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5. Microwear Analysis

As one would expect, much of the variation in lithic assemblages appears to be related to the tasks for which the artefacts were intended and used. Indeed, the continuous feedback between manufacture, use, design and human agency produces changes in technological organisation (Schiffer and Skibo 1997; Ingold 1997). With this in mind, it would seem a priority to consider the activities for which stone artefacts were designed and employed.

The perspective used here attempts to provide greater insights by focusing on the context of use of the tool, which includes several dimensions: a) the working material and its state; b) the operations in which tools are involved; c) the spatial and the temporal order of the activities in which a tool is employed; and d) the technical processes related to tool usage (Álvarez 2003). By relating use-wear traces back to context of use, it becomes possible to explore different aspects of technological practice, such as the organisation of labour, distribution of activities, time investment and skill and cognition in stone tool usage.


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