Use-wear Analysis Research Articles

구석기시대 석기의 자루 장착과 기능 연구 - 밀개를 중심으로

Hafting of Paleolithic stone tools has been a widely recognized practice essential for understanding lithic technology. However, research in Korea has predominantly focused on the typology and edge morphology of stone tools, with limited investigation into hafting. This study aims to enhance the understanding of hafting, particularly in Upper Paleolithic end scrapers from Korea. Hafting, which emerged at least 300,000 years ago, demonstrates the cognitive sophistication of early humans, enabling them to control tool shape and size through specific techniques. While the haft was often reused, the tool component was retouched to fit, leaving distinctive traces of use, production, and hafting. From a lithic technological perspective, this study examines the concept and significance of hafting, haft types, and attachment methods. Through use-wear analysis supported by experiments and ethnographic data, four primary hafting techniques for end scrapers were identified. Future research will focus on material properties, morphometrics, and use-wear analysis to further advance the study of hafting and Paleolithic tool-use traditions.

Lithic Procurement and Provisioning at the Lower Palaeolithic Site of Shishan Marsh 1 in the Azraq Basin, Jordan

Considerations of the landscape, the distribution and quality of resources, distances to outcrops, and proximity to other resources factor into the procurement decision-making by prehistoric foragers. However, the patterns of resource exploitation and utilisation are likely to vary by region, and those exhibited in marginal environments are not fully explored. This report focuses on the nature of lithic procurement and provisioning at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Shishan Marsh 1 in the Azraq Basin, Jordan. It draws upon several lines of evidence, including provenance and use-wear analyses performed on the biface assemblage. The results indicate raw material exploitation occurred at local and non-local distances to the site and the lithics were used for a variety of activities on medium-hard materials. Foragers moved toward the wetlands from significant distances on the surrounding landscape, likely bringing finished tools and, after use, discarding them in relatively good condition. The accumulation over time of ready-to-use tools at Shishan Marsh 1 points to a provisioning of the wetland margins for future needs.

Osseous artefacts from the Church of St James in Toruń as a source of information on the production and use of everyday bone objects in Poland from the 14th to the 18th centuries

The article presents the results of typological and traceological analyses that involved seven objects made of osseous raw materials found around the church of Saint James in Toruń. Owing to technological analysis, it was possible to reconstruct the methods applied for working osseous materials by craftsmen of past times, whereas the analysis of use-wear traces allowed us to formulate conclusions regarding the function of the examined specimens. The objects were compared to other analogous finds in an attempt to recreate the techniques used for making them, the context in which they were used, and the role they could have played in the past.

Mesolithic Ulna “daggers” from Dąbki Site 9 – on the track of their function

So-called “bone daggers” made from ulna bones of Cervidae are commonly found at Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherer sites of the western circum-Baltic area. The main objective of this paper is to showcase the results of the technological and functional analysis conducted on three tools found at the Dąbki 9 site in northern Poland. During the traceological analysis, technological traces facilitated the reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire of the tools’ production process. The use-wear also points to the probable function of the artefacts. The results presented in this work are discussed in the context of other artefacts of a similar type known from various prehistoric contexts.

The Magdalenian site Kleszczowa 9, Pilica commune, Silesian voivodship (Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Poland). Multi-aspectual analysis of the flint inventory and the importance of the site

The site no. 9 in Kleszczowa is located within the region of the so-called Barańskie Mountains, within a distance of ca. 7 km from the locality named Pilica, Silesian voiv. In the course of the field survey and trial excavations conducted in the area of the site since 2012 relics of the Late Palaeolithic settlement were discovered. Based on technological and typological traits flint inventory obtained from the site was classified as typical of the Magdalenian cultural tradition. Distinctive groups of artefacts were single-platform cores for blades with changed orientation, at various stages of exploitation and blade blanks with diagnostic en éperon butts. Amongst tools there were recorded mainly burins, endscrapers, perforators and truncated blades. Raw materials used for production of artefacts were, in great majority, high quality Jurassic flints, the outcrops of which occurred within direct surroundings of the site. Flint assemblage from the site Kleszczowa 9 was subjected to multi-aspect technological and functional analysis. In this paper the authors would like to stress the results of use-wear analysis, in particular, which revealed that nearly half of the artefacts investigated in this respect bore traces of utilisation for processing of wood, meat and hide. On few of them there were detected traces indicating processing of silica plants and elaboration of soaked bone. Moreover, many forms bore traces of hafting and organic substance, being most likely relics of some sort of a binder. Apart from these traces the artefacts under scrutiny were characterised by an extremely high degree of post-depositional destruction, resulting from deep ploughing employed within the area of the site. The results of analysis performed for flint assemblage from the site Kleszczowa 9 correspond well with the current state-of-the-art referring to utilisation of tools by the Magdalenian societies, and they undoubtedly extend our knowledge upon behaviour of humans at the decline of the Pleistocene in the region of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

