Experimental Design and Experimental Inference in Stone Artifact Archaeology

Authors

Sam C. Lin, University of WollongongFollow
Zeljko Rezek, University of Pennsylvania, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Harold L. Dibble, Arizona State University, University of Pennsylvania, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyFollow

RIS ID

116437

Publication Details

Lin, S. C., Rezek, Z. & Dibble, H. L. (2018). Experimental Design and Experimental Inference in Stone Artifact Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 25 (3), 663-688.

Abstract

Lithic researchers rely heavily on experimentation to infer past behaviors and activities based on stone artifacts. This paper explores the analogical nature of archaeological inference and the relationship between experimental design and inference validity in stone artifact experimentation. We show that actualistic flintknapping lacks vital aspects of scientific experimentation, and thus has inherent inferential issues of analogical adequacy and confidence. It is argued that a greater emphasis on hypothesis construction and variable control is needed in order to establish sound referential linkages upon which constructive analogic inferences about the past can be built.