Standard Processing, Cataloging, and Analysis Sample Clauses

Standard Processing, Cataloging, and Analysis. Initial lab procedures include cleaning (as appropriate), sorting, and cataloguing of all items. Each item will be individually examined and catalogued according to class, subclass, and material, counted (except for bulk invertebrate and vertebrate remains), and weighed on a digital scale. Very large items, such as oversized ground stone, will be weighed on a dial scale. All coded data will be entered into a MS Excel database. Cultural material will be sorted during cataloguing into the following categories: 11 classes of prehistoric artifacts, two classes of ecofacts, ethnohistoric items, historic, and modern items, and organic samples. The prehistoric artifact classes included debitage, cores, utilized flakes, retouched flakes, bifaces, percussion tools, ground stone, ceramics, bone artifacts, shell artifacts, and miscellaneous items. When possible, cores will be separated by platform variability into subclasses such as multidirectional, unidirectional and bifacial types. Debitage, including both flakes and debris, will be sorted by material type and cortical variation (primary, secondary, and interior) during cataloguing. The classification of flaked stone tools will be determined by typology and production technology. Simple flake tools, i.e., unmodified utilized flakes, will be identified based on the presence of macroscopic use-wear traces. Retouched tools include scrapers, gravers, notched pieces, and other edge modified flakes. Bifaces include projectile points, drills, and standard non- patterned bifaces. Length, width, and thickness measurements will be taken for all tools and cores using a sliding caliper. Percussion tools, including hammers and abraders, will be defined based on their morphology and the type of macroscopic use-wear they exhibit. Ground stone artifacts will be classified by type, including millingstones and hand stones. Length, width, and thickness measurements will be taken on complete ground stone items. Organic artifact classes (ecofacts) consisted of vertebrate and bulk shell specimens. After bulk shell is catalogued, it will be sorted to taxon and coded into an Excel sub-catalog. Modified bone and shell artifacts will be separated from the unmodified bone and shell assemblages. Historic resources, as well as modern items, will be catalogued and identified as specifically as is appropriate. Finally, other organic samples will be catalogued by type. After preliminary cataloguing of the material is completed, more detailed att...