II. Teoría y proyecto revolucionario
1. Praxis y proyecto
w ith sev eral edges on th e sam e a rte fa c t being u sed for different functions. O f th e 84 u tilise d flakes exam ined, 68 have one po ten tial w orking edge, 15 have two such edges an d one flake h as th re e edges.
U n d e r m icroscopic ex am in atio n a t x60 24 of th ese edges ap p eared to h av e b een reto u ch ed as well as u tilised . A lthough reto u ch is often difficult to d istin g u is h from use frac tu rin g , p a rtic u la rly w hen it is re s tric te d to sm all a re a s (as it w as on th ese artefacts), it w as considered th a t th e form of fra c tu rin g on one face of th ese edges w as co n sisten t w ith th e reto u ch p a tte r n s exhibited by o th er reto u ch ed im p lem en ts such as the scrap ers. T his fra c tu rin g took th e form of step, sn ap an d H e rtz ia n
fra c tu re s, th e rem oval of w hich h a d produced steeply angled obtuse edges. In all cases th is fra c tu rin g w as re stric te d to one face of th e edge, th e o th er face b ein g d o m in ated by shallow step fra c tu re s, edge ro u n d in g and/or p o lish .
T his reto u ch w as not considered by M cBryde (pers. com m .,1988) to be re g u la r in th e sense of th e larg e am o u n ts of reto u ch produced to shape sc rap e r edges, an d its a p p earan ce suggests t h a t it w as n o t produced w ith th is aim in m ind. It is possible th a t th is form of reto u ch w as produced on flakes w h ilst in use to provide a different edge form quickly an d to avoid th e n ecessity of producing or finding a n o th e r im p lem en t w ith a su itab le edge.
A t le a s t two functional types am ong th e u tilised flakes have em erged from an aly sis of th e w ear p a tte rn s:
Type 1 U n reto u ch ed edges w ith a w ear p a tte r n dom in ated by edge frac tu rin g (n = 77).
Type 2 R etouched edges w ith a w ear p a tte r n dom in ated by fra c tu rin g (m ainly step an d fe a th e r frac tu re s) or w ith o u t fra c tu rin g b u t w ith polish an d /o r ro u n d in g (n= 24).
T he use w ear fe a tu re s of th e Type 2 edges, step fractu rin g , edge ro u n d in g an d u se polish (P lates 55, 56 an d 57) a re sim ila r to th e w ear c h a ra c te ristic s of th e reto u ch ed scrap ers w hich a p p e a r to have been u sed for wood a n d p la n t w orking activities. As well as th ese reto u ch ed u tilised flakes, six flakes w ith o u t reto u ch b u t w ith steeply angled edges (u su ally as a re s u lt of in itia l flaking) also displayed evidence of p la n t scrap in g use,
54
for wood an d p la n t w orking activities. As well as th ese reto u ch ed u tilised flakes, six flakes w ith o u t reto u ch b u t w ith steeply angled edges (usually as a re s u lt of in itia l flaking) also displayed evidence of p la n t scrap in g use, su ch as shallow step fra c tu re s, polish, ro u n d in g an d /o r p la n t resid u es (l(c)II 113, l(f)II.l 1432, 67 l(e)II 4A, l(e )II.l 1660, 65 FS (surf) 2392, 66 l(a )I 32A).
E d ge polish
Seven of th e Type 2 edges have su sta in e d polish d u rin g use, w hich h a s developed to S tage 3 on six specim ens (Table 14). This b rig h t to very b rig h t polish exhibits a rip p led to sm ooth te x tu re an d is associated in all b u t one case w ith p la n t re sin resid u es. A ssociation of b rig h tly reflective use polish an d p la n t resid u es gives fu rth e r in d icatio n of th e resin o u s p la n t w orking function of th ese edges.
E dge fra c tu rin g
M ost of th e Type 1, or u n reto u ch ed frac tu re d edges, are dom inated by b en d in g fe a th e r a n d snap frac tu re s (P lates 58 a n d 59). F e a th e r
te rm in a tio n s a re th e m o st n u m ero u s, p a rtic u la rly on those edges w ith ten or m ore frac tu re s. W h ilst it is likely th a t m ost of th ese a rte fac ts were u sed for c u ttin g activ ities, it can be seen from th e u n reto u ch ed scraping, Type 1 edges th a t th e re m ay be some functional v a ria tio n w ith in th is group. O nly 42 or 54.5% of th e u n reto u ch ed u tilised flakes have edge fra c tu rin g as th e ir only w ear featu re. The o th er 35 (45.5%) also have edge ro u n d in g or polish (P lates 60 a n d 61) in ad d itio n to edge fractu rin g ,
how ever only four of those w ith polish ap p ea r to have been u sed to cut, r a th e r th a n scrap e, resin o u s p la n ts.
Stone raw m a te ria ls
C halcedony w as th e m ajor stone m a te ria l u sed in th e production of th e u tilise d flakes exam ined. S ilcrete flakes m ay have been u tilise d to the sam e e x te n t as chalcedony flakes, b u t as silcrete a p p e a rs to hav e been less susceptible to u se fra c tu re it w as m ore difficult to d istin g u ish u tilised silcrete flakes th a n w as th e case w ith th e m ore b rittle , easily frac tu re d ch alced o n y .
E dge m orphology
The v a rie ty of possible functional types am ong th e u tilised
am o rp h o u s flakes w as also reflected in th e v a rie ty of edge sh ap es an d wide ra n g e of edge angles re p re se n te d . A lthough th e m ajo rity of u tilise d flakes