GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN "LITHIC" ANALYSIS

ADZE: 1. A chiselling or gouging tool used for shaping and trimming wooden artefacts. A
composite artefact, containing a stone artefact as the bit. 2. A functional/typological description
of a stone artefact thought to have been the bit.

ALTERNATE FLAKING: Flakes removed from different surfaces alternately by blows on the
same edge.

AMORPHOUS: Non-crystalline, without definite structural parts.

ANGLE OF APPLIED FORCE: The angle at which the force of flaking is applied to a rock.

ANISOTROPIC: Not having the same properties in all directions; eg. rocks with preferred
planes of cleavage.

ANVIL: Object which supports a stone artefact being struck with a hammer.

ANVIL TECHNIQUE: A procedure in which an artefact is struck against a stationary object

with sufficient force to produce a fracture. Also called `block-on-block'.

APPLIED FORCE: The force exerted upon a core or retouched flake.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT: Cultural residues no longer used by humans.

ARTEFACT: Any object which is physically modified by humans.

ATTRIBUTE: A physical characteristic of an artefact.

AXE: A stone-headed axe or hatchet or the stone head alone. Characteristically containing two
ground surfaces which meet at a bevel.

BACKED: When one margin of an flake is retouched at a steep angle, and that margin is
opposite a sharp edge, both the margin and the artefact are said to be backed. Fo

BACKED ARTEFACT: Retouched flake with backing. For issues of nomenclature in Australia
see Backed into a corner.
BEHAVIOUR: The observable actions of an organism.

BEVELED EDGE: An edge which has had its angle altered. Often a result of Turning The Edge.

BIFACE: A chipped stone artefact which has flake scars on both surfaces. Such artefacts
generally have lenticular cross-sections and platforms which are edges between the flaked
surfaces.

BIPOLAR: Technique of knapping where a core is rested on an anvil and force applied into the
core at an angle close to 90o in the direction of the core's contact with the anvil.

BULB OF FORCE: The bulb of force is a convex protuberance located at the proximal end of
the ventral surface of a flake, immediately below the ring crack. Also called the Positive Bulb of
Force or simply 'the bulb'.

BULBAR SCAR: The negative scar that results from the bulb of force.

BURIN: 1. A chisel-like implement. 2. A retouched flake which has had the lateral margin
removed on flakes which run parallel to the percussion axis (Crabtree 1972: 48-50).

BUTT: 1. The proximal end of a flake. 2. The end of a stone artefact opposite the cutting edge.

CHERT: 1. Mineral: A cryptocrystalline variety of quartz. Composed of interlocking grains

generally not discernible under the microscope. 2. Rock: A siliceous sedimentary rock composed
of micro-organisms or precipitated silica grains. Occurs as nodules, lenses or layers in limestone
and shale.

CLEAVAGE PLANE: A plane of weakness or preferred fracture in a rock.

COMPOSITE: An artefact made up of two or more parts joined together.

COMPRESSIVE STRESS: A stress which pushes two parts of a body together.

CONCHOIDAL FRACTURE: A type of fracture which gives smoothly curved surfaces

resembling the form of a bivalve shell.

CONE: Shorthand term for Hertzian cone crack, a cone shaped fracture plane extending from a
circular ringcrack as a result of loading from a blunt indenter

CONJOIN: A physical link between artefacts broken in antiquity.

CONJOIN ANALYSIS: The identification of conjoins.

CONJOIN SET: A number of artefacts refitted together.

CORE: A piece of flaked stone which has one or more negative flake scars but no positive flake
scars.

CORTEX: Weathered outer surface of rock, usually chemically altered.

CRAZING: Production of visible surface cracks by uncontrolled heating of rock.

CRENATED FRACTURE: An undulating fracture plane induced by excessive heating.

CRUSHING: Abrasion, small fracturing and the formation of ringcracks, usually along an edge.

CRYPTOCRYSTALLINE: Rock in which the crystal structure is too fine for clear resolution
with an optical microscope.

CULTURAL MATERIALS: The products of human behaviour, such as stone artefacts or food
debris.

DEBITAGE: Cores and unretouched flakes.

DEBRIS: 1. Any refuse discarded from a cultural system. 2. Debitage.

DECORTICATION: Removal of cortex from a stone artefact.

DEFORMATION: Change of shape or dimension under applied force. See Elastic deformation
and Plastic deformation.

DISCARD: The movement of an object from its systemic context to an archaeological context.

DISTAL: The end of a flake opposite the bulb. The area of a flake containing its termination.

DIRECT FREEHAND KNAPPING: A method of holding the material to be flaked in the

unsupported hand and directing the indenter with the other hand.

