Moving beyond the Reduction Stage in Debitage Analysis, with a Little Help from the Pot Sherd

Abstract

The two central goals of identifying stages of reduction and type of tool industry limit the potential of debitage analysis. The vocabulary we typically use to answer these two central goals prevents us from asking questions beyond these two goals. Assemblages that do not readily answer these goals are determined to be mixed. The problem is that the mixture may, in some cases, actually be finer grades of variation than we are able to see because of our limited goals and typologies. In this article I discuss the concept of choice in archaeology and how its interpretation in the analysis of pottery might guide us in the development of more nuanced approaches to interpreting assemblages of debitage. These approaches might lead us beyond the ecological functionalism that typically shapes our interpretations of choice in lithic production. In this way, debitage, the most common artifact type at pre-Contact sites in the Northeast, may play a more important role in the creation of a richer understanding of the past.