SESSION 10 – Stirring the wheel on human behavior: Mechanical devices for testing material performance
Edge reduction variability in quartzite and chert: experimental results using a mechanical device to control multiple variables

In this presentation we showcase the results of an experiment intended to explain edge reduction variability between two very different but very commonly used raw materials: quartzite and chert. We knapped 40 statistically similar flakes, equally divided between chert and quartzite, and used them in a back-and-forth movement over pine boards perpendicular to the grain of the wood. Our results showed that not only did quartzite and chert edges reduce differently under similar circumstances but also that the wear caused to the edges was not the same throughout the experiments. Since the only variable that changed was the raw material, these results seem to suggest that edge performance might be related with the physical properties of each raw material.