ANTH 9 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Fracture Mechanics, Lithic Reduction, Cryptocrystalline
Document Summary
Stone tools are the earliest and most enduring human artifacts. Earliest worked pieces of stone have been found in east africa dating to 2. 6 mya. Most common materials = form of cryptocrystalline quartz including basalt, obsidian, jasper, quartzite, chert/flint. Fracture mechanics used to describe how materials break. Striking platform = place where force was applied to remove the flake. Dorsal surface = outer surface of the flake. Bulbar, or ventral, surface = inner, fresh surface of the flake itself. Percussion = technique of striking stone to remove a flake. Pressure flaking = term used to describe removals made by pressing a point into the edge of a core. Percussion can be done using a hard hammer, hammer and anvil, or soft hammer. Debitage = waste produced when making stone tools. Retouching = technique for further shaping flakes, blades, and other pieces into specific forms.