Hard Animal Materials Research Articles

Shell Tools and Use-Wear Analysis: a Reference Collection for Prehistoric Arabia

Prehistoric and Archaeological research has pointed out the role of marine resources in modern humans’ cognitive and cultural developments. Maritime adaptations constitute a key component of the sociocultural evolution in Eastern Arabia. During the Neolithic (c. 6500–3300 BCE), it is expressed by the colonisation of offshore islands supported by advanced seafaring and the exploitation of marine resources not only for staple food but also for obtaining hard animal materials used for both symbolic and technological productions, respectively in the form of personal adornments and tooling. Although tools made of retouched large marine mollusc shells are reported on several sites, no detailed study has been conducted on their function and role within the socio-technological processes.The present study introduces a prospective approach for the functional analysis of archaeological shell tools from Eastern Arabia. A reference collection of use-wear traces made experimentally has been built: it compiles the results of 65 experiments (23 are documented and illustrated in the present study), including the processing of various animal, vegetal, and mineral materials. Use-wear traces have been observed and described using both low and high-power magnifications (conducted mainly at 100 ×). It provides helpful methodological support for future comparisons with archaeological specimens. The procurement conditions of the shell valves and the techniques of retouch have been discussed in detail, allowing further considerations on the degree of the socio-technological investment devoted to these peculiar artefacts.

A world of reindeer: A technological and functional reassessment of the Last Glacial Maximum osseous industry from Cotu Miculinți (northeastern Romania)

Processing of osseous materials was an important component of the repertoire of technological innovations throughout the Palaeolithic. The study of hard animal materials assemblages therefore provides crucial information regarding hominin adaptational ranges and cultural evolution. In contrast to the wide array of studies published on this topic in western and central Europe, the Palaeolithic osseous industries from Romania received comparatively limited attention. The organic industry recovered from Cotu Miculinți, a Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) site located in the Prut Valley (northeastern Romania), provides a case at point. The present study proposes a throughout reassessment of the collection of osseous artifacts from this site, covering several key aspects – raw materials, chaîne opératoire, and the functionality of the assemblage – in an attempt of setting the site’s osseous industry into the wider context of LGM cultural adaptations in the area east of the Carpathians.The results of our analysis reveal an assemblage predominantly made of reindeer antler and document a standardization of the technical transformation scheme, by use of both segmentation and extraction. This resulted in the production of two types of blanks: segmentation produced massive pieces that were transformed into hammers or perforated batons, and extraction by grooving led to standardized rods on flat blanks used to produce barbed points or smoothers. The finished pieces were used in domestic activities (processing of hides, bark, and wood) and for hunting. The assemblage of osseous artifacts from Cotu Miculinți displays many features in common with contemporaneous sites in the area, in particular Cosăuți (Moldova), which is strongly indicative for a similar cultural and adaptive background.

Early Bronze Age artefacts from hard animal materials found in the south Moravia region

The presented article focuses on Early Bronze Age artefacts made from hard animal materials found in the south Moravia region. This topic tends to be neglected in the literature, as these artefacts are not as numerous as ceramics or bronze objects. However, their study can bring important knowledge. Open rural settlements of the Early Bronze Age are compared. Two sites are dated to the Únětice culture, the third to the Věteřov group. Processed assemblages are the largest known collections of artefacts from the period in south Moravia. The main aim of the thesis is a detailed analysis of the assemblages, which consist mainly of objects assembled from bones and antlers; the use of other raw materials is rare. The article compares the production of artefacts between the earlier Únětice and later Věteřov phases. It briefly addresses the find circumstances and contexts of individual artefacts. The analytical part includes an osteological determination of raw materials used for the production of artefacts. It focuses on a morphological and typological description of objects based on new descriptive standards in an effort to revise previously used subjective terms such as awl. The third part of the analysis is devoted to a study of use-wear marks created in the production and use of individual artefacts or their archaeologisation. The discussion addresses the possibilities of interpreting and identifying the function of individual objects on the basis of the above analyses.

