Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary Studies--University of Maine, 2001. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-116).

Chipped stone tools are a truly dynamic medium of material culture. From initial reduction to contemporary excavation, lithic artifacts undergo continuous change. The role of the properties of raw materials in determining rates of use-wear accrual is poorly understood and has rarely been assessed quantitatively (e.g. Goodman, 1944; Greiser and Sheets, 1979; McDevitt, 1994). This dissertation offers such quantification regarding four materials exploited for the production of short-term use implements at the Late Archaic FA2-13 site located just outside the city of Farmington, New Mexico. / Both experimental and archaeological use-wear evidence was assessed in separate but related ways. Digital image analysis of use-wear invasiveness using ClemexVision PE and GIS analysis of use-wear homogeneity using Idrisi Kilimanjaro yielded distinct but highly complementary results. Direct testing of material properties of non-archaeological samples using a Hysitron Triboindenter served to further clarify these findings in terms of the complex relationship between raw material surface hardness and roughness. / The results of the present study show that there are significant differences between rates of wear accrual among the four materials. Analysis of tools from FA2-13 indicates that while scraping activities likely did predominate (Schutt, 1997a), it may also be feasible to generate more detailed assessments regarding the kinds of scraping activities that were undertaken and the respective intensities with which they were performed. This increased insight can then be extrapolated for application to long-term use technologies and their more complex life histories.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A. in anthropology)--Washington State University, May 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-128).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 246-264). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 38).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 353-373).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Anthropology)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 38)

By the re-evaluation of one specific artefact class - the Scottish examples of tanged points, the intrinsic qualities of this artefacts form, context and is use is employed to establish an enhanced sense of regional variability within early Scottish archaeology. A methodology for tanged point identification is determined and enacted to demonstrate that the existing examples of Scottish tanged points do not represent a single, coherent, tanged point tradition in this region. Variability is evident and can be translated, in terms of human behaviour, to suggest at least three separate antecedents to early activity in Scotland. Of specific focus is a hitherto unrecognized line of activity (or influence) during the Mesolithic - one originating from areas to the north/north-east of Scotland from the modern political construct of Scandinavia. In this spatial context, tanged point use extends into the Mesolithic, unlike counterparts in the northern territories of the European continent where tanged points are primarily discussed as late Palaeolithic, and to which Scottish tanged points have been traditionally compared. This 'northern' scenario thus provides an alternative reading of some examples of this material class in Scotland. The juxtaposition between marine and terrestrial lifestyles is key to this analysis. Acknowledging this in relation to a select sample of Scottish tanged points – those within the island context of Stronsay, a northern isle in the archipelago of Orkney, this specific set of tanged points is argued to comprise a new component within the tool kit of Mesolithic activity within this regionally specific context. The implications of this permits a more pluralised perspective of the nature and extents of early activity in Scotland, and a documents the significance of regional variability to understanding the range of potential influences, and identities, that may have enculturated the landscapes of Scotland during its earliest phases of prehistory.