Lithics
Chipped stone artifacts comprise the oldest and most enduring record of human activities. Beyond traditional focus on function or style, lithic assemblages provide important information on human ecology, mobility strategies and land use practices. Lithic studies are well-developed at ASU. C. Michael Barton (Paleolithic through Neolithic of the Mediterranean and Europe), Geoffrey Clark (Paleolithic of the Mediterranean and Europe) and Margaret Nelson (agricultural societies of the American Southwest and Mexico) all have made widely recognized contributions to the development of middle range theory for lithic technology that characterizes American archaeology today. A graduate course in lithic technology is regularly taught, and training in compositional analysis methods for lithic sourcing is provided by affiliated faculty member Hamdallah Bearat in the Center for Solid State Science.
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