Date preliminare asupra pieselor realizate din materii dure animale din asezarea neo-eneolitica de la Parta (judetul Timis)

The present article features the preliminary data obtained following the analyzes related to the use of hard animal materials to obtain objects by the prehistoric communities of Parţa. This analysis is part of the extended archaeozoological research carried out for the osteological fragments obtained from the numerous campaigns of archaeological research carried out by Gheorghe Lazarovici within the Neo‑Eneolithic settlement from Parţa. Starting from the description of the types, sources and methods of selection of the hard animal material, the paper presents the results of the analyzes obtained for the 50 objects made of animal bone, found so far in the archaeozoological research of the Parţa settlement. Although it is a small number of objects, the sample is diversified, the pieces can be classified into several groups: tools, objects of daily use (spoons), objects of clothing and personal ornament (pendants, clothing items etc.), as well as scraps debit.

Human behaviour and stone tool function at Seokjang-ni paleolithic site: A use-wear analysis of chipped stone tools

선사시대 인간이 보편적으로 제작하고 사용하였던 도구인 석기는 인류의 물질문화와 진화를 파악함에 있어 가장 중요한 연구 대상 가운데 하나이다. 그러므로 현재 고고학자들은 선사인들에 의해 남겨진 석기를 바탕으로 그들의 생활상을 복원하는데 있어서 다양한 연구 방법을 적용하고 있다. 이 가운데 쓴자국 분석(use-wear analysis, traceology)을 통한 기능 연구는 당시 선사 사람들이 다양한 작업 활동에서 사용하였던 석기에 남겨진 미세 흔적들을 현미경을 통해 분석함으로써 선사 도구의 쓰임새를 유추학고 해석할 수 있다. 따라서 석기의 기능 연구는 당시 선사인들의 삶의 모습과 생계 방식을 재구성할 수 있는 단초를 마련해 준다. 공주 석장리 유적에서 출토된 석기 가운데 416점을 선별해 석기 쓴자국 분석을 하였다. 그 결과 47점 (약 11.3%)에서 사용에 의해 형성된 것으로 볼 수 있는 흔적들이 관찰되었다. 단단한 동물재료와 관련된 흔적들은 긁개, 밀개, 새기개, 격지 등 여러 종류의 석기에서 관찰되었으며, 부드러운 동물재료는 밀개에서 주로 확인되었다. 도구의 사용 방법으로는 긁기, 자르기, 다듬기 등 여러 형태로 사용되었다. 한편, 잔손질석기의 경우 장시간 사용되면서 흔적이 형성되는 반면, 격지의 경우 필요에 따라 단시간 일회성으로 사용되어 잘 발달한 흔적이 드문 것으로 확인되었다. 우리나라 및 유럽의 다른 유적에서 실시한 석기 쓴자국 분석과 비교한 결과 석장리 유적은 선사인들에게 장기간 점유된 거주 중심의 유적으로 볼 수 있다.The stone tool, produced and used by prehistoric human beings, is one of the most important research subject in understanding human material culture and evolution. Archaeologists are currently applying various research methods to restore their life based on stone tools left by prehistoric people. Use-wear analysis (traceology) can infer and interpret the use of prehistoric tools by analyzing microscopic traces left in stone tools. Therefore, the functional study of stone tools provides a clue to reconstruct the life and livelihood of the prehistoric people at the time. 416 stone tools excavated from the Seokjang-ri site, were selected for use-wear analysis. Among them, 47 stone tools (approximately 11.3%) showed traces that could be formed by use. Traces related to hard animal materials have been observed in several types of stone tools, including scrapers, end-scrapers, burins, flakes, etc. Soft animal materials have been identified mainly in end-scrapers. In the case of the retouched stone tools, traces are formed while being used for a long time. On the other hand, it was confirmed that the well-developed trace was rare because it was used as a short-term one-time use if necessary. As a result of comparison with use-wear analysis of stone tools conducted in other sites, Seokjang-ri site can be seen as residential site occupied by prehistoric people for a long time.

Pulidores de piedra pómez en la costa sur del Golfo de Bizkaia (España)

