Papers representing the Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times (Madrid, 14-17 October 2009).

Arguing that flint tools alone reveal little about prehistoric societies, these eight papers use ethnological data to reconstruct the cultural, economic and social context of these tools. Taken from Symposium 1.4 at the XIVth UISPP Congress held at Liege in 2001, the papers consider evidence largely from sites in South America, Australia and Africa, looking at lithic material as well as associated evidence, such as worked bone, leather and grinding stones. This material is used to assess prehistoric hunting strategies, knapping procedures, the reasons for the use-wear of lithics and the opportunistic working of tools. Six papers in English, the rest are French; English abstracts.