Exploring New Approaches to Lithic Analysis: Laser Scanning and Geometric Morphometrics

ABSTRACT

However they measure stone took, archaeologists typically use orthogonal—mutually perpendicular—dimensions like length and width. Although useful, orthogonal dimensions do not capture the geometric configuration of specimens. We describe an alternative approach to lithic analysis that involves three- dimensional laser scanning and geometric morphometries. This approach preserves much geometric information and generally is more faithful to whole-object form. Using landmarks—points at equivalent positions on different specimens—it also exploits powerful analytical techniques not traditionally used in lithic analysis. We illustrate the approach and its analytical potential in the study of a small collection of Paleoindian fluted points.