espanolSe han estudiado tres pulidores de piedra pomez con ranuras de caracteristicas formales y huellas de uso muy similares. Dos han sido hallados en el nivel III del yacimiento de la cueva de Santa Catalina (Lekeitio, Bizkaia); este nivel ha proporcionado un abundante y variado conjunto tecnoindustrial del Magdaleniense superior, datado en el Tardiglaciar. El tercero procede de un nivel Magdaleniense de la cueva de Aitzbitarte IV (Errenteria, Gipuzkoa). La funcion de estos objetos esta relacionada con los procesos de fabricacion de agujas o apuntados en hueso, asta u otras materias como la madera. Pulidores semejantes del mismo periodo cultural, tambien en piedra pomez, se han localizado en un territorio relativamente limitado, en el suroeste de Francia, junto a la Cordillera pirenaica. El area de localizacion de todos estos utiles era cercana a la costa, ecosistema en el que seria recogida la piedra pomez arrastrada por las corrientes marinas hasta el litoral del Golfo de Bizkaia, del que se difundiria hacia zonas interiores. EnglishThree fragments of pumice stone have been recovered at two sites near the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay, with extensive grooves and traces of wear caused by their use as polishers. Two come from level III of the Santa Catalina cave, dating from between 12900 and 15000 Cal BP, and one from level IV of Aitzbitarte IV, with no radiocarbon dating. All three were found in Magdalenian cultural contexts. The most plausible hypothesis concerning their acquisition is that they were picked up on the beaches near the settlements. The Santa Catalina cave, now open on a cliff, was about 5 km from the coast at that time. The archaeological record from level III of Santa Catalina attests to the fact that its occupants fished extensively and collected marine resources during the final phases of the Late Glacial. The Aitzbitarte IV cave was not far from the sea either. A small number of similar tools were found on the northern slope of the Pyrenees, which have also been attributed to the same cultural period. With the exception of one found in a cave in the central Pyrenees, they all lie in a small area of south-western France, in settlements close to each other. These pumice stones must have had a similar origin to the specimens found in the cavities along the Cantabrian coast: volcanic areas in the Arctic or the Caribbean, from where they would have floated, carried by the sea currents. It is very possible that it was obtained by being collected on the Atlantic paleo-coast, although it cannot be ruled out that, in some cases, it was due to exchanges between neighbouring communities. These types of tools have been linked to working with hard animal materials, in particular with making needles or other pointed objects, although we should not rule out other possible uses.

L’industrie en matières dures animales du site énéolithique d´Atmageaua Tătărască (Bulgarie). Données technologiques et fonctionnelles / The osseous industry from the Eneolithic site at Atmageaua Tătărască (Bugaria). A technological and functional study

Eneolithic site from Atmageaua Tătărască yelded 63 pieces made of hard animal materials. These are mainly finished pieces with exceptional design (some of the other products and by-products of the technological scheme are also present) made of bone, red deer antler, wild boar and Unio and Cardium valve. This assemblage, coming from the old excavations, was attributed to two Eneolithic cultures (Boian and Gumelnița -phases A1, A2 and B1). Our technological study has allowed the reconstruction of the operational schemes used for the raw materials transformation, as well as the approach of functional hypotheses for these objects.

La redéfinition de l’Épigravettien et de l’Épipaléolithique de l’abri sous roche de Cuina Turcului (le Défilé des Portes de Fer du Danube, Roumanie), avec un regard particulier sur les objets d’art

The Cuina Turcului rock shelter is located on the Romanian bank of the Iron Gates Gorges of the Danube. Archaeological investigations conducted in the 1960’s revealed, in the lower part of the deposit, the existence of two habitation levels, whose cultural definition has changed several times over the years. Due to lithic material features, hard animal materials, C-14 dates and especially personal ornaments and art object, we consider that the first layer belongs to the Epigravettian and the second to the Epipalaeolithic. The richness, diversity and particularities of portable art in the Epigravettian layer I justifies its defining as a regional independent facies, called Clisurean.

Bone, shell tools and ornaments from the Epipalaeolithic site of Ali Tappeh, East of Alborz Range, Iran

The study of the hard animal matter assemblage from Ali Tappeh Cave, located on the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, sheds new light on many unknown aspects of Epipalaeolithic ways of life in this region and expands our knowledge of techno-economic strategies using materials other than lithic artefacts. Fourteen artefacts from the collection conserved in the National Museum of Iran were selected for the present research. The osseous and shell artefacts were studied using technological and microwear approaches in order to reconstruct the different stages of the techno-economic scheme of raw material acquisition, transformation and utilization of the objects. The technical marks show the use of abrasion, scraping and grooving techniques in the debitage and shaping phases for the transformation of bone tools, shell tools and ornaments. The acquisition and transformation sequences of the shell artefacts were partially reconstructed based on the identification of the finished objects, blanks, waste or potential rough-outs and raw material blocks. The acquisition sequence primarily focused on the collection of dead shells as raw material. The potential source of these materials, the south-eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, during the Epipalaeolithic was located about 40 km from the Ali Tappeh site. The choice of the blocks of raw materials only involves two species: Didacna and Cerastoderma. Three ways of raw material transformation were identified in this study: shell fracturing, probably connected to the production of discoid beads, direct shaping involving the regularization and perforation of elliptical raw material blocks for the production of pendants, direct shaping by perforating raw material blocks for the production of pendants. Suspension traces indicate their use as ornamental objects. Only one specimen in the whole assemblage was used directly, without prior transformation. The use-wear traces suggest the utilization of this shell tool for hide scraping. Similar processes are attested in some Epipalaeolithic sites in the Caucasus for the perforation of ornamental objects, suggesting analogous transformation methods for hard animal materials.

