The Taxonomy of Ground Stone Woodworking Tools

The results of a multivariate study of approximately 1,500 ground stone tools (celts) from the Coast Salishan cultural area of British Columbia, Canada, are presented in this book.
An attempt was made to understand the variability within the study collection through the classification of individual artifacts. A special-purpose descriptive typology was
created, which encompassed all study collection celts and can incorporate new finds as they may occur. It was formulated using three principles: an archaeological typology must have a particular purpose; this stated purpose guides the selection of attributes; meaning derived from or ascribed to the types must be in accord with their purpose, content and means of construction. The divisions between types were defined using the median, a stable measure of central tendency, so as to retain the relationship of the type membership to the class of artifacts as a whole.
...
Prompted by unexpected negative results, a further attempt was made to understand the variability within the study collection through analysis of the behavioral processes which may have influenced the manufacture, morphology, and discard of celts.