Debitage: A Definition

Debitage is the collective term used by archaeologists to refer to the sharp-edged waste material left over when someone creates a stone tool (knaps flint). Debitage is also called chipping debris, flakes, or wasteflakes. Some of the waste flakes may be used as tools themselves, as expedient scrapers for example, but by and large the word debitage refers to those pieces which have not been utilized.

Studies of debitage as part of lithic analyses are frequently completed using mass analysis techniques, which can include size grading (using a set of graduated screens to sort debitage by size), weighing and counting the flakes recovered from a particular site or provenience within a site to estimate types of flaking activities. Other types of analysis include a careful piece-plotting of the distribution of debitage: if a site has not been disturbed the scatter pattern of waste flakes might tell you about flint-working activities. As a parallel study, experimental reproduction of flint knapping activities are also common, as illustrated in this photograph.

• Debitage, this definition and a brief bibliography
• Lithic Analysis, more links and resources about this fascinating subject
• Flint Knapping
• Prehistoric Tools
• An Archaeologist's Tools
• The Flake: Stepchild of Lithic Analysis, a new paper by Tony Baker

This photo of a flint knapper was taken by Travis Shinabarger. The graduated screens photo was taken by Kris Hirst.