From the countryside to the town: archaeological evidence for the development of crafts using hard animal materials in northern France during the medieval period

L’evolution de l’artisanat des matieres dures animales au Moyen Âge est encore largement meconnue, malgre la multiplication des fouilles preventives. La mise au jour frequente de petits lots d’objets en os ou en bois de cervide ne suffit pas a distinguer entre fabrication domestique et artisanat specialise itinerant, activite saisonniere et passe-temps, importation ou production locale… A partir de donnees provenant de la moitie nord de la France, une synthese sera proposee sur cette question en mettant en lumiere la mutation profonde liee a la naissance des corporations de metiers au xiiie siecle.

Caractérisation de l’industrie lithique de la fin du Néolithique, dans le bassin de la Seine (de la deuxième moitié du IVe millénaire à la fin du IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.)

Cet article présente une synthèse sur l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent et final dans le bassin de la Seine (entre 3500 et 2100 avant notre ère). Son objectif est de distinguer l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent de celle du Néolithique final et, plus largement, de préciser la définition des groupes culturels, leur localisation et leur chronologie par l’étude du mobilier lithique en contexte domestique et sépulcral. La première étape de la caractérisation porte sur les modalités de l’approvisionnement, généralement réalisé à proximité des occupations durant le Néolithique récent et final. L'importation de matières premières suit une même tendance, sur deux aspects, le sens de circulation des pièces en silex secondaire et tertiaire mais aussi la forme sous laquelle ces produits circulent. Le Néolithique final se distingue par une diffusion d’artefacts en roche verte et en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny. Au Néolithique récent, la production laminaire présente certaines caractéristiques au niveau du type de percussion utilisé (indirecte et directe tendre) mais aussi de la répartition géographique de ces techniques et sur le statut des produits laminaires en contexte sépulcral. Plusieurs indices suggèrent que le ralentissement de la production laminaire domestique débute à partir du Néolithique final. Cette période se distingue aussi par une diversification de l'outillage et par l’existence d’une production d’éclats par débitage centripète sur la façade maritime. L’étude comparative de plusieurs zones du bassin de la Seine met en évidence les variabilités temporelles et spatiales et interroge la validité des faciès régionaux (Augereau et al., 2007). L''existence d'un « faciès Marne » , proposé à l’issue de synthèses sur les pratiques funéraires, le mobilier en matière dure animale et la parure, est à nouveau validée par l''industrie lithique.

Raw material, gestures, artefacts. An approach to the work of bone and ivory in the Iron Age in the Iberian peninsula

This work seeks to give visibility to the industry of hard animal materials that is documented during the Iron Age in the Iberian peninsula. We focus on the analysis of three common artefacts within the bone and ivory industry in the Iberian culture (between the 6th to the 1st Century BC): pins, perforated plates and combs. We have studied these objects from a technological point of view, thanks to a series of experimental work carried out in order to meet different operational chains, necessary to manufacture each one of these items and tools that could be used for this purpose. So, we searched the archaeological tool models to work bone and ivory, and whenever it has been possible, we have reproduced them. We have paid special attention to the results that may be obtained with different tools, gestures made, different time and effort employed according to the raw material, the tool made and the importance of the "hands" that lie behind the products, thus considering the role of the craftsman who carried out each one of these works. The questions raised in this research are: Is the manufacture of this type of pieces a specialized work, or anyone with access to the right tools could do it? Did it all depend on the raw materials employed?Were there local workshops on equipment manufacture with bone and ivory?This is a necessary study that focuses on analysis of pieces omitted by the archaeological research and, moreover, approaching its study not from a descriptive or typological point of view, but focusing on the manufacturing and operational chains processes, giving special importance to the role of the craftsmanship behind these objects. For all of this, experimentation has provided us with essential information that should be properly contrasted with the archaeological record.

