Effects on Precision During Flake Production: Interaction Between Knapper Skill and Raw Material Properties.

This dissertation contains an assessment of the raw material quality methods used to understand the interaction of material properties variables during flake production. The aim of this dissertation was to study whether precision is affected by the quality of the material or by the skill of the knapper. Two sets of data were obtained from knapping experiments, one by a skilled knapper and another by a novice knapper to determine this. I conducted tests to determine the quality of the rocks by assessing the mechanical properties of the rocks, the visual properties of rocks (pertaining to the size and shape of crystals within the rock matrix), and the geochemical analysis (amount of Si02 and Loss of Ignition). There was a correlation between the mechanical properties of the rocks and the visual properties. The results further, suggest that the skill of the knapper does not have a significant effect on precision when differences in raw material are present. Based on these results it appears that when studying variation within an assemblage due to precision differences by the maker of the tools, that perhaps more weight should be put on understanding the quality of the materials involved.

Author

• Munga, Joanne Umazi

Language

• en

Date created

• 2024

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Human Paleobiology

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Braun, David

Committee Member(s)

• McFarlin, Shannon
• Wood, Bernard
• Brooks, Alison
• Eren, Metin

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/k930bx88z