Aspects of site comparison: Debitage samples, technology and function

The research presented here suggests that data gathered through microwear analysis can be used to generate new methods of lithic analysis, particularly those which link flint technology and function to site formation processes. Examples from three final Palaeolithic sites in France and Greece center on the size and morphology of used and unused debitage and on experimental debitage, which can be similarly divided into usable and unusable pieces. The research investigates possibilities for comparing inter and intra‐site samples with experimental flint artifacts by means of scatter diagrams.