INTRODUCTION

     First, recall the goals of the archaeological excavations at Hilltopper Shelter.  One research question concerns when the site was occupied.  Is Hilltopper Shelter a single component historic period site or a multicomponent site that also represents prehistoric occupations?  Can a specific range of years be specified for each occupation?  The other research question relates to the function of the site during each temporally-distinct occupation.  How was the site used during each occupation?

     These are fairly standard research questions for archaeologists. Analysis of the lithic remains from the shelter must proceed with these questions in mind. Can lithic artifacts be used to determine period of occupation? Can lithic artifacts be used to determine site function? The answer is yes. How so? Some suggestions are explained and demonstrated in this lab.
 

OCCUPATION HISTORY

     Chronologically diagnostic lithics may be used to determine period of site occupation. Several classes of chipped-stone lithic artifacts are used to address questions of occupation history. They are projectile points, blades or bladelets, hoes, and gun flints, the former being the most common means of establishing site occupation periods based on lithics.

     In prehistory, projectile points were manufactured using different techniques and in different stylistic forms. For example, some types were made by soft hammer and some from hard hammer percussion. Some point types had lanceolate blades and others triangular blades. Some were corner notched, some were side notched, and some were not notched at all. Different styles of points were produced in different time periods. Therefore, point stylistic types may be used to determine relative dates for occupation layers at an archaeological site.

     Decades of research by archaeologists has yielded comprehensive guides to projectile point stylistic types. Most guides contain detailed descriptions of metric and non-metric attributes, spatial distributions, and dates and periods of use for each stylistic type. A standard for Eastern Woodlands prehistory is Justice (1987). We will use this guide to identify projectile point stylistic types recovered from Hilltopper Shelter.

ASSIGNMENT:  A number of projectile points were recovered from Zones II and III of Hilltopper Shelter. Use Justice (1987) and the other reference materials to identify each specimen by type. Record the specimen number and provenience for each point. Document the type, period, time range, and reference guides used for each point.  Record any other attributes you deem relevant to answering the research questions.

     Besides projectile points, blades or bladelets, hoes, and gun flints serve as chronological markers. Manufacture of these three types of lithic tools is associated with certain time periods in Kentucky prehistory. Blades or bladelets were common during the Paleoindian and Middle Woodland periods. Chipped-stone hoes made of highly polished cherts are often associated with maize farming settlements from the late Late Woodland and Mississippi periods. Gun flints were used during the historic period.

ASSIGNMENT:  Examine the lithic assemblages from each occupation layer at Hilltopper Shelter.  Using reference materials and comparative collections in the lab, look for blades or bladelets, hoes or hoe fragments, and gun flints. If you identify any of these chronologically diagnostic lithics, record the specimen number, provenience and potential time range for each artifact. Record any other attributes you deem relevant to answering the research questions.
 

SITE FUNCTION

     Lithic assemblages can be used to identify possible site functions during each occupation, especially for prehistoric occupations. Keeping in mind the site function interpretive models covered in the site report (Tables 1 and 2) as well as the four interpretive models distributed in class, use the lithic assemblages from each stratigraphic zone to characterize site use and to identify activities that might have occurred at Hilltopper Shelter.

     Ground-stone tool functional types are associated with several prehistoric activities, including food processing and food storage, fabrication and processing of organic materials, hunting, non-lithic resource procurement, chipped-stone tool manufacture and maintenance, and personal status maintenance and social activity (Table 1).

ASSIGNMENT: Using reference materials and comparative collections in the lab, identify the types of ground-stone tools in the lithic assemblage from each stratigraphic zone. Record the specimen number, provenience and functional type for each artifact. Record any other attributes you deem relevant to answering the research questions.

     Similarly, chipped-stone tool functional types are associated with certain prehistoric activities, including food processing and food storage, fabrication and processing of organic materials, hunting, butchering and hide preparation, fishing, lithic procurement, chipped-stone tool manufacture, chipped-stone tool maintenance, and personal status maintenance and social activity (Table 1).

ASSIGNMENT: Using reference materials and comparative collections in the lab, identify the types of chipped-stone tools in the lithic assemblage from each stratigraphic zone. Record the specimen number, provenience and functional type for each artifact. Record any other attributes you deem relevant to answering the research questions.

     Chipped-stone debitage is used to address questions of site function, in particular, to delimit the types of lithic manufacturing activities that occurred at a site. Debitage types and flake reduction types may be used to determine the stage(s) of lithic reduction that occurred during an occupation (Collins 1975). Flake fragmentation types and debris may be used to distinguish types of tool manufacture, such as bifacial tool production versus end scraper production (Sullivan and Rosen 1985 and others). The percentage of debitage in an assemblage graphed against the ratio of tools:debitage is suggestive of lithic manufacturing activities (Magne 1989).

    Important Note: For this lab, we are assuming that we are only analyzing a 10% sample of the chipped-stone debitage. In other words, if there are 200 debitage specimens in the lab samples, assume that the site generated a total of 2000 debitage specimens. If there are 58 debitage specimens from Zone II, assume that the zone generated a total of 580 debitage specimens. You should discuss this sampling in your lab write-up and use the full specimen counts in your interpretations of site occupation.

ASSIGNMENT: Using reference materials and comparative collections in the lab, identify the types of chipped-stone debitage in the lithic assemblage from each stratigraphic zone. Record the specimen number, provenience and type for each piece of debitage. Record any other attributes you deem relevant to answering the research questions.

     Two attributes of chipped-stone tools are suggestive of site function and site occupation. Chert heat treatment tends to be more common at sites occupied for long periods of time (Applegate 1997). High percentages of exotic raw materials compared to local raw materials may be indicative of a mobile settlement strategy, and therefore limited occupation activities, or of a sedentary settlement strategy coupled with trade or exchange, and therefore a greater diversity of occupation activities (Applegate 1997).

ASSIGNMENT: Using reference materials and comparative collections in the lab, identify the occurrence of chert heat treatment and chert types in the chipped-stone lithic assemblage from each stratigraphic zone. Record the specimen number, provenience, heat treatment, and raw material type for each piece chert artifact.  Record any other attributes you deem relevant to answering the research questions.
 

SITE REPORT

     The results of the lithic analysis must be described in the site report. The lithic analysis section usually includes descriptive text, data tables, data figures, quantitative analysis, and line drawings or black-and-white photographs of diagnostic artifacts.

ASSIGNMENT:  Compose the lithic analysis section of the final site report. Follow the stylistic format of the existing portions of the site report. Click here for more information about lab report requirements.

The lab report for lithics is due at the beginning of class time on Monday, October 2.
 

REFERENCES

Applegate, D.
 1997 Lithic Evidence of Prehistoric Rockshelter Use in Eastern Kentucky. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. The Ohio State University, Columbus.

Collins, M. B.
 1975 Lithic technology as a means of processual inference. In Lithic Technology: Making and Using Stone Tools, edited by E. Swanson, pp. 15-34. Mouton, Paris.

Magne, Martin P.R.
 1989 Lithic Reduction Strategies and Assemblage Formation Processes. In Experiments in Lithic Analysis, edited by D.S. Amick and R.P. Mauldin, pp. 15-31. B.A.R., Oxford.

Sullivan, Alan P. III and Kenneth C. Rosen
 1985 Debitage Analysis and Archaeological Interpretation. American Antiquity 50: 755-779.