The extent of weathering on stone implements has long been recognized as a possible age indicator. Attempts to date artifacts based upon weathering criteria have been regarded as futile, however, because weathering is greatly affected by differences in lithic materials and by climatic and depositional environments usually unknown from the past. Weathering observations were made on chert from the same source and quality recovered from a single three-meter square at a workshop site in Marion County, Florida. The assumption on which this study is based was that artifacts of the same age exposed to the same environmental conditions will tend to weather equally. Under these circumstances, therefore, differential weathering of artifacts should be an indication that more than one time period is represented. The interaction of silicate materials with their surroundings results in two general types of weathering -- static and dynamic -- that can be measured independently using techniques including electron microprobe analysis, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray analysis, and infrared reflection spectroscopy. Traditionally, solution analyses have been used for weathering studies but solutions are not available for artifacts that have been buried for thousands of years. Thus the objective of this research was to develop a technique for estimating age based on an evaluation of the artifacts themselves. See also <i>AATA</i> <b>22-2478</b> for associated paper. -- AATA