Abstract
Resharpening has long played a confusing role in the history of research on lithic variability. In this chapter, I argue that, far from confounding issues of variability, resharpening can be used as a classificatory principle because it reflects human technical choices related to repeated uses of a tool. The advantage that resharpening offers is that of a mathematically suitable study object, through the investigation of shape change along the continuum of size reduction. Building upon a rich history of research in both biology and prehistoric archaeology, I present a variant of a new method for comparing resharpening trajectories, using elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) and principal components analysis to compare the slopes of allometric regressions. The theoretical presentation is followed by a worked example using bifacial tools from two European Middle Paleolithic sites: Pech de l'Azé I (France) and Buhlen III (Germany).
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | New Perspectives on Old Stones |
Subtitle of host publication | Analytical Approaches to Paleolithic Technologies |
Publisher | Springer New York |
Pages | 235-253 |
Number of pages | 19 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781441968609 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2010 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences
- General Arts and Humanities