Heat Treatment of Ozark Cherts: An Archaeological Experiment in the Effects of Heat Treatment on Toolstone Flaking Properties

During the prehistoric period in the Ozarks, people used several raw material types for stone tool production, two of which are Burlington and Jefferson City cherts. Burlington chert is typically considered a poorer quality chert than Jefferson City chert for stone tool production. I hypothesize that people heat-treated Burlington as well as Jefferson City chert to improve the flaking qualities of the cherts. Ideally, the process of heat treatment improved the flaking qualities of the raw materials by exposing the raw material to heat for an extended period of time. I tested the knapping characteristics of heat treated Burlington chert, heat treated Jefferson City chert, untreated Burlington chert, and untreated Jefferson City chert in an archaeological heat treatment experiment. My results suggest that heat treatment improves the flaking properties of Burlington and Jefferson City cherts when compared to unheated specimens. Using these results, I evaluated the use of Burlington and Jefferson City chert in the Ozark archaeological record.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Applied Anthropology

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology and Anthropology

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Picka, Craig Matthew

Contributors dc:contributor

• David Byers

• experimental archaeology
• heat treatment
• Ozark prehistory
• Burlington chert
• Jefferson City chert
• Anthropology

Statement dc:rights

• © Craig Matthew Picka

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1180

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2181