Abstract
About 10 years ago, a new experimental design, based on a mechanical flaking apparatus, allowed complete control over several independent variables essential to flintknapping. This experimental setting permitted the investigation of more fundamental aspects of stone technology, including the effect of particular platform attributes, core surface morphology, and the application of force on flake size and shape. These experiments used cores made of glass that were molded to exact configurations. Here we set out to investigate whether results obtained from experiments on glass cores can be extended to other materials, in this case varieties of basalt, flint, and obsidian that were cut to the exact core configurations. We focused on the relationships between the independent variables of exterior platform angle and platform depth and dependent variables of overall size (weight or mass), volume, and linear dimensions. It was found that in almost every comparison, all four materials show similar relationships in nature and degree. What differs instead is the amount of force needed to detach a flake. In other words, given the same core morphology and platform attributes the resulting flakes will be the same, but harder materials require more force to remove the flake. These results were additionally verified on Middle Paleolithic archeological materials made mostly on Late Cretaceous flints. Our results demonstrate that experiments using glass cores are valid and can be generalized and extended to other materials.
Highlights
Controlled experiments on flake manufacture have a long history in lithic studies
The purpose of this present experiment was to address the question of whether the results of controlled experiments on glass cores are applicable to raw materials that were used in the past
We addressed this question by modeling the effect of raw materials on the relationships of EPA and PD to flake size, as measured by volume and linear dimensions
Summary
Controlled experiments on flake manufacture have a long history in lithic studies 1981; Faulkner 1972; Pelcin and Dibble 1995; Pelcin 1997a, b, 1998; Speth 1972, 1975, 1981) These experiments were designed to investigate factors that influence size and shape of a flake. Reduction intensity can be quantified by comparing the original mass and the mass of a retouched element (Dibble 1987, 1995). This aspect has been valuable for curation studies, for the questions of the Middle Paleolithic industrial variability since resharpening events drive much of the typological variability as established by F.
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