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Identification of Cultural Site Formation Processes through Microdebitage Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kathleen L. Hull
Kathleen L. Hull*
Affiliation:
Yosemite Research Center, National Park Service, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389
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Abstract

Methods for recognition of site formation processes are slowly being developed. Ethnoarchaeological data on refuse disposal suggest that comparison of the distribution of large and small objects across a site may be an interpretive method because size is often a factor in determining whether an object becomes primary or secondary refuse. To test this in the field, I carried out microdebitage analysis on soil samples from a stone circle site in the Northern Plains. Comparison of the microdebitage and macroflake distributions indicates the utility of microdebitage analysis for study of use and disposal in lithic tool manufacture areas.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , October 1987 , pp. 772 - 783
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

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References

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