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A Preliminary Study of Polished Stone Artefacts in Prehistoric Southern Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Graham B. O'Hare
Graham B. O'Hare
Affiliation:
Coxland House, Huntworth, Bridgwater, Somerset TA7 0AJ, England
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Abstract

This paper is based on work carried out in 1984 to 1986 for an M.Phil, degree at the University of Lancaster. Virtually no work had been done on the subject for over seventy years and, with the exception of one article (Evett 1973), nothing showing the influence of the work of the Implement Petrology Committee of the Council for British Archaeology. Consequently little information was available which could be used as a basis for further research. Three problems were immediately faced: the time available in which to study artefacts in south Italian museums was severely limited; thin-sectioning could not be used; and due to lack of earlier studies data collection would have to be made blind, without reference to any formal model designed to answer previously formulated questions. These problems were all solved, and this paper outlines the development of, and theoretical and practical justifications for, my methodology, the methodology itself, its application to a sample of polished stone artefacts, the data thus obtained and their interpretation, and wider concerns such as the application of this methodology to other areas.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 56 , 1990 , pp. 123 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1990

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