The Experiment For Blade And Micro-blade Making

The author was absorbed in the exquisite technology of blades and micro blades in Late Paleolithic, especially the technology of the micro blades and cores. With great interesting, the author simulated the manufacture processes of blades and micro blades, then presented his own opinions.The obsidian was the most suitable as the material for peeling blades and micro blades, and should be the first choice for the experiment, however the obsidian was difficult to get. So the author used the blocks of glass which were most close to the obsidian in the physical characteristics as the experiment material. Other experiment materials included stone hammer, bone hammer and leather etc. The experiment put emphasis on the research of two ways of peeling blades and micro blades, i.e. the direct peeling and indirect peeling respectively. The blades and micro blades made by the two ways were statistically analyzed (types of platform, the grades of blades, length, width, index of length and width, index of width and thickness included) and compared with archaeological remains.The analysis of the platforms of blades and micro blades was animportant evidence to decide the peeling methods. The types of the platformsof the direct peeling included the type of point, blade, flat strip, ellipse(circular and half ellipse), triangle, trapezoid and parallel quadrilateral. Thesemi-cones often flat, the back of the platforms often had overlapped tiny scars.This characteristic can be seen most obviously on the platform of point andblade. The semi-cones of platforms of indirect peeling were convex, the pointand blade platforms were seldom seen. So the blades and micro blades withpoint platform and the blade platform were the best prove of direct peeling. Infact, these two kinds were common in many sites.The author divided the blades into four grades according to the back characteristics of blades and micro blades. The proportion occupied by the different grades of blades and micro blades presented much information. For example, if the second grade blades are in high proportion, that means the cores maybe narrow-body cores, or the utilization ratio of cores in site is low.The experiment also analyzed different parts of cores from...