Le techno-complexe hoabinhien en Asie du Sud-est continentale : L’histoire d’un galet qui cache la forêt

La préhistoire du Sud-est asiatique se caractérise par un matériel lithique dont les chaînes opératoires restent encore peu connues ou mal décrites. Cette méconnaissance s’explique par l’éloignement géographique de ces régions tropicales vis à vis des problématiques préhistoriques occidentales développées depuis maintenant deux siècles. La préhistoire de l’Extrême-Orient est complexe, originale, surprenante parfois paradoxale car en marge des grandes lignées techniques connues ailleurs pour la période concernée, celle qui a vu l’avènement de l’Homme anatomiquement moderne. Cette préhistoire régionale d’environ 2 millions de km2 que l’on nomme l’Asie du Sud-est péninsulaire ou continentale renvoie à l’élaboration d’une science en mouvement dont la construction est toujours d’actualité. En se heurtant à la thèse classique de l’évolution comme à celle du progrès technique, le Hoabinhien bouscule les règles et les repères en préhistoire. Il se situe aux antipodes du modèle classique (Eurasiatique, Africain) de développement des outils de pierre selon l’enrichissement et l’allègement progressif de l’outillage depuis la pebble culture jusqu’au Néolithique. C’est précisément sur cette singularité que porte notre réflexion à propos d’un phénomène technique unique qui reste difficile à positionner sur l’axe évolutif des industries tel qu’il existe ailleurs dans le monde ou en Asie de l’Est (Chine, Corée, Japon). La régularité et l’homogénéité des formes d’outils façonnées sur galet dans un vaste espace et sur une durée record de près de 30 000 ans sont les caractéristiques principales de ce technocomplexe peu orthodoxe qui interroge la capacité cognitive d’Homo sapiens en écosystème tropical humide. Mais aussi, la question de la nature des liens existants entre l’homme et ses productions lithiques ou la place occupée par la technique de la pierre taillée lors du développement humain dans cette région hors d’Europe.A cette monotone pérennité d’outils sur galet se greffe l’absence d’outils lithiques pointus (pointe, extrémité apicale, outil à bords saillants convergents, etc.) tels qu’ils se rencontrent partout ailleurs chez les groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs qu’ils soient du Paléolithique supérieur ou (sub-)actuels.C’est pourquoi la stabilité de ces outillages sur galet cacherait tout un pan de complexité inconnu du domaine technique comme l’insaisissable travail des matières dures d’origine animale mais surtout végétale non conservées à ce jour dans les niveaux archéologiques. Le cheminement du minéral vers la question du végétal renvoie à la nécessité de compléter la « boîte à outils » des artisans préhistoriques hoabinhiens par des objets pointus. Connue à ce jour qu’à travers les données de l’ethnographie, la « civilisation du végétal » conduit tout naturellement à réfléchir sur l’importance de ce matériau périssable dans le bagage outillé des derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs de la forêt tropicale d’Asie du Sud-est continentale. Autrement dit, la possibilité d’une autre existence technique en équilibre avec le milieu extérieur.Après avoir mis en avant l’originalité du phénomène culturel hoabinhien au regard de l’impact de la recherche en préhistoire et en paléoanthropologie dans les régions du Sud-est asiatique, cet article présentera d’un point de vue strictement qualitatif, les chaînes opératoires du techno-complexe hoabinhien. Faciès industriel sur galet qui caractérise la principale culture technique des chasseurs-cueilleurs du Paléolithique final d’Asie du Sud-est entre environ 30 000 et 5 000 ans BP. Plus largement des précisions seront apportées d’une part sur l’inachèvement informatif du phénomène lithique en tant que donnée archéologique et d’autre part, sur son dépassement en tant que phénomène. Il s’agira donc de repenser l’envers de la dialectique lithique-lignic c’est-à-dire les objets du végétal à jamais disparus, à la lumière des objets de pierre taillée seuls conservés comme marqueurs de temps, de technique, d'espace et d’absence.

