Experimental bipolar and freehand krapping on quartz. Alternatives or different goals

DÉBORA EGEA; SAMIRA CLAUSS; ENRIQUE MORENO

Congreso; 12th Experimental Archaeology Conference #EAC12, World Tour; 2021

EXARC

Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals in the world and has been used by humans throughout time for the manufacture of lithic instruments. The eastern area of Catamarca, Argentina, is no exception. There, lithic knapped technology recovered from archaeological sites showed quartz utilization percentages of about 96%. Nevertheless, due to its hardness, as well as the presence of fracture planes and imperfections, it is very difficult to control the fracture and obtain the expected technological results. Also, lithic technology analysis becomes a complex task due to the limited development of diagnostic features on the mineral. However, diverse researchers have faced this same situation and have begun to provide suggestions to better understand quartz behavior. This work aims to be a contribution in this direction. In particular, we are interested in showing the experimentation carried out to evaluate the presence of bipolar technique for quartz reduction. The question is if bipolar technique was used in the study area and for what purpose: for the production of certain specific products, for raw material maximization, or as a simpler knapping technique. Finally, our interest in experimentation is focused on trying to record quantitative and qualitative aspects that allow us to differentiate bipolar products from free-hand flakes. We will present the result of knapping experiments carried out on 22 quartz nodules, which were worked either by free-hand or bipolar technique, as well as knapped sequentially. Our results show that the bipolar technique would have been used to obtain certain type of blanks, of smaller thickness, that allowed the manufacture of cutting instruments, as well as its possible use for the primary reduction of large nodules.