Pétroarchéologie du silex : un retour aux sources

Crystallizations and various stigmata on the surfaces of prehistoric stone artefacts are the result of complex physicochemical and mechanical phenomena. Once decoded, they allow us to assign the object to a genetic–stratigraphic position, also to a post-genetic palaeogeographic site location and provide a story relative to different places of residence. This petroarchaeological method, based on the optimization of the observation techniques commonly used in petrography, mineralogy, micropalaeontology and morphoscopy at different scales, is a simple tool for the identification and sourcing of lithic raw materials, whose only limits are those determined by experience and collections available for reference.