Stone Tool Analysis Using Digitized Images: Examples from the Lower and Middle Paleolithic

ABSTRACTImage digitization technology is rapidly becoming more accessible to archaeologists. In addition to including images in artifact databases, digitized artifacts present a number of possibilities for improving stone tool analysis. An overview of some of the issues faced when digitizing artifacts for analysis is presented here followed by two examples of its application to stone tools. The examples deal with problems of direct relevance to Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries of Western Europe, but the techniques and approaches described are generally applicable to many types of stone tool analysis.