3: Lithics Flashcards
Why Study Stone Tools?
- tells us about human evolution and development of complex thought processes
- good preservation so used to date sites and establish chronologies
Evolution of Lithic Technology - size and complexity and what it can tell us
- got smaller and complex overtime, reflecting thought processes
- can show how they made tools during that time
What is Lithics
- study of stone tools and their associated debris
Types of Stone Modification
- Flaked Stone
- Ground stone
How are ground stone tools made and what are they useful for. Examples
- made through use of an abrader –> can be smooth and don’t have scarring patterns that flake stones do
- Useful for milling, grinding, or as a blunt implemetn
- Sometimes intentionally ground during manufacturing
- Ex: Slate Ulu Blade (knife), Mortar and pestle for grains, chunkey stone/discoid (spherical game piece in SE states), and steatite/soapstone vessel
How are flaked stone tools made and what is the process called
- Created by sequentially removing flakes from a core through the application of force
- Primary method of tool manufacture in human history
- Flintknapping: process of creating flaked tools
Types of Flaked Stone Tools (6)
- Projectile points
- knives
- drills/awls
- burins: coring or carving
- scrapers: to scrape hide to make clothes
- blades: cutting something finely or sharply
what is a core and a flake
- Core: mass of stone from which flakes are removed
- Flake: piece of stone which has been removed from a larger mass through the application of force
Lithic reduction sequence
Core –> flake –> preforms –> tools –> debitage
What is preform and debitage
- Preform: flakes with some shaping but not yet complete
- Debitage: debris produced during flaking process
Two main methods of manufacture
- Percussion flaking: use of a hammer to detach flakes from a core (3 types)
- Pressure flaking: use of a soft material like antler or bone to detach flakes from a core –> more controlled process and precise
3 Types of Percussion Flaking
- Direct Hard Hammer Percussion: striking a core with an object harder than the core
- Direct Soft Hammer Percussion: striking core with a hammer softer than the core
- Indirect percussion: using a softer punch like antler or bone and a harder hammerstone to hit it with
two types of stones
- Homogenous: having the same structure throughout
- Siliceous: raw materials that are rich in SiO2 (silica)
Which type of stone is the best for flaking and why
Siliceous
* has a Hertzian core, when hit there is a predictable fracture pattern
* has conchoidal fracture: fracture with smooth, curface surfaces
3 Common Raw Material Sources and what they look like
- Quartzite: rough texture on broken faces, sandy appearance, large grained
- Chert or Flint: range of colors but often grey or brown, fine grained, waxy
- Obsidian: volcanic glass, no crystalline structure, glassy luster
