The Effect of Indentor Type on Flake Attributes: Evidence from a Controlled Experiment

This paper presents the results of a controlled experiment which examined the relationship between two different indentor types and 11 flake attributes. It was found that the flake attributes commonly used by archaeologists to infer the prehistoric use of soft indentors are more likely a result of flintknapping technique employed during soft hammer flaking than differences produced by indentor type. Antler indentors do affect how the flake mass is distributed into the dimensional attributes of flake length and thickness, thereby maximizing their efficiency for transport and for raw material conservation.