Toward the analysis of lithic production systems

Abstract

This introduction to the discussion focuses upon the importance of prehistoric quarries and lithic production in the contexts of procurement, exchange, technology, and social organization. To reconstruct lithic production systems, it is necessary to analyze the quarry and the debitage at sites within the locale of the study, and to establish production indices and run spatial analyses; chemical characterization and dating of artifacts and debitage provide data usable for this study. Analysis of quarry permits reconstruction of processes of extraction, selection, knapping, on-site activity of the average knapper, and documentation of the reduction sequences and changes in technology and rates of production. Variables which affect structure and morphology of lithic production systems are discussed. The processes of selection and extraction are dependent upon the geologic setting of the resource.