Prehistoric Lithic Technology, Workshops, and Chipping Stations in the Philippines

Abstract

Recent analyses of the lithic assemblage from the Busibus/Pintu rock shelter, northern Luzon, Philippines, indicate that this site was used as a basalt quarry and chipping station for the production of adze blanks and preforms. "Opportunistic" strategies for blank selection and preform manufacture were used. Other lithic raw materials were selected and reduced as well. It is suggested that the preforms, blanks, and reduced materials were transported, finished, and used elsewhere. Edgewear damage analyses indicate that these materials and artifacts were not used for butchering, scraping, and woodworking, as suggested by Peterson (1974), by groups of hunters/collectors who intermittently frequented the site from about 4000 to 1500 B.P. KEYWORDS: Philippines, lithic analysis, adze manufacturing.