Editorial: From micro to macro, to mega: all on lithics.

This issue of the Journal of African Archaeology is entirely dedicated to stone artefacts. Studying knapped lithic assemblages requires meticulous work, with detailed analyses of every single flake and debris produced during their reduction sequences. Most recent studies, which are no longer restricted to typological classifications of retouched tools, include complex and thorough technological and functional analyses of both by-products and end-products. Only the results of such analyses can provide information on the various phases of the manufacturing processes, which can then be useful for comparison with technocomplexes from other sites. Those who work on lithics know that this can be a tedious job, but, unlike those who do not work on them, they do not fear it, because they also know that these results compensate their fatigue. However, presenting the results without being able to present the materials and the research methods is scarcely useful from a scientific viewpoint. Nevertheless, this is unfortunately the trend of several journals, which often require articles with a very limited number of pages, not to mention the even smaller number of figures, or even lesser tables. The Journal of African Archaeology does not comply with this punitive policy, based on restraining commercial rules, it is a journal made by archaeologists for archaeologists. This is one of the greatest merits of the JAA and the reason for its success. Scientific journals should learn a lesson from the achievements of the JAA: even though science is not excluded from the market world, its products should meet the real needs of their users/consumers.