Lithic Materials

Abstract

Archaeologists use the word lithic (from the Greek lithos meaning stone or rock) for materials and artifacts made from rocks or minerals. Geologic nomenclature also makes extensive use of this Greek root, e.g., in lithification (the compaction and cementation of an unconsolidated sediment into a coherent, solid rock), lithology (the description of the characteristics of a rock, such as color, mineralogy, and grain size), and lithosphere (the solid portion of the earth, as contrasted to atmosphere and hydrosphere). Geologists have used the term lithic to describe volcanic tuffs rich in fragments of volcanic rocks, as contrasted to tuffs rich in unattached crystals and glassy particles (shards). Geologists have also used the term lithic to denote sandstones that contain less than 90–95% quartz plus chert and with more rock fragments