Microblade technology

19000 year old microblades found at Fukui cave in Japan.

Microblade technology is a period of technological microlith development marked by the creation and use of small stone blades, which are produced by chipping silica-rich stones like chert, quartz, or obsidian. Blades are a specialized type of lithic flake that are at least twice as long as they are wide.[1] An alternate method of defining blades focuses on production features, including parallel lateral edges and dorsal scars, a lack of cortex, a prepared platform with a broad angle, and a proximal bulb of percussion.[2] Microblades are generally less than 50 mm long in their finished state.[3]

Here is an example of two microblades and a microblade core.
  1. ^ Crabtree, Don E. (1972). An introduction to flintworking, (Occasional papers of the Idaho State University Museum, no. 28). Pocatello, Idaho: Idaho State University Museum.
  2. ^ Johnson, Jay K. (1983). Poverty Point Period Blade Technology in the Yazoo Basin, Mississippi. Lithic Technology.
  3. ^ Arnold, Jeanne E. (1987). Craft Specialization in the Prehistoric Channel Islands, California. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.