Technological Characterization of Lithic Waste-Flake Assemblages: Multivariate Analysis of Experimental and Archaeological Data

Discriminant analysis was used to differentiate between experimental waste-flake assemblages resulting from different reduction strategies. The attributes used in the discriminant analysis consisted of Sullivan and Rozen's flake-breakage categories and discrimination between experimental assemblages was highly successful Archaeological assemblages of unknown technological origin were assigned to general reduction strategies using the same attributes. The assignments were confirmed with independent data. This analysis indicates that the Sullivan-Rozen typology can provide a reasonably accurate, preliminary characterization of the technological origins of debitage assemblages. These characterizations must be verified with independent data, however, particularly when mixed assemblages are suspected or inferred from the Sullivan-Rozen analysis.