Significance of Microdebitage Analysis in the Palaeolithic Age

An Experimental Contribution to Tool Manufacture

Abstract

Lithic concentrations are used as a basic unit for a spatial analysis of a Palaeolithic site. We cannot expect other remains beside lithic artifacts, so an appropriate method should be developed by using all the remains we can recover from the soil deposit.
The present lithic manufacturing experiment was conducted to confirm the sampling methodology for a lithic concentrations analysis, focused mainly on the microdebitage more than 0.25mm in maximum length. This is the smallest size that we can recover from a usual loam layer with a high possibility of identification.
As a result, in the microdebitage, the grainsized artifacts showed different distribution patterns in each manufacturing stage, and they were clearer than those of larger flakes. The microdebitage can contribute a good deal to recognizing a distinct distribution pattern in each concentration at Palaeolithic sites.