Ground stone use-wear analysis: a review of terminology and experimental methods

Abstract

Methods, terms, and experimental results are presented as standardized concepts for the analysis of ground stone tools. Recent experimental and microscopic research techniques applied to the study of ground stone tools have broadened the recognition of use-wear patterns. Building on the research of tribologists who study wear in order to prevent it, wear mechanisms have been identified that are distinctive to the relative nature of contact between two stone surfaces in addition to the nature of substances worked between contacting surfaces. Tribological wear mechanisms identifiable on stone surfaces include surface fatigue, adhesion, abrasion, and tribochemical interactions, each of which are continuously in play, so that what we see depends on when the wear process was interrupted. Other important factors influencing surface wear are the durability and texture of the rock type selected for tool use.