The Cortex % field is not decorative. It tells you where in the reduction sequence this artefact sits — and that tells you whether you're looking at a primary knapping location, a secondary processing site, or the discard end of a transport system.

Recording at the Scatter, Not the Catalogue

Surface artefact recording in Australian archaeological heritage surveys operates under time pressure that most laboratory-based analysts don't appreciate. Ground Surface Visibility — recorded as a multichoice reflecting percentage cover — directly conditions what you can actually see and count. A ground surface at 0–25% visibility in spinifex after rain is not comparable to the same site at 75% visibility in dry season. Average Density, Maximum Density, Minimum Density, and Average Number of Artefacts in categories (10s, 100s, 1000s) plus Predicted and Counted Number give you the quantitative envelope for the scatter before you record a single artefact in detail.

That envelope is what the regulatory assessment depends on — not the individual artefact descriptions, but the scatter characterization. A high-density scatter with 1000s of artefacts and a Counted Number of 47 tells the assessor that systematic counting was impossible and estimation methods were applied. Documenting that methodology in the record is what makes the count defensible.

Area of Scatter Examined as a text field accommodates the variety of ways a scatter extent is described in different survey contexts: polygon area in m², linear extent along a track corridor, buffer from a GPS waypoint. The field captures what was actually assessed, not a forced conversion to a metric that may not apply.

The Artefact Record

Raw Material — Chert, Silcrete, Quartz — is the foundational attribute. In semi-arid Australian landscapes, raw material provenance analysis can identify exchange networks and movement ranges. A Silcrete flake in a region where Silcrete doesn't occur locally is a data point. The multichoice field constrains entry to the regionally relevant raw material types for the survey program, preventing the "fine-grained siliceous rock" versus "FGS" versus "cherty silcrete" inconsistency problem.

Primary Form — Complete Flake, Proximal Flake, Medial Flake — captures the completeness and position of the flake in the knapping sequence. Flake Platform — Abraded, Crushed or Shattered, Facetted — characterizes the striking surface condition. Flake Termination — Axial, Bipolar, N/A — records how the flake ended its travel. These three attributes together are the basic reduction sequence data that allows lithic assemblage characterization.

Cortex % ranges — 0%, 1-32%, 33-66%, above 66% — quantify cortex retention, which correlates with reduction stage. A scatter with predominantly high-cortex flakes is an early stage reduction site — nodule testing and initial shaping. High frequencies of low-cortex flakes indicate later stage reduction — tool production from already-tested blanks.

Dimensions and Tool Classification

Length, Width, Thickness, and Max Dimension as double fields give you the metric profile. Core Scar count and Longest Core Scar measure reduction intensity on core artefacts. Retouch/Usewear % — same categories as Cortex % — captures the proportion of the artefact edge showing modification.

Tool Type — Adze Flake, Amorphous Scraper, Anvil, plus the full range of the multichoice options — is the classification applied to retouched and formal tool artefacts. In Australian stone artefact studies, the distinction between an Amorphous Scraper and a formal Backed Artefact has chronological implications that affect significance assessments under heritage legislation.

DPGS ID and Photo in Avenza are the links to the spatial record: the DPGS identifier connects this artefact record to the DPGS spatial database, and the Avenza boolean confirms that the photographic documentation was captured in the field mapping platform.