Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses A Microwear
Analysis The most important discovery arising from Keeley's
research was that, at magnifications of 100x to 400x, there was
a high correlation between the detailed appearance of microwear
polishes formed on tool edges and the general category of
material worked by that edge. For example, different and
distinctive types of microwear polish were formed during use on
wood, bone, hide, meat, and soft plant material. These
correlations between microwear polish and worked material were
independent of the method of use (cutting, sawing, scraping, and
so on). In combining evidence of polish type with other traces
of use, Keeley was able to make precise reconstructions of tool
functions. This book includes the results of a "blind test" of
Keeley's functional interpretations which revealed remarkable
agreement between the actual and inferred use of the tools
tested. Keeley applied his method of microwear analysis to
artifacts from three excavation sites in Brita