Microwear features on vein quartz, rock crystal and quartzite: A study combining Optical Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy

We focused our interest on describing the main groups of wear features. The results obtained allowed us to assess the different mechanical behaviours under the stressors induced by tool-use from a group of raw materials with the same chemical composition but very different in structure. Furthermore, we propose the revision of some terms commonly employed when documenting micro-wear on quartz and similar rocks, as well as recurring concepts coming from materials and geological sciences (e.g. tribology, quartz exoscopy...).