Made of flint, bone and boar’s tusks – burial goods from male grave No. 2 in Świerszczów (Kolonia) 28, Hrubieszów District – attributed to the Malice culture – in the light of traceological analysis

The article presents the results of a traceological analysis conducted on artefacts made of bone, boar’s tusks and flint – the only funerary goods discovered in Grave No. 2 at Świerszczów (Kolonia) Site 28, in which an adult male was buried. Despite the lack of pottery vessels that could indicate cultural affiliation, the grave is attributed to the Rzeszów phase of the Malice culture, i.e., the final, Eneolithic, stage of that culture. This attribution is based on 14C dating and on the presence in the grave of artefacts made of boar’s tusks and flint burins. Microscopic analysis conducted on the discovered artefacts revealed traces related to their production, use and repair on their surfaces. Most items bear traces indicating their usage in processing soft materials, like siliceous (wild and domesticated) plants and hide. Interestingly, the artefacts with holes for hanging – traditionally regarded as adornments in archaeological literature – were also employed in different activities.

Identifying organic residue on ground stone tools from Mesolithic sandy sites: selected examples from Paliwodzizna 29 in Central Poland

During excavations at the Mesolithic site Paliwodzizna 29 (central Poland), in addition to the flint artefacts typical for this period and region, a collection of 175 non-flint stone artefacts was discovered. This collection included various “macro-lithic tools” displaying visible intentional modifications and usage traces. This observation prompted a preliminary traceological analysis of a selection of tools. The primary goal of the presented research was to assess the possibility of analysing and interpreting use-wear traces and potential residues on these tools. The ultimate aim was to investigate the feasibility of conducting such analyses on macro-lithic tools from the sandy sites of the Polish Lowland dating back to the Mesolithic.

Flint arrowhead from a hoard in Papowo Biskupie, Chełmno district: comments on the discussion on the sacral function of lithic artefacts from the turn of the Iron Age

The article presents a flint arrowhead from Papowo Biskupie, Chełmno district. Hoards from this place and many loose metal finds are interpreted as votive offerings deposited in the water. Numerous objects made in bronze are accompanied by abundant non-cremated human bones unearthed there. The archaeological site is dated back to a period from about 1000 to 400 BC. A traceological analysis of the flint arrowhead showed that it had never been used, and that it found its way into one of the hoards on purpose as an element of a set of many artefacts that were deposited with in a birch bark container. Therefore, it probably served a purpose similar to that attributed to flint artefacts discovered in Lusatian-culture cremation graves. The provenance of the arrowhead can be determined in the context of Scythian-style ornaments that were reaching Kuyavia and Chełmno Land, as they have been found more and more often in the Lusatian culture in the area of Tarnobrzeg.

Use-wear studies of the function of prehistoric wooden products, is it really possible? The example of pestles from sites in Šventoji, Lithuania

The article presents the preliminary results of the traceological analysis of the collection of wooden pestles obtained during excavations of the complex of subneolithic sites in Šventoji in Lithuania. During the studies, an attempt was made to assess the possibility of interpreting the functions of the analysed tools based on the (probably) functional damage visible on them and to verify the hypotheses about the way they were used put forward by the authors of the excavations. The primary goal of the reported research was an attempt to first (preliminary) assess the nature of damage occurring on wooden tools (in this case, pestles) as a result of their use, the possibility of analysing and interpreting these traces (also in the context of post-depositional changes and modifications resulting from the conservation process), and consequently (in general) the possibility of conducting functional analyses of wooden tools dating back to the Stone Age.

