Beyond Projectiles: Experimental Study of Microblades as Cutting Tools

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The miniaturization of lithic artifacts indicates a significant shift in lithic technology and functions since the Upper Paleolithic, revealing a probable shift in subsistence strategy. Microblades are specific kinds of small stone tools that occur in sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic through Neolithic in many parts of the world. Although it is widely recognized that microblades were used as multi-functional tools, most experimental studies are focused on microblades as part of a composite tool system for use as projectiles or spears. A non-projectile perspective is applied in this study of chert microblades as cutting tools. Different plant and animal materials with different levels of hardness were processed experimentally to reveal specific use-wear patterns from cutting and scraping. A multi-stage sequential analysis using both low-power and high-power observation methods examined the appearance of different stages of use-wear. The results show that using microblade as knives can produce different diagnostic use-wear from different tasks in comparison to typical projectile features. This experiment provides new perspectives and generates new data to understand the function of microblades on plant and animal materials.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33087