Lithics

Front 1

abrade

Back 1

to rub or wear away by friction

Front 2

adze

Back 2

an axe-like bi-facial tool with a beveled bit or blade edge usually used to work wood or sometimes for digging root crops

Front 3

alternate flaking

Back 3

the process of removing flakes from the same edge of an objective piece, but switching from one surface to the other on each successive flake removal

Front 4

andesite

Back 4

a fine-grained igneous rock in the diorite family that is intermediate in color between the light end of the spectrum (rhyolite) and the dark end of the spectrum (basalt).

Front 5

antibody

Back 5

a substance made in animals (usually a protein), which acts against foreign toxins or bacteria by producing toxins to protect the body

Front 6

antigen

Back 6

a substance (usually protein), which when introduced into the body stimulates the production of an anitbody

Front 7

anvil

Back 7

usually a stone used as bottom support for an objective piece that is being hit or flaked

Front 8

argillite

Back 8

a form of mudstone hardened enough by relatively low level heat to cause the stone to break conchoidally

Front 9

arris

Back 9

a ridge formed on the surface of flaked stone that results from the intersection of two or more flake removals. The arris marks the location of flake scars on the dorsal surface of chipped stone.

Front 10

artefact

Back 10

an objective or specimen produced by human agency. an artefact can usually be collected without being destroyed. This is in contrast to features, which are destroyed or dismantled after collection. All lithic debitage and lithic tolls are considered artefacts.

Front 11

atlatl

Back 11

a throwing board or stick for spears or darts

Front 12

attribute

Back 12

a measurable characteristic of an artefact or specimen, such as length, color or weight

Front 13

backed blade

Back 13

a blade (or flake) that is intentionally dulled on a margin so it can be hand-held safely.

Front 14

backing

Back 14

the grinding or dulling of an artefact edge to prevent the artefact from cutting the hand when held

Front 15

barb

Back 15

a projection on the lateral margin of an artefact pointing away from the proximal end. The projection is often used to anchor or hold the artefact (such as a projectile point) into the target

Front 16

basal grinding

Back 16

smoothing of the lateral margins of an artefact near the base to prevent it from cutting. This is often recognized on the haft element of the specimen.

Front 17

basalt

Back 17

the fine-grained member of the gabbro family of igneous rock. Its mineral composition gives it a dark or black color.

Front 18

bending flake

Back 18

a detached piece produced by cracks initiated away from the point of applied forced. these flakes usually have a pronounced lip, contracting lateral margins immediately below the striking platform and no bulb of force

Front 19

beveled

Back 19

usually referring to a tool edge that had been modified by the removal of a series of flakes to produce a desired edge angle.

Front 20

biface

Back 20

a tool that has two surfaces that meet to form a single edge that circumscribes the tool. Both faces usually contain flake scars that travel at least half-way across teh face

Front 21

bifacial thinning flake

Back 21

a flake that is removed during the biface trimming and often contains a striking platform that is rounded or grounded, indicating preparation. it is usually thin relative to width, with a feathered termination

Front 22

billet

Back 22

a baton or club, of material other than rock, used to detach flakes from an objective piece by percussion. it is usually made of antler, wood or bone

Front 23

bipolar flake

Back 23

a detached piece formed as a result of compression forces. bipolar flakes often show signs of impact on opposing ends and have compression rings moving in two directions toward one another

Front 24

bipolar technology

Back 24

a technique of resting the objective piece on an anvil and striking it with a hammer to split or remove a detached piece

Front 25

blade

Back 25

a type of detached piece with parallel or sub-parallel lateral margins. it is usually at least twice as long as it is wide

Front 26

blank

Back 26

a detached piece potentially modifiable into a specific tool form

Front 27

bulb of force

Back 27

the bulbar location on the ventral surface of a flake that was formed as a result of the Hertzian cone turning toward the outside of the objective piece. sometimes called bulb of percussion

Front 28

bulbar scar

Back 28

the negative scar found on the objective piece resulting from the removal of a detached piece with a bulb of force

Front 29

burin

Back 29

a flaked tool with a chisel edge that was produced by the removal of two flakes or spalls at right angles to one another to create a very fine sharp and durable edge.

Front 30

burin spall

Back 30

a narrow, think flake removed to resharpen the bit of a burn. this flake is often continuously curved from proximal to distal end

Front 31

chaine operatoire

Back 31

the notion in chipped stone tool manufacturing that a series or sequence of steps or stages are used to produce a tool

Front 32

chalcedony

Back 32

a cryptocrystalline silica that is formed with a radiating and fibrous structure.

Front 33

chert

Back 33

a compact cryptocrystalline or microcrystalline variety of quartz originating from a sedimentary context

Front 34

clastic rock

Back 34

a sedimentary rock composed of particles or fragments of smaller rock or of organic materials

Front 35

cleavage plane

Back 35

the plane along which a rock may easily be split. this is often along the crystalline structure of minerals or along the sedimentary layers of some rock.

Front 36

Random flaked core

Back 36

Nucleus has flakes detached in no apparent pattern, with or without platform preparation.

Front 37

Bipolar core

Back 37

Nucleus has two opposing striking areas, one being struck by a hammer & the other area, where the ore was reßting on an anvil.

Front 38

Unidirectional core

Back 38

Nucleus has flakes detached in one direction only. Usually has some sort of platform preparation.

Front 39

Bifacial core

Back 39

Nucleus has flakes detached from two opposing sides. Similar to Stage 1 biface.

Front 40

Tested cobble

Back 40

Nucleus has only one or two flakes detached, making the core type determination tenuous at best.

Front 41

Biface reduction sequence

Back 41

A biface is an implement with both the dorsal & ventral surfaces displaying flake scars across the entire surface.

Front 42

Stage 1

Back 42

Bifaces retain evidence of the raw material blanks from which they were made; I.e, cortex or the original flake surface.

Front 43

Stage 2

Back 43

Bifaces are in the primary stages of percussion shaping. There has been little actual thinning & margins & cross sections are irregular; the biface tends to be thick & blocky looking.

Front 44

Stage 3

Back 44

Biface a show evidence of initial percussion thinning and margin regularizing. The flake scars are regularly spaced and the cross section is even.

Front 45

Stage 4

Back 45

Bifaces show the final evidence of percussion thinning; flake scars tend to terminate at the midline of the biface, often in step or hinge fractures; the biface is very thin, margins are regular and the piece is ready to be pressure flaked.

Front 46

Stage 5

Back 46

Bifaces that have been pressured flaked to form the final shape of a projectile point, just prior to adding the halting element