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Stones and Shafts Redux: The Metric Discrimination of Chipped-Stone Dart and Arrow Points

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael J. Shott
Michael J. Shott*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0513
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Abstract

Many of the chipped-stone bifaces so common in the archaeological record functioned as the hafted points of darts or arrows. For archaeologists, these artifacts possess two salient properties: (1) they formed only part of a larger apparatus; but, (2) because perishables decompose, they ordinarily are the only part preserved. Consequently, the identity of that apparatus-i.e., whether dart or arrow-is not readily apparent. For various reasons, we may wish to know if stone bifaces functioned as dart or arrow points. Often we rely on reasonable assumptions, but Thomas's (1978) discriminant analysis is a more reliable way to distinguish the possibilities. This study extends Thomas's approach by increasing the dart sample and the rate of successful classification. Shoulder width is the most important discriminating variable. An independent test on a set of arrows also strengthens confidence in the results.

Muchos de los bifaces liticos encontrados en el registre arqueológico funcionaron como puntas enmangadas de dardos o flechas. Tales artefactos poseen dos propiedades salientes: (1) conformaron solamente parte del instrumenta más grande; pero, (2) porque lo perecedero se descompone, a menudo son la unica parte preservada. Por lo tanto, la identidad del instrumenta, ya sea dardo о flécha, no se puede precisar. Por varias razones, quisiéramos saber si los bifaces funcionaron como dardos о fléchas. A menudo, contamos con suposiciones justas, pero el análisis discriminante de Thomas (1978) es un modo mus seguro para distinguir las opciones. Este estudio amplifica su estrategia mediante una muestra perteneciente de dardos más grande y una tasa de su clasificación más alta. El ancho del hombro surge como variable más importante. Una prueba independente en una colecion de fléchas procedente de la Gran Cuenca de los Estados Unidos también fortalece la confianza en los resultados.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 62 , Issue 1 , January 1997 , pp. 86 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1997

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