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How to determine what's a preform?

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  • How to determine what's a preform?

    I'm a newbie. I see many tools and whatnot that appear finished to me, but the seasoned veterans all jump in and say preform. What is so obvious about something that so many can agree it's a preform?

  • #2
    For me , its more than likely a preform if the
    piece was found at a known quarry site. Otherwise if found in a creek or habitation site, might be a tool.
    It would be too easy and quick just to apply notches to keep around a preform.
    .

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    • #3
      The terms “quarry blank” and “preform” tend to be used interchangeably these days to relate to unfinished artefacts and work-in-progress but – as originally defined in archaeology – there was an intended distinction between these two terms. They might both be found at a quarrying site but the distinction was made according to the degree of progress to the final artefact.

      A quarry blank is essentially a simple roughed out form, produced in the interests of converting a piece of material into a more portable item that could be easily carried away and further worked upon elsewhere, or traded with other groups for them to work on. Caches are not uncommon. It usually has an irregular outline that approximates to an oval, teardrop or triangular shape, is frequently bifacial and might easily be mistaken for a crude knife, scraper, point or whatever. It may well have some thinning, but if very thin, that’s usually a function of the spall from which it was made being thin to begin with. It wouldn’t have been used as a tool and doesn’t necessarily have any strong clues for what type of artefact it was intended to become.

      A preform is the result of further refinement. It’s usually bifacial, deliberately and carefully thinned and exhibits both percussion and pressure flaking, moving it towards an intended artefact type. In some cases, it’s even possible to judge from its shaping that it was intended to become a specific point type. Notches are usually the last refinement for hafted items and so preforms will characteristically not be notched. They’re more common at lithic workshop sites (as distinct from quarrying sites per se) but caches are less common and preforms were not usually traded. Generally, they have a high incidence of accidental breakage and intentional abandonment arising from flaws or defects in the material and failed executions by the knapper.

      Since they can represent many possible stages of knapping, preforms come in a much wider variety of shapes than quarry blanks and are commonly misclassified as tools (and especially as knives). The clincher is that – by definition – a preform does not exhibit any use-wear to indicate it was used as a knife/blade/scraper and has no notches to indicate it having been hafted or used as a projectile. There are exceptions however, where a preform may show light use-wear indicating it was expediently used for some purpose. In some cases that can be the result of something like a knapper giving up on overcoming some “stacking” or perhaps even a change of mind about the potential usefulness of what he was making.

      Sometimes, it’s a tough call (based on probability rather than certainty) and there are without doubt instances of apparently unfinished artefacts having seen prolonged usage. Such finds would usually relate to a habitation site (as distinct from a quarrying site or a lithic workshop site). Sometimes “good enough for the job” prevails over “maximum craftsmanship”, but that would not be usual for projectile points where the balance and aerodynamics of the item probably overrides any aesthetic considerations.

      One other useful indicator of preform vs finished can arise if the material has been heat-treated. If heat treatment has been applied to a blank or preform, the change in texture and lustre of the lithic (towards glossy appearance and waxy feel) is usually most apparent on the surfaces which have subsequently been flaked. Close examination of the flake scars can then tell you quite a lot about how much flaking has been executed after the heat treatment and give a better idea about how “finished” an item might be.
      I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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      • #4
        Click image for larger version

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        Last edited by gregszybala; 04-21-2016, 01:17 PM.
        Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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        • #5
          Roger,very well said

          Greg,great pic tutorial

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          • #6
            Thanks for the great info!

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