The Quaternary Research (Daiyonki-Kenkyu)

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The flaked stone tool is one of the primary artifacts excavated from prehistoric archaeological sites. The ease of flaking of lithic raw material is regarded as an important point of understanding prehistoric behavioral strategies. Some previous studies referred to the ease of flaking as “fracture predictability”. These studies examined “fracture predictability” through analyzing the mechanical behavior and geological structure of lithic raw material. The examination of fracture predictability in archaeology can be evaluated as interdisciplinary research that employs the ideas of fracture mechanics, geology, and materials science. Here I classify the attributes of fracture predictability into the mechanical approach and the structural approach and review the concepts and examination methods of fracture predictability. I then summarize common attributes of the lithic raw material in terms of high fracture predictability. In addition, I suggest that the differences in fracture predictability among raw material types may influence the fracture propagation velocity.

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