The Effect of Raw Material on Technological Organization and Recycling Practices in a Late Woodland Rockshelter

Summary

This paper attempts to synthesize the influence of raw material quality and abundance, mobility patterning, and social organization on the lithic assemblage. Each factor has been shown to have significant effects on the chaîne opératoire of lithic technology; acquisition of raw material, discard, and recycling. Following a literature review, distinct archaeological correlates to a wide variety of behaviors are used to analyze the lithic assemblage from Woodpecker Cave, a multi-component rockshelter. The analysis shows that while raw material quality and abundance affected lithic production at Woodpecker Cave, the organization of technology corresponded closely to lifestyle and mobility. By understanding this locality of production as one of many along a larger landscape, no single factor, such as raw material quality and abundance, or mobility, gains primacy over the others. Using the archaeological correlates described above provides a more holistic understanding of production processes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14509