Establishing discovery probabilities of lithic artefacts in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites with core sampling

► A study into the effectivity of core sampling for discovering Stone Age sites. ► 12 Excavations were analyzed for find densities and their spatial distribution. ► Find density estimation is complicated by using different sieving mesh sizes. ► Clustering of finds has a marked, negative effect on discovery probability. ► Currently used survey strategies are not sufficient to discover low-density sites.