The Lithic Scatter Audit
If you're not documenting your surface archaeology with precise Ground Surface Visibility and Artefact ID metrics, you're just sightseeing rather than surveying. The difference between a significant archaeological discovery and a meaningless pile of rocks is the availability of high-fidelity technological data at the point of discovery. Do you know the exact Raw Material—Chert, Silcrete, or Basalt—of every flake in the scatter? Can you verify the Flake Platform type and Cortex % across a 100-artefact site without losing the context of the Area of Scatter Examined? Without a centralized, high-fidelity digital log of Flake Termination and Tool Type, your field survey is a series of subjective notes that won't satisfy a professional cultural heritage audit.
This template is a digital teknik log for the field archaeologist and heritage consultant. It standardizes the forensic examination of stone tools, ensuring that every Artefact is a documented, verifiable chapter of prehistoric technology.
The Lithic Analysis Matrix
The strength of this system is its commitment to granular technological depth. It doesn't just record "a tool"; it captures the entire mechanical profile of the manufacture. You track specific Primary Form types, ranging from Bifacial Cores to Proximal Flakes, logging the Length, Width, and Max Dimension for each. The system includes exhaustive categories for Tool Type, covering everything from Bondi Points and Adze Tula to Grinding Slabs. This allows for a standardized description that is essential for identifying site function and cultural affiliation.
The specialized flake metrics—Flake Platform (Abraded, Facetted, Natural) and Flake Termination (Feather, Hinge, Step)—provide the necessary data for analyzing reduction sequences and tool-making behavior.
Density & Quantitation
The ultimate value of this system is the integration of site-wide metrics with individual artefact data. By logging the Average Density and Counted Number against the Predicted Number of artefacts, you build a statistical model of the site's significance. The Photo in Avenza boolean ensures that your physical data is always linked to georeferenced visual evidence. You move from "finding flakes" to mastering the data-driven science of lithic analysis, ensuring that every DPGS ID represents a documented, valued, and permanent record of our prehistoric heritage.