Functional Variability of Tools at Epipaleolithic Sites of the Elbrus Region

The goal of this paper is to report results of research of the influence that economic specifics of the Epipalaeolithic sites in the Elbrus region had on the composition of lithic industry. The traceological analysis made it possible to determine a functional variability of tools in sites dated from different age. Based on the correlation of the habitation activity index and technical, typological and traceological analyses, the sites dating after the Last Glacial maximum and to the beginning of the Holocene were preliminarily divided into three groups. At these sites, not only the percentage of retouched tools differs, but also their functional use is different. The determination of functional specificity of assemblages and economic specialization of the site is an important component of inter-assemblage comparison, especially those assemblages that existed simultaneously within a chronological cycle and were located on the same territory.

An underwater metal hoard of the Urnfield Period from Prosiměřice in Znojmo District: On the issue of the relationships between hoards, settlements and waters

The Prosiměřice 2 metal hoard was discovered during archaeological rescue excavation in 2021 on the northern edge of the cadastre, where it was located in the floodplain of the River Jevišovka below the groundwater level. In addition to nine ingots and a broken-off sprue, the hoard contains two socketed axes, which date the find to the later stage of the Middle Danube Urnfield Culture. All the artefacts of the hoard were subjected to material composition analysis, which proved both relatively pure and variously impure copper (most ingots) as well as tin bronze (axes, ingot, sprue). According to X-ray computed tomography and use-wear analysis, the axes are imperfect, though functional, casts. The Prosiměřice 2 hoard therefore contains artefacts from various stages of the metallurgical production chain, just like the previously discovered Prosiměřice 1 hoard. Both hoards are part of a contemporary open settlement area and their contents could thus indicate local metallurgical activity. Other metal hoards in settlement areas also indicate a potential correlation between their contents and metallurgical production in open settlements. The location of both hoards from Prosiměřice in a floodplain wetland or even underwater points to their irreversible deposition and, like most other multi-piece hoards in a water environment, we associate them with communal socio-cultic rituals.

The archaeological visibility of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) nut-cracking

The earliest evidence for complex tool use in the archaeological record dates to 3.3 Ma. While wooden tools may have been used by our earliest ancestors, the evidence is absent due to poor preservation. However, insights into possible early hominin wooden tool use can be gained from observing the tool-use practices of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). By using stone hammers used to crack various nuts, chimpanzees leave a durable material signature comprised of formal tools and associated diagnostic fragments. While the archaeological evidence of chimpanzee wooden tool use is temporary, the combination of stone hammers and wooden anvils can create a more enduring lithic record. This study explores the lithic assemblages associated with wooden and stone anvil use at nut-cracking sites in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, using technological and use-wear analyses. Our results indicate clear differences in density, fracture patterns, and use-wear in the lithic records between wooden anvil and stone anvil sites. New archaeological excavations at six chimpanzee nut-cracking sites reveal that the anvils' material directly influences the visibility of nut-cracking evidence in the archaeological record. By examining the nature of the lithic signatures associated with wooden anvil and stone anvil use by chimpanzees, we can formulate hypotheses about the probability of such behaviors being preserved and identifiable in the Plio-Pleistocene hominin archaeological record. The variability in material signatures from nut-cracking on different anvils suggests that stone anvils leave a clear archaeological record. Evidence for wooden anvil use is likely underrepresented due to the more ephemeral nature of the associated percussive damage and material signature. It may, however, still be possible, albeit challenging, to identify wooden anvil use in the archaeological record.

Late Upper Palaeolithic ornaments from Vlakno cave, Croatia

This paper presents the richest prehistoric assemblage of ornaments in the Eastern Adriatic discovered to date, found in the Late Upper Palaeolithic layers of Vlakno cave, Croatia. The abundance and multiform of bead types indicate that the site was likely used as a workshop for ornaments, i.e. that production was performed on site. Technological and use-wear analysis of each taxon used for beads allowed us to elaborate on its mode of production, use, and overall position of the Vlakno cave site and its role in the regional context during the Late Pleistocene.

