Experimental Use-Wear Analysis of Vein Quartz Artifacts and Application of the Precise Replication

YOSHIDA Mayu* and SANO Katsuhiro

Although quartz has been widely used as a lithic raw material in many regions of the world, the classic high magnification use-wear analysis using a metallurgic microscope is challenging due to its transparency and highly irregular surface topography. Furthermore, the characteristics of micro-flaking on vein quartz artifacts remain largely unknown due to the limited number of systematic experiments conducted. This study aims to confirm the formation patterns of use-wear on vein quartz through both low- and high-magnification analyses. High-magnification analysis is conducted using laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), which enables efficient observation of use polishes and their quantitative evaluation. Quantitative evaluation of polish allows third parties to assess the reasonableness of the results. Additionally, obtaining the three-dimensional morphology of traces provides a basis for explaining why they appear as described in previously accumulated qualitative observations. In addition, the paper presents an effective method for accurately replicating with silicone casts.　Presenters tested whether silicone casts can be used to observe distinguish visual surface characteristics of polishes under high-magnification analysis. This technique is valuable for documenting the temporal development of the traces during experiments and is particularly useful when artifacts cannot be transported.