7 - Approaches to stone tool analysis

Summary

Chapter 4 introduced a classification scheme that separated chipped stone artifacts into two primary groups: debitage and tools. Tools are considered to be all those chipped stone objective pieces that have been modified by intentionally altering their form and those detached pieces that show signs of modification as a result of use. The discussion thus far has dealt primarily with debitage or chipped stone artifacts that are not tools. Now the discussion turns to tools, specifically bifaces (Figure 4.7, 3a), flake tools (Figure 4.7, 4c), and cores (Figure 4.7, 4d).

Since chipped stone tools include specimens that may have been altered by usewear only, it is important to re-emphasize the point that the analysis in this book is restricted to macroscopic approaches. Macroscopic approaches frequently require the use of a hand lens of about 10 × to observe some of the smaller attributes on stone tools. A small hand lens is particularly helpful in recognizing striking platform characteristics and retouch patterns. If magnification is required that is greater than that provided by a hand lens, a researcher needs to consider microscopic analysis. The section on “artifact function” at the end of this chapter provides a short discussion and review of microscopic techniques of stone tool analysis. Excellent studies of microscopic lithic analysis exist in the published literature (Hayden 1979a; Keeley 1980; Kooyman 1985; Lévi-Sala 1996; Lewenstein 1987; Vaughan 1985).

Macroscopic analysis of stone tools is considerably less time consuming than microscopic analysis.