Identifying pressure flakes in lithic assemblages

Summary

Most lithic technologists would agree that pressure flakes cannot be reliably identified in debitage assemblages by their size and morphology. Analysts using fractorgraphy have had success identifying pressure flakes by determining crack velocity via microscopic features on the ventral surface. However, this technique is time-consuming and is most successful on glassy materials. Native Americans of the western continental United States, extensively used one pressure flaking technique for 8000 years. This pressure flaking produces flakes that are diagnostic of the approach. The distinctiveness of these flakes provides a means of identifying pressure flaking in the Holocene archaeological record of the western United States.

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): 14297