The need to review the terminologies used for the recording and indexing of lithic artefacts has been highlighted in the recent HER enhancement projects for early prehistory. These found that ‘the current thesauri terms are not fit for purpose’ and have recommended that ‘a new list of lithic terminology should be developed and agreed by a panel of specialists and deployed ahead of further early prehistoric HER enhancement work’ (Catermole, A. 2018. A Review of Historic Environment Records Enhancement Projects for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic).
Lithic terminologies were also one of the areas that were discussed in the FISH E-Conference a few years ago. This consultation is being conducted through the lithic and prehistory specialist societies and is aimed at lithic specialists across the sector – freelance, in house unit, academic, museum etc. The consultation is due to end on November 30th.
