Experiments in bone technology: a methodological approach to functional analysis on bone tools.

ALVAREZ, M.; MANSUR, M. E.; PAL, N.

Traceology today. Methodological issues in the Old World and the Americas

Achaeopress

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2014; p. 19 - 26

The study of bone tools represents a key-element for the investigation of many hunter-gatherer-fisher societies. In the case of those that inhabited the extreme south of America, bone technology had a particular importance considering both the frequency and the diversity of tools design. Consequently, the identification of the uses to which bone artifacts were devoted constitutes a fundamental problem in order to understand their socio-economical dynamics. On this goal, we started a research project oriented towards functional analysis of bone instruments. The experimental program aimed at characterization of microscopic traces produced by three different processes: manufacturing of various types of bone artifacts, their utilization, and the alterations resulting from taphonomical processes. Microwear analysis was developed by means of different optical devices and magnifications (stereomicroscope, reflected light microscope and scanning electron microscope). In this paper we present the methodology and results obtained and discuss their implications for microwear analysis of bone tools.