Image processing in microwear studies on flint artifacts

Amilcare Bietti

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 387-396

Abstract

In this paper we describe an application of image processing for the texture study of the use wear polishes on flint artifacts, experimentally obtained on two types of materials: wood and hide. The quantification of the textural properties of the images, obtained with a high magnification (200X) metallographic microscope strictly follows the rules indicated by HARALICK et al. in 1973. Twenty-two textural features were obtained from the image and statistical analysis then allowed the discrimination between the two classes of materials. The techniques employed, T-test and linear stepwise discriminant analysis, show that the discrimination between tools working wood and working hide is quite good, in the case of distance between the pixels = 1. Possibilities of future and more refined analyses are then discussed at the end of the paper.

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