Organic technology in the Pastoral Neolithic: osseous and eggshell artefacts from Luxmanda, Tanzania

Hard animal materials were key components of prehistoric daily life, with many such raw materials shaped into diverse tool types and personal ornaments. With few exceptions, outside of the far south and north of Africa, osseous artefacts have been largely understudied on the continent, with this situation particularly applying to pastoralist contexts. Well-documented worked bone, ivory, or ostrich eggshell (OES) assemblages tend to be associated with hunter-gatherers and are generally interpreted with reference to contemporary hunter-gatherer toolkits. Study of osseous and OES technologies used by ancient or modern pastoralist populations, on the other hand, remains in its infancy. In this paper, we present an analysis of 14 worked bone, ivory, and OES artefacts from the Pastoral Neolithic site of Luxmanda located in north-central Tanzania. We apply technological trace analysis to understand histories of manufacture, use, and discard and compare our findings against the corpus of osseous and eggshell technologies recovered from terminal Pleistocene through Holocene sites of eastern Africa, providing a synthesis of this region for the first time. Finally, we explore the limited record for comparable technologies in recent pastoralist communities and argue that forager/food producer distinctions based on organic technologies are neither present nor meaningful based on current evidence.

Innovation in the production and use of equipment in hard animal materials: Origins and consequences in prehistoric societies, from the Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic

Innovation in the production and use of equipment in hard animal materials: Origins and consequences in prehistoric societies, from the Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic

The bone industry in the Capsian and Neolithic contexts of Eastern Maghreb: A technological and functional approach

Tools manufactured from hard animal materials were widely used in North Africa both in the Epipaleolithic and in the Neolithic delete. This article discusses how a methodology based on the technological, typological and functional analyses of several Capsian series from the Tébessa region (Algeria) lead to identification of specific techno-economic indicators of bone production suggestive of a vivid cultural exchange among groups living in the same territory. Over time, the application of the same methodology on a larger number of samples might possibly establish whether the technical tradition on animal hard material identified in the Tébessa region is all there is to the Capsian culture or whether it is only one among diversified practices.The juxtaposition of the data collected for this study with those from the Neolithic bone Rivière Collection (Capéletti Cave, Algeria) has revealed innovative techno-economic indicators along all the steps of the chaîne opératoire. The partial change that the hard animal material manufacture underwent from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic phase is also in line with the transformation by other cultural material categories during the same period. The introduction of allochthonous elements along the North African coast during the Neolithic phase had an impact on the local settlement and economy.

The Engraved Stone Pendant from Poiana Cireşului-Piatra Neamţ, Romania. New Contributions to the Understanding of Symbolic Behavior in Gravettian

The 2013 archaeological excavation campaign carried out at Poiana Ciresului-Piatra Neamţ Paleolithic site (Neamţ County, North-Eastern Romania) led to the discovery, in the Gravettian I layer, of the fi rst engraved stone pendant found in this settlement, in an area where such discoveries are very rare. The Gravettian I layer provided the largest number of art objects and tools made of hard animal materials from the Romanian Upper Paleolithic. Besides a technological analysis of the pendant, a stylistic analysis of the engravings has also been provided, in order to identify similarities to other stone pendants. It seems that for the Paleolithic contexts of Eurasia, the discovery of such stone pendants, engraved on both sides is very rare, especially for Gravettian. Therefore, the specimen found at Poiana Ciresului is even more interesting, since it shows several original peculiarities. The new personal ornaments discovered in the Gravettian sites of South-Eastern Europe can provide important information on the ethno-cultural features of the Paleolithic communities of this region.

Bone and antler working at Grotta Paglicci (Rignano Garganico, Foggia, southern Italy)

In this article we present evidence of the hard animal tissue exploitation at Paglicci Cave (Rignano Garganico, Foggia, southern Italy).The analysis of the 104 bone and antler tools found in the Upper Palaeolithic sequence of the cave, as well as recent studies on faunal remains, have allowed us to reconstruct the choices made by the prehistoric hunters both in terms of hunting and exploitation of hard animal materials for tool fabrication. Most of the archeozoological sequence is characterized by the abundance of remains of species related to open or steppe environments, such as caprines (especially ibex), horses and aurochs.Starting from Final Epigravettian (about 17.000 BP cal.) these taxa decrease in favor of deer, wild boar and hidruntinus, reflecting an important climatic change leading to more humid and temperate conditions. Only some hunted animals bones were chosen for making the tools: deer, horse, aurochs and wild boar. A noteworthy observation concerns the lack of an interconnection between the kinds of species represented in the faunal assemblages and those used for the production of bone (and antler) tools.Even though the small number of pieces in each individual layer did not allow for statistical inferences, we could draw some interesting conclusions on the morpho-technological features of the artifacts, finding that some tool types appear to be linked to particular periods.