DIRECT REST: A method where the core is immobilised on an anvil during flaking, but bipolar
flaking is not employed.

DORSAL SURFACE: The face of a flake which was the core surface prior to flake removal and
may therefore retain negative flake scars or cortex.

DYNAMIC LOADING: Application of force by striking the object to be flaked with the
indenter. See Percussion flaking.

EDGE: The junction of two surfaces of a body.

EDGE DAMAGE: The removal of small flakes from the edge of an artefact.

ELASTICITY: The property of returning to an original form after a deforming force is removed.

ELASTIC DEFORMATION: A non-permanent deformation, in which the material reverts to its

original shape after the load is released.

ENERGY: Capacity for doing work.

ERAILLURE FLAKE: A flake formed between the bulb of force and the bulbar scar.
Sometimes the eraillure flake adheres to the core in the bulbar scar. The eraillure flake leaves no
scar on the core, but always leaves a scar on the ventral surface of the flake. The eraillure flake is
convex/concave (like a meniscus lens), has no distinct features on the "dorsal face", but may
contain compression rings on the bulbar face.

ETHNO-ARCHAEOLOGY: The study of material culture and its discard in extant societies.

EXHAUSTED: An artefact that can no longer be used for the same activity. For example, a core
from which flakes can no longer be struck.

FABRICATOR: Any object used to apply force to a piece of stone in the knapping process. See
also Hammer, Percussor, or Indenter.

FACE: One of the surfaces an artefact may possess - see Dorsal and Ventral.

FACETED PLATFORM: A platform which is created by the removal of a number of flake

scars.

FEATHER TERMINATION: A termination of the fracture plane that occurs gradually (ie. there
are no sharp bends in the plane), producing a thin, low angled distal margin.

FLAKE: 1. Any piece of stone fractured from a larger mass by the application of an external
force. 2. The piece of stone struck off a core. It has a series of characteristics showing that it has
been struck off. The most indicative of these features are ringcracks, showing where the hammer
hit the core. Also the ventral surface may be deformed in characteristic fashion, for example
having a bulb or eraillure.

FLAKED PIECE: A chipped artefact which cannot be classified as a flake, core, or retouched
flake.

FLAKER: A fabricator used solely for pressure flaking.

FLAKING: The process of fracturing stone by the application of an external force.

FLINTKNAPPER: A knapper.

FORCE: The quantity of energy exerted by a moving body; power exerted; energy exerted to
move another body from a state of inertia.

FRACTURE: Irregular surface produced by breaking a mineral across rather than along
cleavage planes.

GENERALISED REDUCTION SEQUENCE: A description of the set of knapping behaviours

common to, and characteristic of, a number of Reduction Sequences in one assemblage or region.

GRAIN: A description of the size of particles or crystals in rocks or sand. Coarse grained rocks
have particles or crystals which are large (1 mm or more), and fine grained rocks have particles
which are small (0.1 mm or less).

GREYWACKE: Hard fine-grained rock of variable composition containing some quartz and
felspar but mostly very fine particles of rock fragments.

GRINDING: The abrasion of an artefact, accomplished by rubbing it with an abrasive stone

and/or grit.
GRINDSTONE: 1. Any artefact which has been ground. 2. The abrasive stone used to abrade
another artefact or to processes food.

HAMMER: A fabricator used to apply a dynamic load.

HAND-HELD: Description of the method used to immobilize the rock during knapping, it which
it is held in one hand and struck by a fabricator held in the other hand.

HARDNESS: Resistance of material to permanent deformation.

HINGE TERMINATION: A fracture plane that turns sharply toward the free surface of the core
immediately prior to the termination of the fracture. The bend of the ventral surface is rounded
and should not be confused with a step termination.

HINGE FRACTURE RECOVERY: The process of removing hinge terminations from the core.
The process can take two different forms: removing the hinge termination by further flaking (ie.
on the dorsal surface of flakes), or by grinding the core surface.

HOMOGENEOUS: Uniform structure and property throughout the material.

INCIPIENT CRACK: A crack or line of weakness in the rock.

INCLUSION: An impurity or foreign body in the stone that reduces the homogeneity of the
rock.

INDIRECT PERCUSSION: Punch technique.

INDENTER: An object that is applying a load.

INWARD FORCE: Force applied to the platform, and directed into the body of the core.

KNAPPER: A human who creates stone artefacts by flaking.

KNAPPING: The process of striking rocks and causing them to fracture.

KNAPPING FLOOR: The debris left on one spot and resulting from the reduction of one block
of raw material.

KNAPPING LOCATION: A site comprised of one or more knapping floors.

LATERAL MARGINS: The margins of a flake either side of the percussion axis.

