Interpretation of Hand Tool Movement's Trajectories by Spatial Analysis of Bronze Age Tool Marks

Abstract

The Bronze Age timber construction methods and carpentry techniques can only be studied in unique cases as the ancient wooden artefacts are rarely preserved in good conditions. On the other hand, few archaeological finds as the sluice box from Mitterberg, Austria offer novel interpretation opportunities since the spatial analysis of hand tool impressions results additional information about the utilized hand tool characteristics and about the woodworking processes. An experimental survey was carried out for the better understanding of the tool mark based impact angle investigations of various hand tool strikes. The fine longitudinal morphological parameters of the unknown hand tool heads have also been studied through additional materials as e.g. technical drawings. The combination of the different slope values at the facet outsets and at the adze heads describe the geometry attributes of the unknown impact strikes and these values must be between 25–30 degrees. The trajectory calculations could be achieved by the results of the experimental survey as synchronized stereo pairs were oriented and used to reconstruct the steps of the hand tool movements. Furthermore, the potential trajectories of the Bronze Age adze were interpreted from the impact angles and these results were simulated and visualized with the suggested hand tool handle positions in CAD environment.