Stone tool knapping quality and raw material selection behaviour in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor
Namen A. Schmidt P.
November 2025Elsevier Ltd
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
2025#67
Stone tool knapping quality is an important parameter in the study of lithic technology. A number of experimental and objective studies have contributed to the discussion on how stone quality affects the knappability and the final shape of an end product. However, systematic studies on how stone mechanical properties affect knappability and raw material selection behaviour remain few. Here, we investigate geological and archaeological samples of porphyry, chert, and sandstone from the Palaeolithic sites of southern Kazakhstan to evaluate whether the acquisition of raw materials was driven by specific mechanical properties (e.g., ease of knapping). We tested their degree of knappability using the Vickers indentation method and four-point bending tests. Our results suggest high variability in the mechanical properties of the studied samples. Porphyry and chert demonstrate unexpectedly high values of force to initiate a knapping crack and low fracture predictability. Despite such knapping force requirements, these raw materials were preferred by their knappers, suggesting that raw material selection was governed by other criteria, such as resistance to abrasion and edge damage.
Central Asian palaeolithic , Fracture predictability , Fracture toughness , Mechanical properties , Stone tool
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Department of Sociology and Anthropology, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany
Petrology and Mineral Resources, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany
Archaeometry, Department of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology
Petrology and Mineral Resources
Archaeometry
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