Science and interpretation in microwear studies

Microwear analysis is regarded by some as problematical because of the subjective nature of the functional inferences. Aware of this problem, microwear analysts have proposed various methods of quantification that use several new analytical techniques. Although useful, these methods, employ overly simple experimentation that does no justice to the unlimited variability of human-object relationships. Instead, it is argued that we have to rely more on interpretation, incorporating ethnographic and ethno-historic information. At the same time we have to improve our daily microwear practice by producing better photographs and studying larger samples. This paper is intended as a general reflection on microwear methodology. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.