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Prismatic blade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In archaeology, a prismatic blade is a long, narrow, specialized lithic flake with parallel margins. Prismatic blades are removed from polyhedral blade cores through pressure reduction. This process results in a very standardized finished tool and waste assemblage. While the prismatic blade industry is most often associated with obsidian (especially in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica), it is not limited to that material; chert, flint, and chalcedony blades are not uncommon.
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Prismatic blades are often trapezoidal in cross section (see image), but very close in appearance to an isosceles trapezoid. Triangular blades (in cross-section) are also common. The ventral surface of the prismatic blade is very smooth, sometimes bearing slight rippling reflecting the direction of applied force and a very small bulb of applied force (indicative of pressure reduction). Flake scars are absent on the ventral surface of these blades, though eraillure flakes are sometimes present on the bulb . The dorsal surface, on the other hand, exhibits scar ridges running parallel to the long axis of the blade. These facets are created by the previous removal of blades from the core. The proximal end contains the blade's striking platform and its bulb of applied force, while the distal end will consist of a snap break, a feather termination, or a stepped termination.
Obsidian prismatic blade production was ubiquitous in Mesoamerica, and these tools can be found at a large majority of Mesoamerican archaeological sites from the Preclassic period on until the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century. Ethnohistoric sources recount the process of prismatic blade production. Fray Motolinia, a Spanish observer, recorded:
- "It is in this manner: First they get out a knife stone (obsidian core) which is black like jet and 20 cm or slightly less in length, and they make it cylindrical and as thick as the calf of the leg, and they place the stone between the feet, and with a stick apply force to the edges of the stone, and at every push they give a little knife springs off with its edges like those of a razor."[1]
The production of prismatic blades creates not only a very standardized final product, but also a standardized waste assemblage.[2] The analysis of obsidian debitage can discern whether or not prismatic blade production was occurring at a site, but also, if it was, what stage(s) of production this process included. In other words, the types of manufacturing waste present (e.g., rejuventation flakes and/or blades, platform rejuvenation flakes, etc.) at a site can inform archaeologists about the stage in which blades were being produced.[3]
- Clark, John E. (1997) Prismatic blademaking, craftsmanship, and production: an analysis of obsidian refuse from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:137-159.
- Clark, John E., and Douglas D. Bryant (1997) Technological typology of prismatic blades and debitage from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 8: 111-136.
- Hester, Thomas R., Robert N. Jack and Robert F. Heizer. The Obsidian of Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico. University of California Archeology Research Facility. No. 13 pp. 65-131, 1971.