The quantification of microwear polishes

Abstract

Abstract In the existing methodology of microwear analysis, both the descriptions and the comparisons of observed traces are highly subjective, which is unsatisfactory from many points of view. The authors describe various image processing techniques and discuss their potential to alleviate this situation by providing a means of quantifying microwear polishes and hence of comparing them objectively. Promising results have been obtained, although some technical difficulties remain. Applications of the technique to experimentally used flint implements enabled various useful observations to be made, including the unexpectedly large degree of overlap between the polishes produced by different contact materials; the implications of these results are briefly discussed. Research is continuing.