End Scraper Morphology and Use-Life: An Approach for Studying Paleoindian Lithic Technology And Mobility

Abstract

Kelly and Todd (1988) proposed that bifaces served as transported cores within the lithic technology of Early Paleoindian groups. This concept is evaluated here through an analysis of end scrapers from three sites. two located in west-central Illinois and one in eastern Missouri If transported bifacial cores served as the source for flake blanks used to make end scrapers, the morphology of these tools should change with increasing distance from raw material source areas. Specifically, end scrapers made from raw materials that were far removed from their respective source areas should be smaller and especially thinner than end scrapers made of the same materials found closer to the source area, and these end scrapers should exhibit a higher frequency of bifacial striking platforms reflecting the increased use of bifaces as a flake blank source. Further, end scrapers made of raw materials that were transported greater distances should not necessarily be more extensively resharpened than specimens found closer to the stone source. The results of this analysis lend some support to the Idea that Early Paleolndians carried stone in the form of unfinished bifaces that served as cores for flake tools. However, a mixed strategy, perhaps involving the transport of unmodified flake blanks and/or finished end scrapers, along with bifaces, may better explain the patterns revealed.