The influence of cut material on the slicing efficiency effects of stone tool flake size, edge length, and gross edge curvature

•Flake size, edge length, and edge curvature have differential effects based on the material being cut.•A strong inverse relationship between slicing efficiency and flake size in one material may be less strong or less steep in another material.•We found no evidence of a threshold flake size beyond which size had no effect on efficiency. Cutting actions were likely an important factor in the emergence and evolution of stone tools. In recent years, experiments have shown many factors can influence the efficiency of cutting behaviors, including tool form, tool material, and tool-user. Here, following other researchers, we test whether the material getting cut influences the efficiency effects of particular variables, namely flake size, cutting-edge length, and gross-edge curvature. Slicing six different materials, five participants used 300 stone flakes with quantitatively documented differences in flake size, cutting-edge length, and gross-edge curvature. The results of our Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) provide evidence that specimen size, edge length, and edge curvature have differential effects based on the material being cut.Our results support the hypothesis that the hominin need or desire to process particular materials potentially influenced the production and selection of stone tool forms over time and to different extents.