EXPERIMENTAL THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING OF A LOWER PALAEOLITHIC HANDAXE: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL VALUE

Abstract

Chipped stone tools are difficult to illustrate in publications with line drawings or analog photographs, and previous attempts to improve on stone tool illustration with stereoviews, coatings, or casts have not been widely adopted by lithic analysts. New software makes it possible to create interactive photorealistic 3D digital images of stone tools in the field or laboratory without specialized or expensive equipment. These images can be replicated by 3D printers, and based on our experiments using three different printing media we demonstrate that models printed in ABS plastic are acceptably inexpensive forms that reproduce the artifact features required by specialists. The combination of image-based modeling and 3D printing will revolutionize the illustration of artifacts and greatly mitigate the need for extensive travel and help alleviate accessibility issues.