Determination of Use-Wear Evidence on Quartzite Tools: Experimental and Archaeological Studies

Summary

Use-wear analysis has become an essential method for functional study of archaeological lithic artifacts. Quartzite is one of the main raw materials for lithic tools during Paleolithic period in many sites in the world. However, use-wear studies on quartzite tools are poorly developed due to its poor quality and rough surface. In this paper, the objective is to provide some reference data of determination of use-wear evidence, including both of the experimental and archaeological studies.

In order to identify the use-wear and their basic pattern on quartzite artifacts, two groups of experiments were conducted in related to the different working motions and contact materials. On the basis of experimental data and reference, some archaeological artefacts from the Wulanmulun site were selected for comparable use-wear analysis. The Wulanmulun site is a new important Paleolithic site in Ordos City of Inner Mongolia, with an age of 60-50ka. About 1500 lithic artefacts were excavated in 2010, which are mainly of quartzite. The analytic results suggest that many lithic artefacts display used wear, and several show hafting wear. Compared to the experiments, the main working motion is considered as slicing and cutting (sawing), and the contact material is dominated by animal substances.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Advances in Archaeology of Prehistoric and Early China

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16508