Experimental replication of early human behaviour in bird preparation: a pilot-study focusing on bone surface modification and breakage patterns

The origin of complex behaviour amongst early humans is a subject of heated debate within the scientific community, and the study of small prey remains has become a significant aspect when examining such modern behaviour. Nonetheless, the consumption of small prey by human populations poses analytical difficulties due to the often negligible, or entirely absent, traces on bone surfaces. To address this difficulty, an experimental study focusing on terrestrial avifauna has been prepared, and here we present a preliminary phase of this research. The aim is to distinguish potential modifications on bird bone surfaces and fracture patterns that might facilitate the recognition of human manipulation of avian skeletal remains. Building upon the challenges encountered in the study of archaeological findings recovered from recent excavations in Iberian Middle Palaeolithic sites, the experimental protocol was formulated to encompass the processing of two uncooked and three roasted birds; and the lithic use-wear analysis of the flint flake used in the processing of raw birds. The results showcase distinct patterns of bone surface modifications and breakage between cooked and uncooked birds. Higher numbers of cut marks and manual disarticulation breaks are found on raw animals, whereas roasted animals show no cut marks, local-specific burns and higher bone loss. This pilot-study provides a baseline for future research to further explore the role of avifauna in Neanderthal subsistence and food processing, which may help highlight cultural choices.

Settling the argument: The contribution of use-wear studies to understanding artefact scatters in Neolithic Britain

Our understanding of the Neolithic of southern Britain has been largely based on the interpretation of monumental landscapes such as those around Stonehenge and Avebury. The remains of domestic structures dating to the Neolithic are rare, and when found, are often associated with small assemblages of material culture. The most common forms of settlement evidence are unstratified artefact scatters, which have little evidence of associated structural remains. As a result, our understanding of Neolithic settlement is poor. We have limited knowledge of what craft and subsistence activities were associated with them, and we do not know how quotidian practices were organised at a settlement or landscape level.Taking the West Kennet Avenue Occupation Site as an example, this paper will show how use-wear analysis can be combined with a detailed technological analysis to reveal details of the character and temporality of a Neolithic settlement. The use-wear analysis will focus on the assemblage of microdenticulates from the site. It further explores the character and potential contact material related to Polish 23, the distinctive use-polish that occurs on these tools, and shows how the combination of spatial analysis and use-wear analysis can separate different episodes of occupation in a scatter of unstratified artefacts. The results provide crucial insight into the history of settlement in the Avebury landscape and shed further light on the character of use of microdenticulates, supporting the argument that they were used for processing plant fibres for the production of textiles.

Combining traceological analysis and ZooMS on Early Neolithic bone artefacts from the cave of Coro Trasito, NE Iberian Peninsula: Cervidae used equally to Caprinae.

Few studies have combined the analysis of use-wear traces, traceology, and the proteomic taxonomic identification method Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS). Traceology provides information on the usage, in this case, of bone artefacts, while ZooMS allows for taxonomic identifications where diagnostic features are otherwise gone. The approaches therefore offer complementary information on bone artefacts, allowing for insights into species selection strategies in bone tool manufacture and their subsequent use. Here we present a case study of 20 bone artefacts, mainly bone points, from the Early Neolithic cave site of Coro Trasito located on the southern slope of the Central Pyrenees. Hitherto, studies on Early Neolithic bone artefacts from the Iberian Peninsula have suggested based on morphological assessments that Ovis aries/Capra hircus constituted the majority of the bone material selected for bone tool production. However, the taxonomic identification in this study suggests that, at this site, Cervidae was selected equally to that of O. aries/C. hircus. Furthermore, bone artefacts made from Cervidae specimens seem to be utilised in a wider range of artefact types compared to O. aries/C. hircus. Coro Trasito's bone artefact species composition is probably site-specific to some degree, however, morphological assessments of bone artefacts might not be representative and could be biased towards certain species. Therefore, research on bone artefacts' usage could possibly gain new insights by implementing ZooMS in combination with traceology.

