Lithic artifacts include all culturally modified stone tool materials found on prehistoric sites. They include the finely worked shapes such as microliths and bifaces as well as the discarded pieces removed during the process of tool production and modification. Either in an archaeological laboratory filled with lithic artifacts or on a prehistoric site represented primarily by lithic artifacts, the great amount of variability in the shape of lithic specimens is inescapable. Some specimens will appear to be nothing more than broken fragments of stone and others will appear uniformly shaped into systematically pointed projectile tips. There may be large lithic tools over 20 cm in length and very small specimens less than 1 cm in length; usually the stone will vary in color and texture. For the person just beginning in lithic analysis, this assemblage variability can be unfathomable. Most people will not be able to recognize the characteristics that discriminate lithic artifacts from natural stone. In fact, without proper context it may be impossible to determine the difference between lithic tool production debris and naturally fractured stone. What are the characteristics that allow archaeologists to recognize culturally modified materials? This may seem to some to be an insignificant question, but to those with very little exposure to the wide array of lithic artifact morphologies, the question is very important.