Lithic Analysis
Procedures by which archaeological stone tools have been analyzed have tradition ally operated on an apprenticeship model, whereby a novice acquires competency at the elbow of a grizzled but revered expert in the field. After shuffling through literally
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MANUALS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD, THEORY AND TECHNIQUE Series Editors: Charles E. Orser, Jr., Illinois State University , Normal , Illinois Michael , B. Schiffer, University of Arizona, Tucson , Arizona
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY E. B. Ban ning , University of Toronto, Toro nto, Ontario, Canada
LITHIC ANALYSIS George Odell, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Ok lahoma
MORTUARY MONUMENTS AND BURIAL GROUNDS OF THE HISTORIC PERIOD Harold Mytum , University of Yo rk, York, United Kingdo m
LITHIC ANALYSIS George H. Odell Department of Anthropology University of Tulsa Tulsa, Oklahoma
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, llC
library of Congre% Catalogmg-m.Publtcauon Data Odell, George H Uthic anal)'sis I George H, Odell. p. cm. - (Manuals In archaeological method. theory. and technique) Indudes bibliographlCal rtference5 and index ISB N 978-0-306-48068-3 ISBN 978-1-4419-9009-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9009-9 1. Too15. PrehiMoric- Analysis. 2. Tool5 , PrehiMOTlc-ClassifiC3t1on, 3. SlOne implemems-Anal)'sis. I.Titlc. Il. Scrie5.
4. Stone Implemems--Cla%if1c3l10n
GN799-T60342004 930'.I'2--dc22
2003061966
() 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York
OriginoIS" OccUNfl"ICt
of Gaoe>oI Cheri
Figure 2.7. Gra phic results of the Illinois chert transect study (taken from Odell 1984: Figure 3.6).
were part icularl y abunda nt. were iden tified (Ode ll 1984 ). The princ ipal result s of the transect study, incl udi ng the locations of the "hot spots:' are illustrated in Figure2.7. These assess ments of the local reso urce base were immensely hel pful in interpre ting regional prehistoric procurem ent pattern s.
throughout the Southern Plains and traditionally sourced to quarri es near Amarillo, Texas. But through recent fieldwork in northwestern Oklahoma and southwestern Kansas , Berkl y Bailey (2000) has determined that a resource known as Day Creek chert posses ses visual characteri stics that overlap those of Alibates. This discovery calls into question many previous studies, which assumed that specific artifacts that looked like they were made of Alibates actuall y were. And it only gets worse from there , becaus e entire models of resource procurement and social dynamics have been predicated on the accurate sourcing of specific artifacts to the Alibate s quarry . Two recent studies of Centr al Americ an obsidian underscore the extent of the inaccuracy problem. Commenting on prehistoric obsid ian blade production on the Pacific Guatemalan coast, Jack son and Love (1991) submitted several of these blades to X-ray fluorescence (XRF ) analysis . Their study determined that the frequency of use of three obsidian source areas in the region changed through time. Had the authors relied solely on visual assessments for sourcing the blades, their conclusions would have been different , as the XRF analysis did not confirm visual assessments in several instances. In a similar study, Moholy-Nagy and Nelson (1990) submitted 29 obsidian artifacts and 1 unworked nodule from the Mayan city of Tikal to both visual and XRF analysis. T
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