Chapter 10 Archaeology

Conchoidal fracture

shell-like shape of the interior surface of a flake; the breakage pattern seen in flaking stone tools

Microlith

small blades and geometric forms of stone tools, usually associated with the Mesolithic period in the Old world

Curated tools

special-purpose implements that require specific raw materials and substantial time and labor in manufacture.

Cryptocrystalline

stone with microscopic crystals, formed from silica under pressure in marine deposits, such as quartz, chert, flint

Handaxe

the characteristic artifact of the Paleolithic: a large, teardrop-shape stone tool bifacially flaked to a point at one end and a broader base at the other, for general-purpose use

Lithic assemblage

the complete set of stone artifacts found at an archaeological side

Chaine operatoire (sequence of production)

the different stages of production from the acquisition of raw materials to the final abandonment of the desired and/or used objects

Striking platform

the flat surface of a core where a blow is struck to remove flake, visible at the top of the flake

Bulbar

the inner, fresh surface of a flake

Dorsal surface

the outer surface of a flake

Fracture mechanics

the physics of how materials break

Type list

the set of types of artifacts for a specific area

Retouching

the shaping or sharpening of stone artifacts through percussion or pressure flaking; a technique of flintknapping

Core

the stone from which other pieces or flakes are removed; ___ tools are shaped by the removal of flakes

Nodule

unworked pieces of stone, raw materials for making stone tools

Preform (blank)

a basic piece or blank from used to make a specific kind of finished product. Term is used in lithic studies to describe early stages in manufacture of certain kinds of tools like projectile points.

Chert

a cryptocrystalline quartz with large crystal size and impurities that give it color and cloudiness

Burin

a distinctively edged stone tool combining a 90 degree edge and an oblique angled working edge

Cortical flake

a flake with some of the outer surface (cortex) of the stone nodule present

Soft hammer

a flintknapping technique that involves the sue of a hammer of bone, antler, or wood, rather than stone

Lithics

a generic term used for stone artifacts in archaeology and more specifically for flaked stone artifacts

Hammer and anvil

a hard hammer percussion technique which involves striking the core itself against a large rock in the ground to produce a flake

Flint

a hard, siliceous stone that breaks in predictable ways to produce sharp flakes, common raw material for stone tools in prehistory

Cortex

a heavily weathered rind on the outside of flint or chert nodules

Bulb of percussion

a partial cone of fracture that is seen on the inner surface of flakes as a slightly rounded protrusion or bulb

Hard hammer

a percussion technique for making stone tools by striking one stone, or core with another stone, or hammer

Punch

a piece of antler, bon, or wood used as a pointed object between the hammer and the core to assist the removal of the flake, a kind of chisel for flintknapping

Blade

a special kind of elongated flake with two parallel sides and a length at least twice the width of the piece

Hammerstone

a stone used to knock flakes from cores; part of the toolkit of a flintknapper

Pressure flaking

a technique for producing stone artifacts by removing flakes from a stone core by pressing with a pointed implement

Percussion flaking

a technique for producing stone artifacts by striking or knapping crystalline stone with a hard or soft hammer

Refitting

a technique for reassembling the scattered pieces of stone, pottery, or bone at an archaeological site to study patterns of manufacture and disposal

Bifacial

a term describing a flaked stone tool in which both faces or sides are retouched to make a thinner tool

Unifacial

a term describing a flaked stone tool in which only one face or side is retouched to make a sharp edge

Waste

a term referring to all the pieces of shatter and flakes produced and not used when stone tools are make (aka) debitage

Debitage

a term referring to all the pieces of shatter and flakes produced and not used when stone tools are make; aka waste

Flake

a type of stone artifact produced by removing a piece from a core by chipping or knapping

Patination

a weathering process that gradually changes the surface appearance of flint from shiny to dull, and often from one color to another over time

Tool

any equipment, weapon, object intentionally modified by humans to change the environment around them

Flintknapping

chipping or flaking stone to make tools and other artifacts

Projectile point

generic name for the rand of shapes and materials used to make a sharp end on weapons such as spears, darts, javelins, arrows, and the like arrowhead, spearhead

Expedient tools

implements that are quickly made, used, and discarded. The technology is fairly simple, production fairly rapid, used more general purpose, and discard immediate.

Knapping

intentionally removing a series of flakes, working stone (aka flaking)

Microwear analysis

microscopic studies of damage and polish on the edges of stone artifacts to reveal the materials that were worked

Hertzian core

name for the bulb of force produced in fracture of cryptocrystalline materials

Microburin

(1) technique for making segments of blades into small geometric (microlith); (2) waste products of the ¬¬¬____ process are also called ____