A Record in Stone: The study of Australia's flaked stone artefacts [With CDROM]

By Simon Holdaway

A Record in Stone is an ambitious and thoroughgoing investigation of the different ways in which archaeologists use flaked stone artefacts as a basis for reconstructing the distant human past. The goal that authors Simon Holdaway and Nicola Stern set themselves is not simply to describe the range of flaked stone artefact forms recovered from Australian archaeological sites, but also to situate Australian studies in terms of the major international theoretical currents surrounding the description of stone artefacts. Drawing on a wealth of archaeological literature, Holdaway and Stern introduce the reader to the essentials of flaked stone artefact manufacture and to key theoretical approaches to artefact analysis. Building on this introductory material, the authors then present an in-depth review of techniques used in the description and analysis of the three primary divisions of the stone artefact record: flakes, cores and tools. The concluding chapters of A Record in Stone review existing typologies of Australian flaked stone artefacts and offer a cogent assessment of the historical development of archaeological investigation in this country.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0855754605
• ISBN13: 9780855754600
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press
• Length: 404 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.8" x 9.4"