Application of 3D Geometric-Morphometric Analysis to the Study of Stone Age Lithic Artifacts

The article describes in detail the algorithm and research capabilities of the modern analysis tool of archaeological artifacts shape - three-dimensional geometric-morphometryc analysis. This method is based on the study of high-precision three-dimensional artifact models in order to study the shape by multivariate analysis of the land-mark coordinates placed at specific locations on the artifact surface. As a result of the analysis application, the researcher obtains a complete set of verifiable data characterizing the morphological variability of the analyzed artifacts. The paper presents a brief history of the analysis application in the natural and humanities sciences, provides the main principles and approaches, describes its main stages and ways of obtained data interpretation. A list of software by which the researcher can conduct a different stage of analysis is provided. The analysis of three-dimensional models of bifacial tools from Chagyrskaya Cave demonstrates the analytical capacities and the prospects of its application to the study of lithic assemblages.