The Trouble with Ham Steaks: A Reply to Morrow
- 1 July 1996
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in American Antiquity
- Vol. 61 (3) , 591-595
- https://doi.org/10.2307/281843
Abstract
Toby Morrow argues that I (Kuhn 1994) made an error in calculating the utility/mass ratio of retouched tools, and he proposes an “alternative” formula. Unfortunately, Morrow confounds utility per se with ratio of utility to weight, and, as a result, his alternative approach is erroneous. This response to Morrow examines the central issue of how artifact utility is assessed. The main message of my original paper is reaffirmed. Utility/mass ratios eventually begin to decline as artifacts get large, and optimal size ranges can be estimated based on a few simplifying assumptions.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- A Formal Approach to the Design and Assembly of Mobile ToolkitsAmerican Antiquity, 1994