Use-wear Analysis of Nonflint Lithic Raw Materials: The Cases of Quartz/Quartzite and Obsidian

Abstract

Ever since the beginnings of traceology as a scientific method of analysis, the raw material was seen to be one ofthe most influential variables in the formation and development of use-wear marks (Semenov 1957). This is not only the consequence of differences in the mineralogical composition of each rock, as other characteristics such as granulometry, cementation and position of the different minerals, mineral structure, type offracture and hardness are also influential (Hayden 1979; Clemente Conte 1997; Rodríguez Rodríguez 1997; Astruc et al. 2001). Thus, the degree of homogeneity and heterogeneity of the different rocks used as raw material for the manufacture of different implements also influences the specific characteristics of the use-wear marks.