Lithic Analysis

This practical volume does not intend to replace a mentor, but acts as a readily accessible guide to the basic tools of lithic analysis. The book was awarded the 2005 SAA Award for Excellence in Archaeological Analysis. Some focuses of the manual include: history of stone tool research; procurement, manufacture and function; assemblage variability. It is an incomparable source for academic archaeologists, cultural resource and heritage management archaeologists, government heritage agencies, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of archaeology focused on the prehistoric period.

This fully updated and revised edition of William Andrefsky Jr's ground-breaking manual on lithic analysis is designed for students and professional archaeologists. It explains the fundamental principles of the measurement, recording and analysis of stone tools and stone tool production debris. Introducing the reader to lithic raw materials, classification, terminology and key concepts, the volume comprehensively explores methods and techniques, presenting detailed case studies of lithic analysis from around the world. It also examines new emerging techniques and includes a new section on stone tool functional studies.

Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites is a valuable volume of investigative archaeology focuses on stone tools, the artifacts produced by these tools, and the revealing debris left behind at sites where they were produced. The majority of study sites discussed are in western North America, including Alberta's own Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a World Heritage Site. Suitable for both the scholar and the interested layperson, provides a comprehensive study in archaeological lithic analysis. This concise, "hands-on" guide to practical exploration at stone tool sites will become required reading for those pursuing studies of any sort in prehistoric lithic artifacts. The inclusion of maps, illustrations, and photographs broadens the reader's understanding of deriving meaning and relevance in the study of stone tool technology.

This monograph reviews over 40 techniques and provides a guide to the methodological approaches used in archaeological lithic residue analysis.

Representing work by a mixture of veterans and a new generation of lithic analysts, Contemporary Lithic Analysis in the Southeast explores fresh ideas while reworking and pushing the limits of traditional methods and hypotheses. The variability in the southeastern lithic landscape over space and through time makes it a dynamic and challenging region for archaeologists. Demonstrating a holistic approach and using a variety of methods, this volume aims to derive information regarding prehistoric lifeways from lithic assemblages. The contributors use data from a wide temporal span and a variety of sites across the Southeast, ranging from Texas to South Carolina and from Florida to Kentucky. Not merely cautionary tales, these case studies demonstrate the necessity of looking beyond the bag of lithic material sitting in the laboratory to address the key questions in the organization of prehistoric lithic technologies. How do field-collection strategies bias our interpretations? What is therelationship between technological strategies and tool design? How can inferences regarding social and economic strategies be made from lithic assemblages? Contributors William Andrefsky Jr. / Andrew P. Bradbury / Philip J. Carr / CarolynConklin / D. Randall Cooper / Jason L.Edmonds / Jay D. Franklin / Albert C.Goodyear III / Joel Hardison / Lucinda M. Langston / D. Shane Miller / George H.Odell / Charlotte D. Pevny / Tara L. Potts /Sarah E. Price / Douglas Sain / Sarah C.Sherwood / Ashley M. Smallwood /Paul Thacker

The original research papers in the volume provide a broad review of current approaches to the study of lithic technology from the Palaeolithic to the present. The contributions address both with analytical techniques and interpretive issues. Collectively, they increase our understanding of issues such as tool function, means of production, raw material sourcing and exchange systems, and the evolution of human cognition, social organization and symbolic behavior.

Written in Stone: The Multiple Dimensions of Lithic Analysis demonstrates the vitality of contemporary lithics analysis by examining material from a variety of geographical locations. This edited collection is primarily concerned with the link between craft production and social complexity, the nature of trade, and the delineation of settlement patterns and manipulation of landscape. While deconstructing the present to reconstruct the past, each chapter incorporates a technological dimension shaped by the type of analysis utilized. Methods include microwear analysis, which adds significant understanding of stone tool function, to the identification of obsidian sources, which illustrates the potential of lithic provenance studies for reconstructing trade. This book verifies and expands on the notion that lithics play an integral role in our understanding of past societies at all levels of complexity, from Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to archaic states.

This book is the first comprehensive manual on stone artifact analysis, with detailed examples of how to measure, record and analyse stone tools and stone tool production debris. Logically ordered, clearly written and well illustrated, it is designed for students and professional archaeologists. The first section provides the necessary background information, introducing the reader to lithic raw materials, and the classification of stone artifacts, basic terminology and concepts. It goes on to discuss various methods and techniques of analysis. The final section presents detailed case studies of lithic analysis from different parts of the world, illustrating the actual application of the techniques and methods discussed earlier.