Flake size from platform attributes: Predictive and empirical approaches

Differences between tools' original and discarded sizes bear on classificat ion, curation and other interpretive issues in Palaeolithic archaeology. Re cent experiments demonstrated significant relationships between platform si ze and original flake size but also generated controversy about the relativ e importance of empirical and theoretical platform variables in determining flake size. Depending on the nature and strength of the relationships, ori ginal size might be calculated from platform variables, often retained in d iscarded tools. We examine the platform-flake relationship in Pelcin's cont rolled data and two replicated assemblages. As Pelcin suggested, theoretica l platform variables predict flake size only with stringent assumptions. Em pirically, log-size regresses consistently upon log-platform size in hard-h ammer but not in soft-hammer flakes. A universal relationship between varia bles exists in the assemblages, but only in hard-hammer flakes which, in an y case, were more likely to be used as tools. Copyright 2000 Academic Press