The recognition and description of knapped lithic artifacts in thin section

Abstract

Abstract Stone tools occur quite frequently in sediment and soil thin sections, yet their micromorphological characteristics have not been explicitly defined in the literature. The aim of this paper is to define the criteria for the identification and description of knapped lithic artifacts composed of flint and quartzite by examining and comparing thin sections from prehistoric sites and petrographic thin sections obtained from lithic artifacts. The main characteristics that allow the micromorphologist to identify a knapped lithic artifact, besides its composition, grain size, and alteration degree, are: the tabular or platy shape; the angularity; the smooth surface; the prominent and regular boundary. Some examples taken from prehistoric sites in southern Europe show the reliability of these criteria for the recognition of stone tools in thin sections. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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