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On the Macroscopic Identification of Used Flakes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Donald Young  and
Douglas B. Bamforth
Donald Young
Affiliation:
895 Las Pavadas Ave., San Rafael, CA 94903
Douglas B. Bamforth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 126 Bessey Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0368
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Abstract

The most common method used by archaeologists to identify flaked-stone artifacts that were used by prehistoric people to accomplish some task is to inspect an artifact's edges for macroscopic edge damage. The results of a test of this “no-magnification” approach to microwear analysis indicate that such an approach is likely to produce highly inaccurate and biased data in many or most cases.

Résumé

Résumé

El método mas comun usado los par los arqueólogos para identificar trazos de uso en artifactos de piedra prehistóricos es inspeccionar el filo del artifacto para evidencia de daño macroscópico. Aqui presentamos los resultados de una prueba de este enfoque de “sin-magnificacion” para análisis microdegaste. Los resultados indican que es probable que este enfoque produce, en la mayoría de los casos, datos muy inexactos y prejuiciados.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 403 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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