Shaping the Blades: Potential of Application of Elliptic Fourier Analysis to Prismatic Blades
| Main Authors: | Radinović, Mihailo, Kajtez, Irina |
|---|---|
| Format: | Proceeding eJournal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/4013455 |
Daftar Isi:
- Despite the appearance of novel approaches to lithic studies, most analyses are still of qualitative nature. Qualitative studies are of great importance for the study of lithics, but their main downsides are the lack of standardization in the choice of analyzed attributes and their modalities, as well as the existence of inter-researcher variability. Furthermore, it is difficult to describe complex shapes of knapped stone tools using descriptive terms and subjective typologies, even when coupled with linear measurements and indices. These issues are especially hampering appropriate large-scale comparisons of results from different studies, which could contribute to the study of wider cultural dynamics. In this paper, we use quantitative methodology to assess the shape of prismatic blades. For this purpose, we applied Elliptic Fourier Analysis (EFA) in order to compared the outlines of experimentally produced prismatic blades, and we also conducted a case study to illustrate the utility of this approach. We show how this method, which is repeatable, time-efficient and facilitates large-scale comparisons, can contribute to the study of lithic technology, as well as other aspects of prehistoric societies.