Lithic Deposits as Waste Management: Reply to Healan and to Hester and Shafer

IIere I can only briegly address some of the issues raised by IIealan (1992) and by IIester and Shafer (1992). I conclude that although ethnoarchaeology can provide generally valid analogies to lithic production and discard in the past, experimental archaeology will be needed to understand specific details of site formation. Debitage disposal is affected, among other factors, by site size, settlement density, and length of occupation. The investigation of intersite variability in waste management will give us important insights into the organization of lithic industries in Prehispanic Mesoamerica.