Filling in the Blanks: Standardization of Lithic Flake Production Throughout the Stone Age

ABSTRACT

Standardization can be applied to a lithic assemblage via raw material selection, blank production, blank selection, and/or retouch. Here we explore the baseline level of morphological standardization achievable through blank production alone. By quantifying how little morphological variability is inherently involved in different blank-producing lithic technologies that span much of the Stone Age, we seek to gain a long-term perspective on the evolution of lithic standardization. 728 flakes were knapped from 26 cores of 7 different lithic technologies: bipolar, multiplatform, discoidal, Levallois, direct percussion prismatic blade, indirect percussion prismatic blade, and pressure prismatic blade. Using generalized Procrustes analyses of blank outlines, we observed three noticeable jumps in shape standardization: between bipolar and free-hand flaking, between flake and blade technologies, and between the percussive blade and pressure blade technologies. Technologies that involve more skill and more investment in core preparation appear to create a more standardized set of blanks.

KEYWORDS:

• Lithic Technology
• Experimental Archaeology
• Oldowan
• Middle Palaeolithic
• Upper Palaeolithic
• Neolithic

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the guest editors, Huw. S. Groucutt, Justin Pargeter, and Ceri Shipton for the invitation to contribute to this issue on specialization. We also sincerely thank Manuel Will and an anonymous reviewer for their thoughtful and helpful comments. AM was funded via the Asian Sphere Program of the Hebrew University and the University of Haifa, and a scholarship from the Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of Interest Statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antoine Muller

Antoine Muller is PhD candidate at the Computational Archaeology Laboratory of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Chris Clarkson

Chris Clarkson is a professor of archaeology at the University of Queensland and a specialist in lithic technology and Palaeolithic archaeology.