LENGTH: The distance from the platform to the termination of a flake or flake scar. Also
Percussion Length.

LOAD: Applied force.

LOADING: The application of force.

LONGITUDINAL CROSS SECTION: The cross-section of a flake along its percussion axis.

MAINTENANCE: The process of keeping an artefact in a particular state or condition. An edge

which is being used is maintained by flaking off blunted portions. A core is maintained by
keeping its characteristics within the limits required for certain types of flaking.

MANUFACTURE: The process of making an artefact.

MARGIN: Edge between the ventral and dorsal surfaces of a flake.

MASS: The quantity of matter in an object.

METHOD: A particular pattern of knapping behaviour.

MICROCRYSTALLINE: Rocks in which the crystals are very small but visible in an optical
microscope.

MICROWEAR: Microscopic use-wear.

MODULUS OF ELASTICITY: The ratio of any stress to the resulting strain.

MORPHOLOGY: The topographical characteristics of the exterior of an artefact.

NEGATIVE BULB OF FORCE: The concave surface left after a flake has been removed. See
Bulbar Scar.

NORMAL FORCE: Angle of applied force in which the force is directed at approximately 90 o
to the platform of the core.

OUTREPASSE: 1. A fracture termination where the fracture path curves markedly away from
the core face and continues directly into the core, removing the base of the core and giving the
flake a J shape in longitudinal cross section. 2. Any flake containing an outrepasse termination.

OUTWARD FORCE: Force applied while the indenter is moving away from the body of the
core.

OVERHANG: The lip on a core or retouched flake, caused by the platform being undercut by
the bulb on the flake removed.

OVERHANG REMOVAL: The act of brushing or tapping the platform edge in order to remove
the overhang in a series of small flakes.

PATINA: An alteration of rock surfaces by molecular or chemical change (but not by attrition,
hence not to be confused with sand blasting).

PERCUSSION FLAKING: The process of detaching flakes by striking with a percussor. Also
Dynamic Loading.

PERCUSSION LENGTH: The distance along the ventral surface from the ring crack to the
flake termination.

PERCUSSOR: Hammer.
PLANE OF FRACTURE: The fracture path which produces the ventral surface of a flake.

PLASTIC DEFORMATION: Deformation beyond the elastic limits of the material creating
irreversible effects; includes all kinds of mechanical damage. Plastic deformation is characterised
by an abrupt `yield point' above which the flow is sudden.

PLATFORM: Any surface to which a fabricator is applied when knapping.

PLATFORM ANGLE: 1. The angle between the platform and core face on a core. 2. The angle
between the platform and dorsal surface on a flake. 3. The angle between the platform and flaked
surface on a retouched flake.

PLATFORM PREPARATION: Alteration of the portion of the platform which receives the
fabricator by grinding, polishing or flaking.

PLATFORM REMOVAL FLAKE: A flake which contains a platform on the dorsal surface.

POINT OF CONTACT: Point of Force Application.

POINT OF FORCE APPLICATION: The area of the platform in contact with the indenter
during knapping.

POSITIVE BULB OF FORCE: Bulb of force.

POTLID: A concave-convex or plano-convex fragment of stone. Potlids never have a ringcrack

or any other feature relating to the input of external force. They often have a central
protruberance which indicates an internal initiation to the fracture. Potlids are the result of
differential expansion of heated rock.

PRESSURE FLAKING: The process of detaching flakes by a pressing force. Also Static
Loading.

PRIMARY DECORTICATION: The first removal of cortex from a core, creating a primary
decortication flake.

PRIMARY DECORTICATION FLAKE: A flake that has a dorsal surface covered entirely by
cortex.

PROCUREMENT: Obtaining raw materials.

PUNCH: An object which is placed on a core or retouched flake and receives the blow from the
percussor.

PUNCH TECHNIQUE: The use of a punch. Also Indirect percussion.

QUARRY: A place where humans obtained stone or ochre for artefact manufacture

QUARTZ: A form of silica.

QUARTZITE: A sandstone in which the quartz sand grains are completely cemented together by
secondary quartz deposited from solution.
REDIRECTING FLAKE: A flake which uses an old platform as a dorsal ridge to direct the
fracture plane.

REDIRECTION: Rotation of a core, and initiation of flaking from a new platform situated at
right angles to a previous platform. Produces a redirecting flake.

REDUCTION: Process of breaking down stone by either flaking or grinding.

REDUCTION SEQUENCE: A description of the order in which reduction occurs within one
block of stone.

REDUCTION STRATEGY: Guidelines used by knappers to enable them to apply their skills.

REDUCTION SYSTEM: A description of manufacturing patterns which does not order the
actions in their correct time sequence.

