Articles and Abstracts 2023

By Eric Olson

Private collections in the United States represent a substantial portion of the archaeological record, with these collections consisting predominantly of projectile points. Unfortunately, many of these collections are either not available for analysis, or the few photographs and images available do not contain high-resolution images from which most lithic analysis can be conducted. However, with the aid of simple photograph editing software, artifacts that would otherwise be overlooked for analysis can still provide useful information about the past. A small pilot-study of 178 projectile points have been analyzed to examine diachronic changes in Lithic Supply Zones of Upper Mercer chert across Ohio. The focus of this research is to both identify trends through time in projectile point use-life, and to demonstrate the techniques and methods applicable to images of projectile points which would otherwise be overlooked by researchers.