The study of archaeological record formation processes and their effects on lithic assemblages

Abstract

The dossier that we present here has the objective of convening the authors who participated in the symposium entitled “The study of the processes of formation of the archaeological record and its effects on lithic groups”, and that with their contributions enrich the panorama of the studies on the subject. We seek to bring together lithic technology specialists who share the question about the effects post depositional processes have on lithic assemblages and their implications for behavioural interpretations and explanations of past human groups. In this dossier, these questions and the search for explanations about an archaeological problem are presented in case studies throughout the country, in different contexts and scales of work.

The study of the complex ways in which the archaeological record can be presented has led to the development of a series of theoretical-methodological frameworks that focus on the existing relationships between cultural, biological and physical factors. From the first theoretical methodological proposals of the 1970s, and the proliferation and concern for this approach in the training processes in the 1980s and beyond, it is a line of work that continues, and has refined its concerns, interacting with other disciplinary areas. These studies generate a corpus of data that allows to fine-tune the interpretations and makes it possible to access the dynamics of the archaeological record in the past and at present; evaluating the decisions and practical actions that human groups developed around the use, disposal and reuse of archaeological materials.