Various Use-Wear Patterns and Carbonization on Same Surface

A number of madit fragments were recovered from Field E at Mezber, and it has been suggested this could have been an area for hide working based on the faunal remains and lithic assemblage (Peterson 2017). The madit fragments may have been used in hide processing or alternatively they may have been dumped as trash near the working area. A partial madit recovered (Figure 14) shows many surface differences even from the small area cleaned for microscopic investigation (Figures 15 – 18 below).

The first microscopic image, Figure 15, has evidence of an impact in the center of the photo indicated by the crushed crystals reflecting light. There are also leveled crystals around the impact, and older impact fractures on grains in the upper left. 

The next image, Figure 16, reveals an overall leveled surface likely caused by stone-on-stone contact which occurred during use. There is one impact area, and this impact area is leveled. Impact fractures resulted from surface preparation or resharpening. Both preparation of the surface and use have caused the surface to level. The other use-wear patterns in this small, cleaned area of the surface are described below.