Microwear on quartz: Fact or fiction?

This paper presents the results of initial investigations of use wear traces left on experimental quartz tools. The edges of experimentally used quartz flakes were examined using both a light microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The wear traces were compared with those on flakes of Brandon flint (used for the same amount of time on the same materials) a rock whose polish attributes have been well documented and described. Alteration of the worked edge and the surface of the quartz takes the form of scarring (edge damage), pitting of varying intensity, striae and sometimes a change in the surface texture. The scanning electron microscope effectively heightened and revealed textural changes on the surface of the quartz, which otherwise might be obscured by its highly reflective nature.