CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

This article explores the archaeological and ethnographic evidence on the use of rodent teeth, without direct modification (without manufacturing) as tools. There are publications that show their direct use, extracted from the jaw, held in the hand, or hafted, but also used within the jaw itself, where it functions as a handle. However until now, most of the teeth that appear in archaeological contexts have been studied within zooarchaeological analysis, and the possibility that they have been used as instruments is rarely considered. The reason for this was partly because it was thought that it would not be possible to identify them among the faunal remains. In our investigation, we carried out an experimental work using teeth of two groups of Rodents, beaver (Castor canadensis) and capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), to process other materials. Our objective was to see if it was possible to identify use wear traces that would let recognise such instruments in archaeological sites. The results show that teeth used as tools are efficient to work different materials and with different kinematics. By means of macro- and microscopic analysis (binocular loupe and metallographic microscope), we were able to characterize and explain the traces of natural use of the tooth, and to differentiate them from the anthropic microwear produced when they are used as tools. We also observed that the behaviour of the two parts of the tooth, dentin and enamel, is different, since both have slightly different compositions. Finally, we were able to characterize these traces of use at macro- and microscopic scales, which have differential characteristics according to the material worked and the kinematics, and at the same time show similarities with traces produced on some types of lithic materials.Consequently, we believe that it is possible to develop functional analysis on teeth of different animal species, and that these analyses will certainly contribute to our knowledge on ways of life of past societies.

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