Kooyman, Brian P.
2000 Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Notes: vii, 206 p.: ill.; 22 cm. ISBN: 1552380211Reviewed 05 Feb 2001 by:
Caryn Marie Berg <bergcm@ucsub.Colorado.edu>
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, BoulderMedium: Written Literature Subject
Keywords:Stone implements
Archaeology - Methodology
ABSTRACT: In Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites, Brian Kooyman provides a brief introduction to lithic analysis by discussing the extreme importance of this artifact class to archaeological research. For students and members of a more general audience, this volume provides a comprehensive introduction to basic lithic analysis.
Stone tools are ubiquitous in the archaeological record beginning with the earliest sites of humans, and continuing through the time of contact. Furthermore, many extant societies continue to use stone tools. Exposure to the analysis of stone tools is therefore unavoidable for a student of archaeology. This book is designed to teach both students of archaeology, as well as the general public, about the basic techniques and approaches used today in stone tool analysis.Brian Kooyman provides a brief introduction to lithic analysis by discussing the extreme importance of this artifact class to archaeological research. He further notes that the analysis of stone tools and the debitage resulting from stone tool production can help us to understand humans in the past by addressing questions ranging from basic technology to the use of the landscape and social relations.
The following four chapters focus on the basics of lithic analysis: manufacturing techniques, types of stone used in lithic production, sourcing of materials, and lithic reduction strategies. These are the basic components to lithic analysis, and Kooyman provides straightforward explanations and descriptions of these basic analytical concepts. The illustrations and photographs in these chapters provide excellent references for beginning the study of lithic technology. A point of confusion for the novice, however, may be Kooyman's brief references to groundstone analysis without elaborated discussion of this artifact type. This volume is primarily intended for the understanding of flaked stone, rather than lithic analysis in general.
In chapter six, Kooyman provides a broad survey of worldwide lithic artifact forms. The coverage of Old World types through the Paleolithic in Europe is fairly comprehensive, although discussion of lithic technology beyond the Paleolithic and in other parts of the Old World and in the New World is essentially absent. This overall survey does, however, provide the reader with a sense of the dramatic change observed in early lithic technology.
Chapters seven and eight provide a focus on variables used in lithic production and a discussion of the meaning of tool form. Chapter seven provides an excellent sense of how analysts use experiments, techniques, and theory to understand the production of stone tools in the past, although the lack of illustrations in this chapter are extremely frustrating. Chapter eight provides a summary of the "form versus function" debate that has plagued archaeologists for decades. The description of finished tool types leaves the reader with the impression that function can always be determined by form. This is a perspective with which many lithic analysts would disagree, although most would agree that certain tool functions cannot be performed with all tools.
Chapter nine is interesting in that it focuses on the cultural history of a specific region, the Northern Plains of North America. This allows the reader to see the development of tools in one geographic/cultural area, as well as providing a sense of areal specialization of archaeology. This chapter is primarily descriptive, however, and lacks a sense of the wider applications of lithic analysis (described in chapter ten) or the advantages of use-wear analysis (described in chapter eleven). The discussion of the application of lithic analysis provides an effective understanding of the important research questions that can be asked and answered using flaked stone artifacts. The brief discussion of use-wear and residual analysis allows for an understanding of the techniques available for addressing lithic function and form, but does not elaborate on the application of these techniques to broad archaeological research questions.
For students and members of a more general audience, this volume provides a comprehensive introduction to basic analytical techniques, the vocabulary used in lithic analysis, the variability present in lithic raw materials and tool types, and several of the ways lithic analysis may be used in archaeological research. For instructors and for researchers, this volume provides an up-to-date reference tool for the techniques and vocabulary of flaked stone analysis.
To cite this review, the American Anthropological Association recommends the following style:
Berg, Caryn Marie
2001 Review of Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites. Anthropology Review Database. February 05. Electronic document, http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=1477, accessed November 22, 2009.© Anthropology Review Database
(available online: http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/)