SESSION 7 - Lithotheques - collections of comparative raw materials
Presenting Lusolit: the portuguese lithotheque of knappable raw materials

In geological terms, Portugal is a highly complex region, with a plethora of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks dated from the Proterozoic to the present day. Such diversity considerably influenced human decision-making on the choices of raw material. It might also be one of the major reasons for the diversity seen throughout the diachrony of its archaeological record.
In order to help the archaeological and anthropological research in this territory, we started a reference collection for this region, which is hosted at the University of Algarve: the LUSOLIT. Although in its early stages, this collection already has several hundred chert samples from almost as many locations. We started with chert because it is the least ubiquitous through the landscape and, consequently, that can provide better information.