Antarctica as a ‘natural laboratory’ for the critical assessment of the archaeological validity of early stone tool sites

Lithic technologies dominate understanding of early humans, yet natural processes can fracture rock in ways that resemble artefacts made by Homo sapiens and other primates. Differentiating between fractures primates is important for assessing the validity controversial archaeological sites. Rather than depend on expert authority or intuition, authors propose a null model conchoidally fractured Antarctic rocks. As no have ever occupied continent, Antarctica offers laboratory generating samples could only been naturally fractured. Examples produced illustrate potential ‘archaeological’ research evaluation hominin sites worldwide.