REJUVENATE: The process of flaking in such a way that further reduction is possible or is
easier. This usually involves removing unwanted features, such as step terminations, or making
unsuitable characteristics more favorable, for example changing the platform angle.

REPLICA: A copy of a prehistoric artefact made by a modern investigator for research purposes.

REPLICATIVE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS: A method of analysing prehistoric artefacts by

creating exact replicas of all the manufacturing debris.

RESHARPENING: The process of making a blunt edge sharper by grinding or flaking.

RETOUCHED FLAKE: A flake that has subsequently been re-flaked.

RETOUCHING: The act of knapping a flake into a retouched flake.

RIDGE: The intersection of two surfaces, often at the junction of two negative scars.

RING CRACK: A circular pattern of micro-fissures penetrating into the artefact around the
Point of Force Application and initiating the fracture. It appears on the ventral surface usually as
a semi-circular protuberance on the edge of the platform.

SAND: Quartz grains with only a small content of other materials. Grain size 2.00 mm to 0.05
mm.

SANDSTONE: A sedimentary rock composed of sand, and with only a small amount of other
material, which has been consolidated by argillaceous or calcareous bonding of grains.

SCAR: The feature left on an artefact by the removal of a flake. Includes negative bulb, negative
ringcrack and negative termination.

SECONDARY DECORTICATION: The removal of cortex from a core after the primary
decortication flake.

SECONDARY DECORTICATION FLAKE: A flake that has both cortex and flake scars on
the dorsal surface.
SHEAR: The effect produced by the action of a shear stress.

SHEAR STRESS: A stress causing or tending to cause two adjacent parts of a solid to slide past
one another parallel to the plane of contact.

SILICA: Silicon dioxide.

SILCRETE: A silicified sediment.

SILICEOUS: Having a high silica content.

SITE: A concentration of cultural material.

SPALL: Synonym for Flake.

SPLIT: To Cleave or Shear.

STATIC LOADING: Application of force by placing the indenter on the object to be flaked and
then applying load. Also Pressure flaking.

STEP TERMINATION: A fracture plane that turns sharply towards the free surface of the core
immediately prior to the termination of the fracture. The bend of the ventral surface is sharp,
often a right angle.

STEP FRACTURE RECOVERY: The process of removing step terminations from the core.

STIFFNESS: Resistance of material to elastic deformation.

STONEWORKING: The manufacture of stone artefacts.

STRAIN: Deformation of the shape or size of a body as a result of the stress applied to it.

STRESS: A force causing strain.

SURFACE SITE: A site where artefacts are found on the ground surface.

SYSTEMIC CONTEXT: Cultural materials operating within an ongoing behavioural system.

TAPHONOMY: The study of the depositional and preservational processes which produce
archaeological or palaeontological material.

TECHNIQUE: A particular combination of circumstances involved in making stone artefacts.

Includes the ways of applying force, moving the body and the objects used.

TECHNOLOGY: The manufacturing behaviour of humans.

TENSION: Forces which draw portions of a body apart.

TENSILE STRESS: A stress that pulls two parts of a body apart.

TENSILE STRENGTH: The ability of a material to resist tensile stress.

TERMINATION: The point at which the fracture plain reaches the surface of a core and
detaches a flake.

TERTIARY FLAKE: A flake without cortex.

THERMAL TREATMENT: Alteration of siliceous materials by controlled exposure to heat.

THICKNESS: Measurement of the distance between the dorsal and ventral surfaces of a flake.

TOOL: Any object that is used.

TRANSFORMATION: An inference about the systemic context based on archaeological

objects.

TRANSVERSE CROSS SECTION: The cross section of a flake at 90o to the length.

TULA: A flake with a prominent bulb, large platform and platform/ventral surface angle of about
130o, which is retouched at the distal end. Not to be confused with a Tula Adze.

TULA ADZE: A composite tool observed ethnographically, consisting of a stone artefact (often a
Tula), a wooden handle and resin.

TURNED EDGE: The result of turning the edge.

TURNING THE EDGE: Process of beveling the platform edge of a producer artefact by
removing multiple small flakes.

UNIDIRECTIONAL CORE: Core from which flakes were removed from one platform surface
and in only one direction.

UNIFACE: Artefact flaked on only one side.

USE: The performance of a stone artefact in an activity involving non-stone objects.

USELIFE: The period of time during which an artefact is used.

USE-WEAR: Damage to the edges or working surfaces of tools sustained in use.

VENTRAL SURFACE: The surface of a flake created when it is removed and identified mainly
by the presence of a ring crack.

VITREOUS: Glassy amorphous texture.