Cortex is often used as an indicator of core reduction and transport, but current measures to evaluate the observed amount of cortex in a lithic assemblage with what might be expected under particular conditions are still ambiguous. The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate an alternative method based on solid geometry. This method is evaluated with an experimentally produced assemblage, and implications of its application to archaeological assemblages are presented and discussed.

Recent work in the high desert west of Abydos in Egypt has focused on the Middle Palaeolithic technologies known as Nubian 1 and 2 types and classicLevallois) which are abundant and are found in virtually all stages of production. Although these were originally defined and treated as three discrete technologies) refitting and quantitative analyses show that they are variants of one technology. While this has direct implications for interpreting lithic technological variability in this region) the demonstration that a single technology can result in seemingly discrete end products also has implications for all lithic technological studies.

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