Journal
ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY
Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages 103-136Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2016.1213972
Keywords
experiment; flintknapping; lithic technology; method validation; model; replication; stone tools; test
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Funding
- Leakey Foundation Mosher Baldwin Fellowship
- National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement [1542310]
- Research Foundation for the State University of New York
- University of Missouri
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [1542310] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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For many years, intuition and common sense often guided the transference of patterning ostensibly evident in experimental flintknapping results to interpretations of the archaeological record, with little emphasis placed on hypothesis testing, experimental variables, experimental design, or statistical analysis of data. Today, archaeologists routinely take steps to address these issues. We build on these modern efforts by reviewing several important uses of replication experiments: (1) as a means of testing a question, hypothesis, or assumption about certain parameters of stone-tool technology; (2) as a model, in which information from empirically documented situations is used to generate predictions; and (3) as a means of validating analytical methods. This review highlights the important strategic role that stone artifact replication experiments must continue to play in further developing a scientific approach to archaeology.
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