INTERPRETING THE FUNCTION OF STONE TOOLS

CHAPTER 4: A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH TO FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

SECTION 4: OBSERVATION RECORDING


An outline drawing is made of the tool on which is recorded the position of any features and also the location of any photographs that might be taken. It is not necessary to make a detailed drawing of the tool, a schematic representation of the retouch being sufficient rather than drawing individual flake scars (Figure 36). Other workers use polar coordinates to record the location of used areas, but when illustrating tools the worked edges are indicated on a drawing (see Odell and Odell-Vereeken 1981). The remaining recording is carried out by filling in the values for the variables on the observation sheet (Figure 37). The main purpose in using an observation sheet is to enable the analyst to record the variables in a systematic way and to keep the observations consistent between one tool and the next. Also, the presentation of information in this form provides primary data which can be referred to by other analysts when assessing any functional reconstructions made from the data. Most microwear reports provide polish descriptions using subjective terms which may be interpreted in different ways by different analysts reading the reports. In addition, the cost of publishing often restricts the number of photographs which can be published in a report, thus further limiting the primary data available to the reader. This means that the findings of the microwear analyst are accepted or rejected without adequate information.

The reference number of the tool and its type is recorded. If there is more than one working edge on the tool each edge is given a unit number and is treated separately and a new observation sheet is used. For the definition of a working edge see Section 5.2.

With a retouched tool the retouch on the surface (usually the dorsal surface) may make observation of edge wear and polish features impossible, in which case the retouched surface will be recorded as retouched and variables for that surface left unrecorded.

Figure 36

OUTLINE DRAWING

Figure 37

OBSERVATIONS

  • TOOL NO. TYPE

  • GRAIN SIZE 1 fine 2 medium 3 coarse

  • TOPOGRAPHY 1 flat 2 undulating 3 ridged

  • TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES 1 percussion ripples 2 edge feathering 3 both 4 absent


  • EDGE MORPHOLOGY

  • EDGE ANGLE

  • LENGTH

  • THICKNESS

  • PROFILE

  • SHAPE

  • MACRO EDGE WEAR DORSAL VENTRAL

  • FRACTURES
    1 absent
  • 2 <5 per 10mm.
  • 3 >5 per 10mm.

  • FRACTURE TYPE 1 flakes
  • 2 snaps
  • 3 steps
  • 4 flakes+snaps
  • 5 flakes+steps
  • 6 snaps+steps
  • 7 flakes+snaps+steps
  • 8 absent

  • ROUNDING
    1 light
  • 2 heavy
  • 3 absent

  • GLOSS
    1 present
  • 2 absent


  • MICRO EDGE WEAR

  • FRACTURES
    1 absent
  • 2 <5 per 5 mm.
  • 3 >5 per 5 mm.

  • FRACTURE TYPE
    1 flakes
  • 2 snaps
  • 3 steps
  • 4 flakes+snaps
  • 5 flakes+steps
  • 6 snaps+steps
  • 7 flakes+snaps+steps
  • 8 absent

  • ROUNDING
    1 light
  • 2 heavy
  • 3 absent

  • MICRO-TOPOGRAPHY OF POLISHED AREA 1 flat 2 undulating 3 ridged

  • MICRO-POLISH DISTRIBUTION 1 continuous 2 intermittent 3 absent

  • DISTRIBUTION TYPE
    1 away from the edge
  • 2 gapped
  • 3 edge only/even
  • 4 edge only/asymmetric
  • 5 differential
  • 6 absent

  • INVASIVENESS
    1 edge only
  • 2 <0.5D
  • 3 >0.5D
  • 4 absent

  • LINEAR FEATURES
    1 parallel
  • 2 perpendicular
  • 3 angled
  • 4 parallel+perpendicular
  • 5 parallel+angled
  • 6 perpendicular+angled
  • 7 absent

  • STRIATIONS
    1 parallel
  • 2 perpendicular
  • 3 angled
  • 4 parallel+perpendicular
  • 5 parallel+angled
  • 6 perpendicular+angled
  • 7 absent

  • POLISH DEVELOPMENT
    1 A (individual elements)
  • 2 A+
  • 3 B (linked)
  • 4 B+
  • 5 C (all over)
  • 6 D (linear)
  • 7 absent

    • CHAPTER 4:SECTION 5

    CONTENTS