Raw-Material Availability and the Organization of Technology

TLDR

Availability of lithic raw materials is a key factor influencing stone‑tool production technology. The study examines how abundance and quality of lithic raw materials affect the production of formal versus informal stone tools. The results show that poor‑quality raw materials are used for informal tools, high‑quality materials in low abundance produce formal tools, high‑quality abundant materials yield both tool types, and factors such as residential mobility are less influential.

Abstract

Ethnographic examples of stone-tool makers in Australia and archaeological examples from three different areas in the western United States indicate that the availability of lithic raw materials is an important variable conditioning stone-tool production technology. Attributes of availability such as abundance and quality of lithic raw materials condition the production of formal- vs. informal-tool types. Poor-quality raw materials tend to be manufactured into informal-tool designs. High-quality lithic raw materials tend to be manufactured into formal-tool designs when such materials occur in low abundance. When high-quality materials occur in great abundance both formal- and informal-tool designs are manufactured. Other factors, such as residential mobility or sedentism, are found to be less-important determinates of lithic-production technology.