Quantifying Lithic Curation: An Experimental Test of Dibble and Pelcin's Original Flake-Tool Mass Predictor

This paper describes an experimental test of a method proposed by Dibble & Pelcin (1995) for reconstructing the original flake mass from striking platform dimensions. The results of this test indicate that while there is a correlation between flake mass and flake attributes for hard-hammer lithic production systems, using the specific variables identified by Dibble & Pelcin (exterior platform angle and platform thickness) consistently underestimates original flake mass. The reasons for this discrepancy and possible future research directions to resolve it are explored.