A marked change in character of Mesolithic chipped stone industries occurred c. 9200 BP. Early Mesolithic 'broad-blade' microlithic technology was replaced by Late Mesolithic 'narrow-blade' technology. Narrow-blade technology remained in use throughout the period c. 9200-5200 BP. Some changes are likely during this 4000-year period. Hitherto, however, it has proved difficult to identify chronological and regional variations within the British narrow-blade industries, based on stylistic and technical attributes. This is because most narrow-blade assemblages are surface collections which represent hundreds of years of human activity, concealing technological development over time. I have approached this problem by analyzing and comparing the lithic assemblages from securely dated sites from various parts of northern Britain, with the intention of re-defining Late Mesolithic typochronology. Six lithic assemblages from Late Mesolithic sites in northern England and western Scotland served as the primary source material. These assemblages were recovered from sites excavated by Clive Bonsall between 1974 and 1999: Monk Moors and Williamson's Moss in the Eskmeals region of Cumbria; Lon Mor, Kilmore and Ulva in western Scotland; and Low Hauxley in Northumberland. By undertaking a detailed quantitative typological analysis of each lithic assemblage, I have been able to examine chronological and regional variability in narrow-blade lithic technology. Patterns of variability in the primary and secondary technological components of the lithic assemblages have been explored, and I have fitted this data into a much broader context incorporating the greater body of narrow-blade lithic material excavated from northern Britain. I have also assessed the security and efficacy of the current 14C record for the narrow-blade Mesolithic using the S2AGES 14C evaluation scheme. Using this method, I have been able to identify and remove unreliable 14C dates from the typochronological model. Chronological variability in narrow-blade technology has been assessed using only reliable 14C evidence. I have therefore established a secure 14C foundation for future research in the narrow-blade Mesolithic, and the interpretative potential of narrow-blade material from northern Britain has been greatly improved. Finally, I have integrated the Mesolithic 14C chronologies of Britain and north-western Europe. The chronological and technological dimensions of the narrow-blade Mesolithic in northern Britain have been considered within a broader European context, and I have modelled the development of lithic cultures in Postglacial north-west Europe.

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This project focuses on the early Mesolithic in the Kennet Valley, Berkshire in southern England. Through an extensive analysis of the lithic assemblages from six prominent early Mesolithic sites (i.e. Thatcham 1958-1961 Sites I, II, and III, Thatcham Sewage Works 1989, Greenham Dairy Farm, and Faraday Road), this thesis explores the social and practical processes which hunter-gatherers engaged in during lithic activities. It investigates the very notion of process and how we as archaeologists, often negate such phenomena in favour of strict technical and functional aspects associated with lithic assemblages from this period. Drawing upon this argument, this study explores and critiques the traditional theory that Mesolithic inhabitations were nothing more than functional type sites (e.g. hunting and base camps). Instead, it advocates an approach which seeks to illuminate that these occupations were derived from many historical and contemporary social and practical processes, which were embedded within lithic activities that were largely responsible for the continual production of the early Mesolithic landscape in the Kennet Valley.

This thesis presents a lithic attribute and geochemical analysis of the lithic material recovered from coastal site of Fatumafuti, on Tutuila Island, in the Samoan archipelago during 1050-520 BP. The goal of this thesis is to clarify the nature of stone tool production and to add to our current understanding of the cultural transformations from Lapita to a Polynesian identity. To complete this goal four research questions are addressed. What is the stage of reduction (cha ne operatoire) at Fatumafuti? Does the assemblage vary over space and time? Where did the source material come from? And, what was the organization of lithic craft production? Specifically, is there evidence for specialization? The lithics at Fatumafuti contain multiple segments in the technical sequence of tool manufacture (cha ne operatoire). The two major segments are middle stage and late stage reduction, and two minor segments are early stage reduction and tool rejuvenation. Expedient tools found on site indicate that prehistoric groups did not rely on a completely curated technology. Tool manufacture was geared toward producing a variety of tools, as opposed to a specific product. Production was most intense towards the coastal portion of the site during the earlier cultural component and then shifted towards the talus base during the later cultural component. Using non-destructive Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), elemental concentrations were analyzed and compared to those of Tataga-matau, Lau?agae, Asiapa and Alega. One, possibly two, sources were utilized at this site; however, they are not chemically similar to Tatagamatau, Lau'agae, Asiapa and Alega. I conclude that people of Fatumafuti practiced independent household production at the end of the Aceramic and beginning of the Recent period. Either the intensification of lithic craft production that is seen during the height of complex chiefdoms is not seen at Fatumafuti, or these social transformations had not yet taken hold. With more cases that date to this time, we may find that Samoan chiefdoms had not attained full complexity at this point.

