Aspects of Analysis - Lithics
Theory
-Meta-theory: tools are part of what defines being human
-Second level:
a) tools evidence intelligence, adaptability, means of production, social
structure, technological level, social philosophy
b) changes in tools evidence adaptation to change, social and technological
advancement, cultural interaction,
-Tertiary level: classifications, typologies
History of Lithic Analysis
. lithic analysis is contemporaneous with historic understandings of human development
in social sciences
. Thomson’s 3-age system (stone, bronze, iron) and its successor systems link human
development with lithic technology (Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic)
. Form of lithics linked to technological level, age and degree of human advancement
 Paleolithic –chipped or flaked lithics
 Mesolithic –microlithics
 Neolithic –polished stone tools
. Lithics utilized to establish typologies, chronologies, and comparative levels of social
and biological advancement
Key Interests of Modern Analysis
. Relationship to means of production, utilization, social structures, technological ability,
diet, relative importance, patterns of trade, philosophy, war, artistic expression, etc..
. Multidisciplinary approach includes:
 archaeology
 anthropology (ethnography, physical anthropology-primates)
 technical or “scientific” analysis of the object
 experimental reproduction and utilization
 art history, religion, philosophy, etc…
Key Aspects of Modern Analysis
. separating artifact from ecofact/geofact
. separating human tool from non-human tool
. understanding the degree of bias in the archaeological record and social reconstructions
due to lithic survivability
. understanding the effect of time, geological and environmental factors on lithics
. direct analysis of a stone tool for evidence of utilization, microwear, method of
production, changes through time, etc..
. indirect analysis of lithics and their utilization (representations in cave art, historic
record, composition (type of rock), experimental reproduction, impact on other objects
such as cuts and scrapes, context of discovery, ethnographic analogy, associated
assemblages and remains, pseudomorphs –hollows in the soil)
Segmentation Rules (Common Terms)
. production: pebble/core/blank, knapping, punch, hammer stone, striking platform,
pressing, point of percussion, bulb of percussion (shock wave), ripples, fissures,
flake(spall), primary flake, trimming flakes, secondary flakes (from retouching),
debitage (waste), flake scar (the flat part left from a removed flake), arris(dorsal ridge
between two scars), flaking axis (line of percussion)
. features: cortex (outer surface), edge, working edge, flute (flat part between the edges as
a Folsom point or Upper Paleolithic burins and scrapers), bi-facial, distal end, proximal
end(at point of percussion), unifacial(ventral side-unworked, dorsal side -worked),
fracture terminations (feather-pointy, step, hindge, plunging), potlid fractures (craterlike
pits from heat/frost)
. use: point, burin (for carving), hammer, knife, scraper, chopper, hand-axe, borer, barb,
arrow-head, sickles, grinders, adze, hand stone (unifacial), ground stone, pestle,
Artefact vs Eco/Geofact vs Non-human tool
. when is a rock a tool?
. Distinguishing agency from nature
. Human agency: Retouching or microtouching, points of percussion, multiple percussions
on one place, bulb of percussion and ripples
. Natural factors: falls, frost, heat do not produce percussions or retouches
. Non-human intelligent agency in non-complex contexts is difficult to separate from
human
. Level of uncertainty can be very high
Direct Analysis
. relative dating –typological sequences, contextual seriation, frequency seriation
. absolute dating –not really possible- obsidian hydration
. utilization: optical examination for microwear features –striations, polishes,
microflaking, micotopography,
Indirect Analysis
. Representations in art –shape, social value, use,
. Quantity –how many, how often made –value, ease of production
. Historic record
. Composition –type of rock, trade, access, mining,
. Impact marks on other objects
. Context –associated remains, dating
. Ethnographic analogy
. Experimental reproduction –ergonomics, economics, time, energy requirements,
methods of production,
. Pseudomorphs –soil hollows of decayed stone tool related objects –shafts, poles, handles
etc..
Traditional Explanation
. Distribution map of lithic
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Position in stratigraphic sequence
Assign lithic a place within archaeological culture
Culture is a manifestation in material terms of a distinct people
Being pre-historic they are given an arbitrary name related to the first site of the object
or name of the object
. Changes observed are attributable to folk migrations
. Folk migrations imply homeland and attempts are made to identify it or in absence of
migration to find homeland by nearest parallel assemblage from which it is assumed the
lithic style diffused.
. Does the development of writing and its use across hundreds of communities imply the
migration of nations or diffusion from a point of origin? Or does it suggest the
adaptation of a unique and useful tool in association with a stage of human social
developments? Do lithic typologies and changes identify cultures and movements of
people.
The archaeologist's laboratory: the analysis of archaeological data
By Edward Bruce Banning