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Manifesting microliths: insights and strategies from experimantal replication
as bifaces. Microliths are perceived as quick and easy to manufacture, not
requiring a high degree of lithic skill. There are no kudos attached to their
contemporary reproduction; advertisements within the popular replication
literature, such as Chips for exquisite replicas of these artefacts are rare if not
toire of modern knappers, but detailed academic discussion of technological
features is generally sparse. One aspect of microlith manufacture that tends
Kaufman 1995). The microburin has acquired almost monumental status in
discussions of microlithic technology at the expense of other aspects of mi
crolith manufacture such as the execution of retouch and sequences of modi
and breakage rates during manufacture. Yet while the microburin has been
been the subject of detailed experimental replication particularly in recent
decades (early exceptions include Vignard 1934; Barnes 1947). Equally, while
the theoretical possibilities of explaining microlith variability as the product
of remodelling was the topic of extended debate (Neeley & Barton 1994;
et al. 1996), it was not informed by replication.
Experiencing replication
The general neglect of microliths in the broader replication literature pre
explore the construction of variability and its relationship to the manufac
turing process. The lack of precedents for this type of research resulted
in trial and error being one of the dominant forces, and it is evident that
methodological strategies need to be further developed to explore issues of
microlith manufacture effectively. However, the action of making micro
liths is in itself instructive and informative, raising issues that will not de
rive from the examination of archaeological material alone. Several sessions
microlith production and explore the various aspects of manufacture and
choices available with regard to technique. The impetus for this was the
inferences from replication are considered below. One of the dominant fac
tors in much modern and informal lithic replication is the lack of familiarity
with techniques and the limiting constraints of skill and ability. Knapping
is not, after all, a common practice in contemporary society and this raises a
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