The Effect of Heat on Lithic Microwear Traces: An Experimental Assessment

Abstract

ABSTRACTDespite decades of study of post-depositional surface modification by lithic use-wear analysts, the impact of heat remains underexplored. In this paper, we present the results of an experiment designed to test the effects of heat on chert tools with well-developed wood polish. We placed 50 flakes at varying positions in and around a wood fueled hearth. Visual examination of the wood polish before and after exposure to the fire identified no discernable alterations to its texture, brightness, or extent. These results indicate that the specific conditions of thermal alteration reported here may not inhibit lithic use-wear analysis on fine-grained chert implements with wood polish, ultimately highlighting the need for further experimentation on additional lithic materials and types of polish. Given that this experiment was inspired by analysis of stone tools from ephemeral hunter-gatherer camps, we consider the implications of this experiment for the analysis of chert tools at these sites.