A Low-cost Method for Measuring Ridge Width on Lithic Artifacts for the Purpose of Evaluating Artifact Condition

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

To reconstruct the life history of an artifact one must understand how the tool was made, used, but also what happened to the artifact after it was discarded. For stone tool analysis, evaluating lithic artifact condition helps reconstruct this life history through insight into site exposure, assemblage integrity, and post-depositional processes. Multiple studies have used ridge width on lithic artifacts to determine artifact condition for several different raw materials. Presented here is a method for measuring lithic artifact ridge width using digital microscopy and Adobe Photoshop. This method is a cheap and quick way to evaluate artifact condition on single artifacts, and at an assemblage-level could prove useful to researchers traveling overseas or packing lightly for the field. It would also be useful for archaeological laboratory technicians, cultural resource management firms, students, and those who cannot afford more expensive research methods.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39330.0