Adzes in Focus: A 2D vs. 3D Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Dalton Artifacts.

Summary

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

Geometric morphometrics (GM) is a method of digitizing objects in a way that controls for variables, such as size and scale so that the shape of objects can be compared to determine differences and similarities. This method has become increasingly abundant in archaeological investigations of lithic tool assemblages. In studies regarding prehistoric peoples in the Americas, GM has predominately been used for 2D analyses of lithic points. It is generally agreed upon that data from a 2D GM analysis can be extremely beneficial in identifying morphological trends in lithic assemblages that can have a variety of cultural implications. However, there have not been many studies looking at the benefits of including a third dimension in these analyses. This research project uses 2D and 3D GM data collected from large lithic tools, Dalton adzes, in order to investigate the differences in statistical outcomes when using these two methods. The results of this study will help quantify the loss of shape data that occurs when conducting 2D GM analyses on large 3D lithic artifacts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39338.0