Stone tool use at Cerros : the ethnoarchaeological and use-wear evidence /

Throughout the history of archaeology, stone tools have been a major source of evidence in reconstructing the economic systems and other cultural patterns of prehistoric societies. However, speculations based solely on the overall shape of an implement can be deceptive. In the past 20 years there has been increasing attention to microscopic examination of both use and wear marks on the edges of implements, in order to discover their purposes and the materials on which they were used. This study is an excellent application of the approach. The data consist of many kinds of broken stone tools unearthed from the trash in a prehistoric Maya community, a coastal site on the east side of the Yucatan peninsula. The author first develops hypotheses and derives test implications. She then tests them by making replicas of the prehistoric tools, using them to reenact a wide variety of tasks that were common while Cerros was occupied, and then comparing the marks left by the experiments with those on the ancient stone tools. The reconstructed behaviors assist scholars in the interpretation of Cerros within the context of Maya culture. Some photographs are poorly reproduced. Good bibliography. Unusually thorough, Lewenstein's work will have continuing value for advanced students of archaeological method and Maya studies.-K.A. Dixon, California State University, Long Beach