Lithics in archaeology cover a vaste range of material from building stones to gemstones. Although in theory lithics are the easiest to provenance, practice shows that it is often difficult to match artefact to outcrop.

The normal method for archaeological lithic studies is transmitted light petrography using standard thin sections. This technique is successful but less so if the lithic is heavily altered, very fine-grained or carries a high opaque mineral content. For these (or any lithic) 'total petrography' - a combination of transmitted and reflected light petrography - is required, using an uncovered, polished thin section.

In total petrography, all the translucent and opaque minerals can be identified and it has been shown that the detailed textural relationships between the opaque iron-titanium oxide minerals can be highly distinctive and diagnostic, allowing for very detailed provenancing - perhaps even to individual outcrops.

Examples of current and completed projects.

Dolerite Monoliths - Stonehenge.
Beaker bracers, Bronze Age whetstones Wessex and Central England.
Suspected Stonehenge bluestones - Severn Estuary.
Neolithic and Bronze Age axe-heads -Central and South England, Wales.
Iron Age sandstone quernstones - West and East Midlands.
Roman Tesserae, tiles, querns - Severn Valley, Kent
Medieval Masonry - Oxfordshire, Hereford, West Midlands.