A network-based method is developed for analyzing use in stone tool assemblages, where 'use' denotes the tasks for which chipped edges are suitable. Modeling chipped edges as nodes, use-wear and retouch as edge traversals, use-life trajectories of chipped edges as inter-connecting paths, and `tools' as subnetworks over which design tolerances are maintained on edge morphology, the method is an attempt to improve on existing models, allowing for complex, continuous change and multiple uses throughout a chipped edge's use-life. Avoiding analogy-based categories, the method is designed to highlight rather than obscure the possibilities for use and multi-use. Potential for integration into social-learning based models of cultural evolution is considered. The metric is employed to address the widely noted paucity of lithics in Late Prehistoric contexts of the southeastern U.S. Specifically, the Lyon's Bluff site (22OK520, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi) is shown to exhibit substantial use-capacity, suggesting that paucity does not imply divestment.

This thesis tests models on the dispersal of hominin populations in the Upper Pleistocene, specifically in relation to the Arabian Peninsula. It does so by conducting a quantified comparison of lithic assemblages from northeast Africa and southwest Asia. Lithic data from new excavations at the Jubbah Palaeolake in northern Saudi Arabia is compared to assemblages from Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Oman and other localities in Saudi Arabia. This is the first detailed inter-regional study of this area for Marine Isotope Stages 5 to 3, a critical spatial and temporal context in debates on both early modern human and Neanderthal demography and dispersal. The spatial and temporal character of the rich Arabian archaeological record correlate with emerging evidence for environmental change in Arabia; in particular the repeated dating of archaeological contexts to periods of climatic amelioration suggests that demographic growth was associated with periods of increased precipitation. The various factors influencing lithic variability and the methodologies by which they can be elucidated are reviewed. In particular this highlights the need for quantified and comparative analyses. A variety of analytical approaches are applied in this thesis, including the use of Correspondence and Principal Components Analyses to develop a nuanced view of lithic variability. Variability in cores is shown to largely reflect the related factors of size and reduction intensity. With analyses of debitage and retouched lithics a broadly similar picture emerges: assemblages which are heavily reduced have small cores and blanks and higher levels of retouch, and elements of shape variation also change in relation to reduction intensity. Elements of residual variability may reflect cultural differences. While it is felt that the evidence presented broadly orientates the Upper Pleistocene Middle Palaeolithic of Arabia to dispersals from Africa, this suggestion is subsumed with a problematization of using lithic evidence to understand dispersals. Aside from the need for further dated archaeological material from Arabia and surrounding countries, lithic analyses need to more thoroughly consider factors such as reduction intensity if we are to make robust inferences on population dispersals.

The primary concern of this thesis is to quantify and analyze the lithic (chipped stone) assemblage previously excavated by Hepp (2015) and the La Consentida Archaeological Project (LCAP) at the archaeological site of La Consentida in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. The lithic assemblage is comprised of over 500 artifacts mainly of obsidian and chert. This research represents a study of all primary context lithic artifacts from La Consentida and focuses on obsidian, the material most used at the site. In the first part of this thesis I provide an analysis of all lithic artifacts of this primary context assemblage collected during the 2012 field season. Additionally, I present technological considerations regarding manufacturing techniques and subsequent issues regarding technique implementation. The second part of this thesis examines the distribution of lithics, in addition to other artifact classes (i.e. ceramics and ground stone), at the site and relates this to manufacturing techniques and inferences towards social organization. Results indicate that the people of La Consentida favored obsidian as a material for lithic manufacture. While other materials were used to produce chipped stone, obsidian dominates the assemblage. Further, these materials were used in expedient lithic reduction, which characterizes the majority of the assemblage. In addition to expedient flakes, specialized tools are also present, although minimal. Additionally, the way in which lithics, and more importantly obsidian artifacts, are distributed at the site indicates a purposeful designation for manufacture and use in specific locations. The artifacts I examine here are crucial to determining the economic practices of this Early Formative period (2000–1000 B.C.) site. Ascertaining how the lithic artifacts were distributed at the site will help expand current understandings of Early Formative period exchange, crafting, and subsistence practices. Furthermore, these results may have implications for developing our understanding of social organization at the earliest known settled village in coastal Oaxaca.

This dissertation is a technological study that deals with those techniques employed by the Gault Clovis people in the manufacture of both bifaces and blades. The materials studied were recovered during the 2000 and 2001 field seasons conducted by the Anthropology Department of Texas A&M University. The study involves an analysis that deals with raw material selection, blank production, reduction methods, and problems encountered, and includes a definitive description and metric calculations for each of the various artifact types analyzed. The results are then compared to similar artifact assemblages from known Clovis sites. The conclusions derived from this analysis show that the Gault Clovis people utilized a number of different strategies in both biface and blade reduction. It was found that some of these strategies, previously felt to be restricted to one reductive procedure, were connected and utilized in both procedures. In addition, it was discovered that some techniques thought to be limited to use only within the initial reduction sequence were, in fact, utilized throughout.