Ostrich eggshell beads from Little Muck Shelter, southern Africa: First impressions and regional perspectives

Hunting and gathering communities in southern Africa produced ostrich eggshell (OES) beads for personal ornamentation, trade and exchange, and various forms of symbolism. OES beads convey information related to not only technological processes, but also social histories, making them useful tools for investigating these processes in the archaeological record. In the middle Limpopo Valley, hunter-gatherers produced beads from periods that predated the arrival of farmer societies, before ca. AD 150, until the decline of the Mapungubwe capital, AD 1300. Their analysis may therefore lead to insights into local economies, craft activities, trade and exchange, and social roles. However, no study in the middle Limpopo Valley has sufficiently investigated these beads and their status within forager society. In this paper we study the manufacture of OES beads from one of the excavated forager-occupied shelters in the valley, Little Muck. This study is the first of its kind from a hunter-gatherer context in the region. It shows that Little Muck’s beads were standardised but produced in varying frequencies across temporal periods, and made following different production strategies. Use-wear analysis hints that some of the beads were pigmented and possibly altered using heat treatment. As an initial foray into a forager bead assemblage of the region, this study demonstrates the value such an approach may yield, and it aids in guiding future attempts. It also compares Little Muck’s bead assemblage with those from other sites across a much wider region where such studies have taken place. The findings demonstrate similar patterns to other parts of southern and eastern Africa, but also illustrate local shifts in bead production that follow changes in local socio-political dynamics.

Use-Wear Analysis of Obsidian and Other Volcanic Rocks: An Experimental Approach to Working Plant Resources

This experimental study aims to contribute to functional analysis research on tools which specifically served to work wood and non-woody plants. They were made of obsidian and other volcanic rocks (basalt, trachyte, and phonolite) characterised by an amorphous matrix and phenocrysts of different number and size. In spite of prior functional analysis research resorting to these raw materials, there remain gaps in our understanding of specific activities. The work thus focused on working different types of wood from the Canary Island as well as on harvesting cereals. It is likewise centred on craftwork, especially regarding certain rarely studied contact materials such as palm leaves and rushes. The results reveal use-wear differences stemming from working woody and non-woody plants with both obsidian and other volcanic rocks. A special attention was given to the identification and description of the different features depending on the raw materials and the characteristics of their knapped surfaces. Identifying the combination of attributes has been essential to attain more accurate diagnostics. There are limits to each of the types of raw materials. The surfaces of obsidian are easier to observe and allow more specific identifications. In turn, the heterogeneous surfaces of volcanic rocks with phenocrysts that require more to time to develop diagnostic traces render use-wear amongst these types of rocks more difficult to observe. It is possible to distinguish longitudinal and transversal actions between woody and non-woody plants on every rock. Actions related to basketry, such us splitting and scraping, are more complicated to identify. The state of the worked plant (dry or fresh) and the time of use are key factors to consider in each case.

Neolithic Hallstatt – a special mining place

The article analyzes salt exploitation in Hallstatt during the Neolithic period. Evidence for neolithic human presence in the Hallstatt area has been accumulating over the last years. Spatial analyses as well as use-wear analysis on the stone axes from the Hallstatt-Dachstein region give new important insights into human activity during this period. The presence of a deer pick documented within one of the mining galleries along with a fragment of a prestigious axe is very significant. Within the Salzberg area, four prestigious axes have been documented, an unusual fact for a mining area. The article highlights that Hallstatt developed advanced technology for salt extraction and presents the continuity and specialization of salt mining in this region since 5000 BC.

Working at home. Reconstructing activities within the LBK household through the systemic use-wear analysis of flint industries, bone and antler tools and ground stone implements

The systematic analysis of use-wear traces on flint, ground stone and bone tools, has rarely been carried out at Early Neolithic sites in continental Europe. Hence, it is a powerful means of identifying possible economic differences. As part of the ongoing HOMES project, we are investigating the importance and nature of acquisition strategies (hunting, harvesting), food preparation techniques (butchery, grain milling) and the processing of other resources (plant fibres) in a large set of LBK households in the Aisne Valley (France). After re-examining and integrating new results on the flint industry (366 tools), bone and antler tools (414 tools) and ground stone tools (114 tools), the aim here is to examine whether the processing of soft flint plants, hides and wood remains the dominant activity and how it coexists with more marginal activities such as the processing of soft minerals and textile fibres. The absence of certain activities is scrutinised in relation to their location within and outside the domestic and village space. Discrete functional characteristics are tracked to improve our understanding of the observed differences between the domestic units: segmentation of production processes, differences in the use of each type of raw material, intensity of use. In this way, we can test the hypothesis of autonomous or interdependent households in terms of production and consumption and investigate the economic structure of LBK villagers.