Lab Quiz 2

Question 1

Why stone tools?

Answer 1

• Stone tools, and the debris from the process of their manufacture, are among the most frequently found artifacts in arky sites
• lithos artifacts provide info on tool making and activities closely related to the use of these tools
• stone tools have been around longer than modern humans, and are prevalent in arky assemblages around the world

Question 2

What archaeologists can learn from stone tools:

Answer 2

• Technology: tools might preserve whole product they were used to make has vanished
• activities practiced within a culture: clustering of specific stone tools at specific locations suggest that certain activities were restrict d to defined areas
• function of a site: from activities determined
• settlement pattern of a human group: movement of tool types
• trade
• ideology/ religion
• maybe even the development of the human brain: with complexity and efficiency of tools

Question 3

Classification

Answer 3

Lithos artifacts are classified into different types based on:

1. Material
2. Method of manufacture: chipped/ flaked, ground/pecked
3. Form (shape, dimensions)
4. Function (projectile point, Knife, scraper, Burin)

Question 4

Materials with a fine grained texture are manufactured through a process of

Answer 4

Chipping or knapping because they will easy flake and crack (think of glass)

Question 5

Materials with a coarse grain are manufactured through a process of

Answer 5

Abrading or grinding because the will not easily flake or crack

Question 6

Manufacturing chipped stone

Answer 6

• a piece of hard stone is needed, known as a core
• flakes are removed by striking the edge of the core with a sharp, forceful blow. This is known as chipping or flaking. It requires the knowledge and ability..
• the core itself can become a tool or the flakes can become tools

Question 7

Methods of flaking

Answer 7

• direct percussion
• indirect percussion
• pressure flaking

Question 8

Direct percussion

Answer 8

• involves striking the core directly with another object. Can be with a hard (stone) or soft (antler) hammer

Question 9

Indirect percussion

Answer 9

• involved the use of an object between the striking hammer stone and the rock being shaped

Question 10

Pressure flaking

Answer 10

Used for the finishing stage of tool manufacture, or to reshape the tool when the edge gets broken or becomes dull

Question 11

Stages of flake removal

Answer 11

• primary flakes
• secondary flakes
• tertiary flakes

Question 12

Primary flakes

Answer 12

• flakes with cortex present on surface, but no flake scars

Question 13

Secondary flakes

Answer 13

a flakes with diminishing traces of cortex. Have scars of previous flake removal

Question 14

Tertiary flakes

Answer 14

No cortex present

Question 15

Dorsal

Answer 15

Outer surface

Question 16

Ventral

Answer 16

Inner surface

- has bulb (like belly)

Question 17

Other factors

Answer 17

• flake scars
• striking platform
• bulb of percussion
• ripples

Question 18

Distal end

Answer 18

Bottom

Question 19

Proximal end

Answer 19

Top, striking platform

Question 20

Ripples

Answer 20

• curve back to where the force came from

Question 21

If a tool has been worked on both sides, it is referred to as

Answer 21

Biface
- takes a considerable amount of time to know and therefore tells us about the proficiency of the flintknapper and the function of the tool

Question 22

If a tool has only been worked on one side it is referred to as

Answer 22

Uniface

Question 23

Points and projectile points

Answer 23

• clear, defined shape, consisting of a pointed tip

- usually thin, symmetrical, and biracial

Question 24

Three main types of points:

Answer 24

1) unnotched and I stemmed
2) stemmed
3) notched and stemmed

Question 25

Three main forms of points and projectile points

Answer 25

1) triangular
2. Lanceolate (straight near base, sides taper to pointed tip)
3) bipointed (both ends taper to a pint)

Question 26

Scrapers

Answer 26

• identified by the steep angle that has been worked along one edge
• endscrapers or sidescrapers, depending on whether the working edge is on the end of the flake or along the side of the flake
• usually unifacial

Question 27

Drills

Answer 27

• long and narrow bit at one end
• usually biracial
• can be used in a rotary motion to function as a perforator to create holes or groves

Question 28

Blades

Answer 28

• longer than they are wide
• usually unifacial and thin
• from functioned as cutting implements
• blade cores show the number of blades that were produced from one core

Question 29

Handaxe

Answer 29

• large, the co, pear shaped axe like tools
• moderately steep edge angles
• usually bifacial
• assumed to be chopping or multipurpose tools
• may have been hatted and not held in the hand

Question 30

Manufacturing ground stone tools

Answer 30

• groundstone tools can be manufactured variety techniques to wear away or abraded the surface, such as grinding and pecking
• do not have flake scars or a bulb of percussion
• tend to be much larger, heavier, and longer- lasting than chipped stone tools
• in the Americas, common ground stone tools include a mano and metate for the processing of corn and other foods

Question 31

Bulb of percussion

Answer 31

• a swelling usually visible just below the point of impact on a flake

Question 32

Core

Answer 32

A block of stone that is struck to detach flakes

Question 33

Cortex

Answer 33

Natural, weathered surface of raw material

Question 34

Debris

Answer 34

Residue from took production (irregular chunks without identifying features)

Question 35

Flake

Answer 35

Piece of stone with identifying features if removal by human hand

Question 36

Hafting

Answer 36

Process of placing the worked stone into a handle