Fundamentals in practice: a holistic approach to microwear analysis at the Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas

To distinguish stone tools from geofacts, the lithic microwear analyst must bring to bear knowledge of site context, fracture mechanics, and tribology. Low- and high-magnification microscopic analysis, in hand with experimental research, can detect further evidence of anthropogenic modification and determine from microwear how a tool was used. These principles guided analysts in distinguishing post-depositionally damaged artifacts and actual tools used by early hunter-gatherers in lithic materials recovered from the Debra L. Friedkin and Gault sites in Texas.