Abstract
[...] ln the present work; it is proposed to investigate a third sphere of evidence which is in a sense related to the two other spheres of information which may be derived from flake tools: first, the question of usage and second, differentiation in flaking technology within single sites in New Zealand. Where comparative evidence is available in the Pacific, this will also be introduced into the discussion. The general aim of the study might briefly be summarized as an attempt to gain the maximum amount of culturally significant information from flake tool assemblages - but, it might be asked, culturally significant in what way?
The cultural information which is potentially available from such studies may perhaps be divided into two classes: firstly, information about the usage of stone tools; and, secondly, information about the flaking technology by which those tools and other flake debris were produced. [...]
In the present study, research procedures may be summarized as follows: initially, a multivariate characterization of edge morphology of obsidian assemblages from two sites and of flake morphology of assemblages worked in various materials from a number of sites is undertaken. [...] [Extract from Introduction]