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A Possible Noncultural Bias in Lithic Debris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Leslie Lischka*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Abstract

Analysis of two separate assemblages of lithic debris from Archaic sites in the Pecos River Drainage (New Mexico) has led to the discovery of what appears to be a noncultural bias affecting flake size, which is believed to be caused by the inherent properties of the flaking material. Graphs of the flake length/thickness ratio versus frequency of ratio occurrence coincide remarkably in their curve characteristics, indicating a nonrandom causal factor. This factor is attributed to the wave pattern created by the blow of the flaking implement and is governed by the physical properties of the medium through which it is passing.

Type
Facts and Comments
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1969

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References

Jelinek, Arthur 1967 Prehistoric Sequence in the Middle Pecos Valley, New Mexico. Anthropological Papers, No. 31. Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar