Table of Contents

List of contributors; Preface; 1. Tools as optimal solutions Robin Torrence; 2. From shopper to celt: the evolution of resharpening techniques Brian Hayden; 3. The occupational history of sites and the interpretation of prehistoric technological systems: an example from Cedar Mesa, Utah Eileen Camilli; 4. Trade or embedded procurement?: a test case from southern Illinois Carol A. Morrow and Richard W. Jefferies; 5. Economies in raw material use by prehistoric hunter-gatherers Robert Jeske; 6. Lithic technology and mobility strategies: the Koster site Middle Archaic Rochelle Lurie; 7. Re-tooling: towards a behavioural theory of stone tools Robin Torrence; 8. A cost-benefit study of the functionally similar tools Roger A. Boydston; 9. Reliable and maintainable technological strategies in the Mesolithic of mainland Britain Andrew Myers; 10. Assessing social information in material objects: how well do lithics measure up? Joan M. Gero; 11. Optimisation and stone tool studies: problems and potential Michael A. Jochim; References; Index.

Promotional Information

This collection aims to refocus archaeological and anthropological interest in technology.