Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Experimental flintknappers have shown that it was possible for prehistoric hunters to repair basally damaged dart points by retouching the base to a different shape. Because dart points were highly curated tools and often manufactured of non-local, high utility toolstones, the lack of evidence in the archaeological record for basal retouch of one type into another is perplexing. We develop and test a hypothesis for the resistance of retouched bases to typological change, using a set of projectile point assemblages from northeastern Nevada. It is possible that the necessity of refitting repaired points to a limited supply of pre-prepared dart foreshafts constrained the retouch of broken points. If repair of a broken point required a hunter to modify its hafting element beyond limits feasible for reattaching it onto the foreshafts in hand, it was more economical for the hunter to simply replace the broken point. If so, such constraints to haft repair have implications for understanding why dart point base styles are spatially and temporally patterned.