Lithic Assemblages A Guide to Processing, Analysis and Interpretation

In March 2017, the Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF) organised a lithics workshop
in Edinburgh, aiming at teaching anybody with an interest in lithics the basic elements of this specialist
field. The author was one of several speakers, and he gave a ‘hands-on’ presentation of the main types
of lithic debitage, cores and tools people interested in archaeology may encounter. Following this
event, BAJR contacted the author, and it was agreed to transform the author’s presentation into a
BAJR guide for British lithics, in collaboration with ScARF. The guide should be perceived as a brief
introduction to lithics and ‘how to squeeze blood from stones’ – that is, how to interpret the past
through the lithic evidence. If the reader needs more detail or information, he/she should consult
more specialized archaeological literature. The guide deals with the processing of lithic finds from the
Late Upper Palaeolithic to the Early Iron Age, but not the Lower, Middle, and Early Upper Palaeolithic.