From excavations of burial complexes of the Early Bronze Age Cyclades (c. 3000-2200 BC) we know that obsidian was just as important and as widely consumed in burial contexts as it was in contemporaneous household contexts; Early Bronze Age Cycladic tomb assemblages are dominated by beautiful obsidian blades produced through a unique knapping technique reserved for burial contexts (Carter 2007; Dickinson 1994). The lack of sourcing studies in the area is an unfortunate pitfall in Aegean archaeology, as understanding patterns of source selection provides us with precious insight into the complex social structures and behaviors that characterized these ancient communities. The research detailed in this thesis set out to accomplish these goals for obsidian assemblages from 11 Early Cycladic cemeteries. Structurally, these assemblages are dominated by pressure-flaked blades manufactured specifically for funerary consumption, but also include a small number of blade cores and some pieces of flaking debris. Contextually, the composition of the assemblages reflects the social significance of body modification amongst these islanders, with the blades themselves likely used for depilation, scarification, and tattooing, and the cores reemployed as pestles in the grinding of pigments, as evidenced by pigment residues located on the artifacts (Carter 1998). Two additional assemblages from settlements on Crete were analyzed, one from a Late Neolithic cave site and another from a Late Minoan settlement. These assemblages served both to provide additional regional and temporal context for the Early Cycladic findings and to advance obsidian sourcing efforts in the Aegean as a whole. In order to characterize the chemical profiles of these artifacts for sourcing purposes, this study employed portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, a non-destructive archaeometric method which allows for the time- and cost-effective mass-sampling of objects on-site. The results display clearly that the Early Cycladic artifacts are overwhelmingly made from Melian obsidian, and approximately 88% derive from the Sta Nychia source. How far-reaching this procurement bias is throughout the Early Bronze Age Aegean is currently difficult to say, though contemporary data from previous studies, as well as the results obtained from the two Cretan assemblages in this study, seem to show a similar pattern. Future research integrating regional traditions of obsidian source selection with previously defined regional distinctions in pressure-blade technology is necessary in order to begin to map communities of practice across the broader Aegean.

This study examines small projectile point technology of the Postclassic Lowland Maya (A.D. 1400 - 1697) using a technological systems framework, to evaluate production strategies and the movement of finished goods within Mesoamerican exchange networks. Small arrow points (1 - 3 cm long) were typically made from obsidian and microcrystalline silicates (chert, chalcedony), and were key components of bow-and-arrow weaponry among multiple Mayan-speaking groups and ethnopolities known as the Itza, Xiw, Kowoj, Chak'an Itza, Kehach, Dzuluinikob, Chetumal, Lakam tun (Lacandon), and Chuj. Literature suggests that the Late Postclassic period was a time of heightened "international" exchange, defined by frequent inter-polity interactions, information sharing, and intensified long-distance exchange of raw materials across political boundaries. Thus, this study adds to anthropological theory by focusing on the interplay between political geography and material culture to understand the relationship between non-elite goods and intensified social interaction. In total, this study analyzes 2,128 small projectile points originating from 17 different Lowland centers, focusing explicitly on the research domains of raw material procurement, production, use, repair, and discard. Multiple lithic analyses are used to collect data including macroscopic methods, taxonomic classification, and spatial-contextual analysis. Additionally, instrumental methods including portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and cross-over immuno-electrophoresis (CIEP) are used to identify raw material procurement patterns and interpret use activities related to the bow-and-arrow. The results of this study demonstrate that raw material preference and procurement strategies for small points varied significantly across the Maya Lowlands, and were often contingent on ethnopolitical affiliations and factionalism. In particular, strong differences emerge among neighboring polities within the Petén Lakes region of Guatemala, where the Itza, Kowoj, and Chak'an Itza maintained territories in close proximity to one another. A taxonomic and technological classification of small points reveals considerable variability in technological styles in addition to morphometric variability of haft types. Spatial-contextual analyses of depositional patterns demonstrate a range of activities associated with bow-and-arrow weaponry that often included symbolic associations with ritual and civic-ceremonial architecture. CIEP results reveal a multiplicity of use activities of the bow-and-arrow, with several positive immunological matches for indigenous and introduced fauna. Overall, the holistic approach of this dissertation helps bridge the divide between seemingly mundane artifacts and past economic behaviors that are critically important to Postclassic Maya studies.