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Artifacts <br />• All artifacts recovered were found at the north end of the ridge itc <br />ur close to the area shoran iri Figure 8. All wEre found on the surface <br />or within the first 10 chi below ground surface. Additionally, 75~ or <br />nore of the artifacts were found in the one focus of artifacts along the <br />yan~e trail on the west edge of the ridge near Test Pits 1 and 4. <br />17u artifacts were cataloguc.~d accrordiny to the foIIitlt in Table 2. <br />Selected specimens are illustrated in Figure 13. The most icnport~ct <br />characteristic of this assemblage is in the low percentage of bifacial <br />tools and the very high percentage of retouched ar~d/or utilized flake <br />tools. The assemblage is consistent with other flake tool assemblages <br />which have been attributed to the cheat and skin cutting functions of the <br />aboriginal butchering kit (Wilmsen 1970:70; Semenov 1976:20; Hanes <br />1977). Quantified edge angle studies have not yet been performed on <br />this lithic assemblage. It has beers observed, however, that angles scrln <br />to vary sar~~dhat and that w}ule a few are quite steep (Figure 13), most <br />are not. Following Semenov's work (1976), Wilnrsen (1970:70-71) has <br />pointed out that meat and skinning knives can be expectrxl to have eves <br />nnre acute working edges than bits associated with heavy wood and bone <br />workuig. l;clge angles more acute than 35-4U degrees are believed to be <br />associated with meat and skinning practices. WilsTmn states: <br /> Edge angles in this size range are often not the result of <br /> retouch but are sickly the natural edges of flakes which have <br /> been utilized in an unaltered state. <br /> <br /> (Wilmsen 1970:70) <br /> (krly twv specimens in the Ridge Site assemblage have edge angles <br /> which appear to be steep enough tci class than as scrapers. In Figure <br /> 13, these are specimens M and N (Table 2). The assemblage further <br />.', reflects only four specifically shaped tools. These are fragnents of <br />` two bifaces believed to be projectile point fragments and two end <br /> scrapers. Shaped tools, therefore, constitute only about 20 perc~:nt of <br />~ ,the assemblage. There are only four unifacially worked flake tcnls <br />f~, which constitute another approximately 20 percent. The remaining 6U <br /> percent of the collectiotr is rt~de up of utilized but uciretouched flakes <br /> with relatively acute angles cx~nsistent witlc butchering use. <br /> As noted by WilnLSen (1970:73-74), the term "utilized flakes" refers <br /> to flakes not purposefully modified but used just as they cxacre frc.m the <br />':.~ core. All suc}i flakes will bear use marks of score sort and usurilly have <br /> shallow edges in the 20 to 40 degree range. Utilized flakes wtire <br /> frequerrtly used to cut meat and skin and it is "possible that; most <br /> cuttany of this kind was done only with unaltered flakes and coot with <br /> furnal tools". <br />It seems likely Uiat any suitable flake Utat was readily <br />available was utilized for a specific task <-u:d then discardtrl, <br />pc rhaps to be usrcl again for some later tuSY, or perhaps to lx <br />r left where it fell. <br />(Wilm~en 1970:74) <br />,,-,n <br />