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The Quantification Problem in Stone-Tool Assemblages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael J. Shott
Michael J. Shott*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0513, shott@csbs.csbs.uni.edu
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Abstract

How many tools does a lithic assemblage contain? The question is not as banal as it may seem, because tools were used as wholes but many are found broken. Pottery and faunal analysts have grappled with the problems of counting original wholes from mixed sets of whole and broken objects; lithic analysts lag behind. Assemblage size can change greatly depending on whether we count or ignore tool fragments. To systematize treatment of broken tools, I apply Orton’s pottery quantification method to several lithic assemblages and compare it to Portnoy’s MNT and raw counts. Methods do not agree in all cases, demonstrating that how we count affects our results. Until we know more, both methods should be used to quantify lithic assemblages.

Resumen

Resumen

¿Cuántos instrumentos contiene un conjunto lítico? La pregunta no es tan absurde comoparece, porque se usaron los instrumentos como entidades pew muchos se encuentran rotos. Los analistas de los restos cerámicos y óseos han tratado con los problemas de la cuenta de las unidades enteras procedentes de conjuntos mezclados de objetos enteros y defragmentos; conjuntos líticos merecen el mismo tratamiento. El tamaño de conjuntos puede variar mucho de acuerdo con si contamos o desatendemos los fragments. Para sistematizar el tratamiento de instrumentos rotos, aplicó a unos conjuntos líticos el método de Orton para cuantificar la alfurcría. Además, comparó este método al NMH de Portnoy y a datos crudos. Los métodos no están de acuerdo en todo caso, lo que demuestra que cómo contamos afecta los resultados. Hasta que sepamos más de sus propiedades y comportamiento, debemos usar umbos métodos para cuantificar los conjuntos líticos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 65 , Issue 4 , October 2000 , pp. 725 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2000

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