A Study of the Morphological Changes in Tiger Chert Resulting from Heat Treatment

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Abstract
The few experiments that have been conducted on heat-treated stone have focused primarily on changes within the crystalline structure of the stone. The experiment described here focuses on the knapability of heated stone. The experiment was conducted on tiger chert gathered near the Pine Spring site (48SW101), cut into uniform slabs, heated and knapped using a mechanical apparatus. Uniform slab size and a mechanical knapper were used to control for knapping variables. The results of the experiment suggest that even modest heat treatment improves tiger chert's knapping properties by nearly fifty percent.