Palaeolithic archaeology and 3D visualization technology: recent developments. Antiquity 76(294):929–930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowney, M. and White, J. 1997. Detecting heat treatment on silcrete: Experiments with methods. Journal of Archaeological Science 24(7):649–657.Google Scholar
Schmidt, P. 2011. Traitement Thermique Des Silicifications Sédimentaires: Un Nouveau Modèle Des Transformations Cristallographiques et Structurales de La Calcédoine Induites Par La Chauffe. Paris: Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. http://www.theses.fr/2011MNHN0008 (accessed July 9, 2019).Google Scholar
Schmidt, P., Léa, V., Sciau, Ph., and Fröhlich, F. 2013. Detecting and quantifying heat treatment of flint and other silica rocks: A new non-destructive method applied to heat-treated flint from the Neolithic Chassey culture, southern France. Archaeometry 55(5):794–805.Google Scholar
Schmidt, P., Masse, S., Laurent, G., Slodczyk, A., Le Bourhis, E., Perrenoud, C., Livage, J., and Fröhlich, F. 2012. Crystallographic and structural transformations of sedimentary chalcedony in flint upon heat treatment. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(1):135–44.Google Scholar
Semenov, S. 1964. Prehistoric Technology. London: Cory, Adams and Mackay.Google Scholar
Shackley, M. 1998. Gamma rays, X-rays and stone tools: Some recent advances in archaeological geochemistry. Journal of Archaeological Science 25(3):259–270.Google Scholar
Shackley, M. 2008. Archaeological petrology and the archaeometry of lithic materials. Archaeometry 50:194–215.Google Scholar
Shea, J. and Klenck, J. 1993. An experimental investigation of the effects of trampling on the results of lithic microwear analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 20:175–194.Google Scholar
Speth, J. 1972. Mechanical basis of percussion flaking. American Antiquity 37(1):34–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stemp, W. James. 2014. A review of quantification of lithic use-wear using laser profilometry: A method based on metrology and fractal analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 48:15–25.Google Scholar
Stout, D., Quade, J., Semaw, S., Rogers, M., and Levin, N. 2005. Raw material selectivity of the earliest stone toolmakers at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. Journal of Human Evolution 48(4):365–380.Google Scholar
Unrath, G., Owen, L., Van Gijn, A., Moss, E., Plisson, H., and Vaughan, P. 1986. An evaluation of use-wear studies: A multi-analyst approach. In: `Owen, L. and `Unrath, G. (eds.) Technical Aspects of Microwear Studies on Stone Tools, pp. 117–176. Early Man News. Tübingen: Institut für Urgeschichte.Google Scholar
Wadley, L. and Prinsloo, L. C. 2014. Experimental heat treatment of silcrete implies analogical reasoning in the Middle Stone Age. Journal of Human Evolution 70:49–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiner, S., Brumfeld, V., Marder, O., and Barzilai, O. 2015. Heating of flint debitage from Upper Palaeolithic contexts at Manot Cave, Israel: Changes in atomic organization due to heating using infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Archaeological Science 54:45–53.Google Scholar
Whittaker, J. 1994. Flintknapping. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Yonekura, K. 2015. Rock properties and material selection for blade manufacture in Upper Paleolithic Japan. Lithic Technology 40(2):85–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×