Operating chains of lithic tools in hunther-gatherer contexts. The links between raw material, form and function.

DE ANGELIS, H.; M.E. MANSUR,

Faro

Congreso; Use wear 2012; 2012

CSIC, Universidade do Algarve,

The operational chain concept is a methodological tool of high value for the analysis of stone tools production processes and their concomitant in terms of raw material selection, manufacturing techniques, temporality and spatiality of these processes, etc. However, there is a break in their use for studying the processes of resource exploitation and production in which the instruments are involved. A review of the results obtained in specific analysis of South American hunter-gatherers contexts from different regions and with different chronologies, reveals that the specificity in the selection of raw materials for certain categories of tools is the result of the interplay between technology and intended use. This allows discussing some of the theoretical and methodological concepts concerning the application of functional analysis and interpretation of hunter-gatherer contexts.