Long, narrow, specialized stone flake tool with a sharp edge, like a small razor blade
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In archaeology, a prismatic blade is a long, narrow, specialized stone flake tool with a sharp edge, like a small razor blade.[1] Prismatic blades are flaked from stone cores through pressure flaking or direct percussion.[2] This process results in a very standardized finished tool and waste assemblage. The most famous and most prevalent prismatic blade material is obsidian, as obsidian use was widespread in Mesoamerica, though chert, flint, and chalcedony blades are not uncommon. The term is generally restricted to Mesoamerican archaeology, although some examples are found in the Old World, for example in a Minoan grave in Crete.[3]
Prismatic blades were used for cutting and scraping, and have been reshaped into other tool types, such as projectile points and awls.
^Hester et al. (1971)
^Driscoll, Killian; García-Rojas, Maite (2014). "Their lips are sealed: identifying hard stone, soft stone, and antler hammer direct percussion in Palaeolithic prismatic blade production" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science. 47: 134–141. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.04.008.
^Betancourt, Philip P., Hagios Charalambos: A Minoan Burial Cave in Crete: I. Excavation and Portable Objects, 2014, INSTAP, ISBN 1623033934, 9781623033934, google books
archaeology, a prismaticblade is a long, narrow, specialized stone flake tool with a sharp edge, like a small razor blade. Prismaticblades are flaked from...
other types of objects. Prismaticblade production, a technique employing a pressure flaking-like technique that removed blades from a polyhedral core...
stone, soft stone, and antler hammer direct percussion in Palaeolithic prismaticblade production" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science. 47: 134–141....
embedded obsidian blades. The name is derived from the Nahuatl language and means "hand-wood". Its sides are embedded with prismaticblades traditionally...
culture. Prismaticblades are often triangular in cross section with several facets or flake scars on the dorsal surface. Prismaticblades begin to appear...
industry Lithic technology Manuport Mount William stone axe quarry Prismaticblade Sillitoe, Paul; Hardy, Karen (2 January 2015). "Living Lithics: ethnoarchaeology...
with] obsidian." Many of the obsidian shards used for macanas were prismaticblade segments, which are among the most abundant lithics at late sites in...
Creek watershed, where other lanceolate points, small prismaticblades, and small polyhedral blade cores have been recovered. According to Adovasio et al...
and derive blades from was the polyhedral core, which was most frequently used from the Early to Late Classic (Trachman 1999). Prismaticblades made from...
stone, soft stone, and antler hammer direct percussion in Palaeolithic prismaticblade production" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science. 47: 134–141....
male between 17 and 25 years old. The remains were interred with a prismaticblade of grey obsidian, they were found in a columned building in the extreme...
chipped-stone assemblage of Chunchucmil is dominated by obsidian prismaticblades. The prismaticblade industry was ubiquitous throughout Mesoamerica and primarily...
excavated, the surface was found to be littered with abundant obsidian blades and arrowheads. Originally the city had its main entrance on the western...
monoclinic system, usually as long prismatic crystals showing a diamond-shaped cross section, but also in fibrous, bladed, acicular, columnar, and radiating...
transformation into the rising smoke. Piercing was accomplished using obsidian prismaticblades, stingray spines, or shark's teeth. Under some circumstances, a rope...
knives, spearheads, arrowheads, bloodletters for ritual autosacrifice, prismaticblades for woodwork and many other day-to-day tools. The use of obsidian by...
small cores. More formal tool preparation (to make Levallois tools or prismaticblades) was preferentially done on chert. Chert also more frequently underwent...
in Sheets 1975). To use Sheets’ (1983:200) example, macroblades and prismaticblades were separated on the basis of their manufacture, in that the former...
Herrera in 1995. Sitio Sierra is the only site in Panama that contains prismaticblade production while lacking any access to chert projections. This causes...
perform autosacrifice). The act was typically performed with obsidian prismaticblades or stingray spines, and blood was drawn from piercing or cutting the...
the color, and it is usually found as deep blue to deep bluish green prismatic to flattened crystals. Vivianite crystals are often found inside fossil...
Crabtree, Don E (May 4, 1968). "Mesoamerican polyhedral cores and prismaticblades". American Antiquity. 33 (4): 446–478. doi:10.2307/278596. JSTOR 278596...
The faces of a wedge are modeled as straight lines to form a sliding or prismatic joint. The origin of the wedge is not known. In ancient Egyptian quarries...
bifaces, shoulders, and thicker, convex bases instead of the longer prismaticblades of Clovis points. There are also procedural differences in how these...
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