Apports et limites de l’étude des vestiges fauniques à la caractérisation d’un site mésolithique de plein air à Paris : « 62 rue Henry-Farman » (15e arrondissement)

: The ’ 62 rue Henry-Farman’ site in the south-west of Paris (15th arrondissement) is located on the alluvial plain of the Seine River, now 250 m from the site. The site’s cultural sequence consists of four occupations, the Mesolithic, Middle Neolithic, Late Neolithic / Early Bronze Age, and the Early Iron Age, but the research presented in this paper focuses exclusively on the Mesolithic period. Field operations and excavations were carried out by the INRAP (Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives) in 2008. Because of the relatively extensive surface under excavation (5,000 m2), six main concentrations of stone artefacts and animal bone remains (loci 1 to 6) were singled out despite the loose clustering of the cultural debris. Because of the poor preservation of bone collagen, only three bone samples, located on the periphery of the loci, could be radiocarbon dated (AMS). The dates, ranging from 8600 and 7700 cal. BC (2 sigmas), suggest at least two occupation phases. The palaeoenvironmental analyses (molluscs and isotopic signatures of ungulate bone collagen) are congruent with this chronological attribution which is also broadly consistent with the lithic typology, although the latter indicates a relative intra-site time lag. A thorough analysis of the faunal remains (including worked remains), was carried out to identify the discarded remains and determine the activities performed, in order to reconstruct the patterns of animal resources exploitation per cluster of loci. The faunal material (N = 1287) is not large compared to the lithics (ca 24,000). It may be related to the general poor state of preservation of the faunal material as indicated by taphonomic analyses. In spite of a relative intra-site time span, the preservation of the faunal material as well as its taxonomic composition are homogeneous on the scale of the whole site. Wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) was the top hunted species. The other ungulates, red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and aurochs (Bos primigenius), as well as fur-bearing mammals such as fox (Vulpes vulpes), hare (Lepus europeaus), badger (Meles meles) or pine marten (Martes martes), are represented by very few individuals and specimens, and in different proportions in every locus. The pond tortoise (Emys orbicularis) is also represented by one fragment of carapace. A similar wild boar hunting pattern — focusing on subadults and adults — is documented in every locus. Hunters probably preyed on groups of females with subadults, but adult males were also targeted, as indicated by the presence of six tusks (lower canines), most likely during distinct hunting episodes. Some tusks were used as tools in several loci. Bone point fragments and two worked pieces of antler (one showing a bevelled edge) indicate that hard animal materials from large prey species were also exploited and possibly worked in situ. Large prey carcass portions were discarded in every locus, suggesting that targeted preys were brought complete to the site to be butchered. A relatively expedient butchering technique is suggested based on the discard of anatomical parts still in connection (locus 1) and some un-fractured bones (including long bones). Some portions of the carcasses are likely to have been transported off the loci and off site. Such observations are interpreted as an indication that the butchering and treatment of the carcasses were not performed successively at the same place, the chaînes opératoires were segmented (both in time and space). It is finally concluded that each locus may have mostly resulted from successive and probably short term — seasonal — occupations, each locus resulting from an independent event. Different activities were performed on the site. It is the case for the manufacture of stone tools related to hunting, primary butchering, hide processing, all articulated around animal resource procurement and treatment.

Data regarding the experimental manufacture of Roman objects made of domestic herbivores horns

Processing hard animal materials in Roman times was an important occupation. In any Roman settlements there were certainly workshops where objects were being made out of the bones and horns of domestic animals. One such workshop was found on Insula 3 of the ancient Roman town named Colonia Dacica Augusta Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, and a similar case was registered in Histria. The workshop provided residual bone ends, cut segments, finished items, in the process of being made or discarded. Upon closer analysis, I found that the horny part of the cattle, sheep and goat horns are lost in time as they are 100% organic nature, this being the reason why in the Roman sites there are no artefacts made out of these horn parts. Experimental archaeology has helped to restore some parts of the bovine and goat horns, to see differences or similarities with antlers, in terms of processing. Thus, I made a comb, different chips for games, a hair pin, a pendant and a dagger button of bovine horn, as well as a dice and a needle of goat horn. After processing the horns of domestic animals, I could see that they can be altered by heat (so they can be shaped), that they are as suitable for making items as the horns of wild animals, that they have a pleasant translucent appearance and that they were certainly used by the Romans in making different types of objects.