Bone awls and basketry: complementarity between ethnography and experimentation

PARMIGIANI, V.; ALVAREZ SONCINI, M. C.; MANSUR M. E.; FRANCH A.; DE ANGELIS H. H.

C.A.B.A.

Simposio; 11 International Symposium on Knaple Materials "From Toolstone to Stone Tools"; 2017

IMHICIHU-CONICET

This work is focused on the study of bone tools potentially related tobasketry processes. Specifically, we will concentrate in characterization ofthese processes in the hunter-gatherer groups of Tierra del Fuego. Theresearch is developed through various approaches like experimentation, use-wear analysis and ethnography.Many ethnographers and travellers have described the hunter-gatherer societies of Tierra del Fuego. These accounts provide detailed information on some of the activities of the hunter-gatherer groups (Selk?nam and Yámana), among which is the basketry. As for bone awls, this tools are frequent in the archaeological contexts in this area. Reports indicate that they could have been used as tools in basketry processes.This study uses a technofunctional approach which combines morphological and techno functional analysis of archaeological and ethnographic tools with an experimental research program. It seeks to characterize the production and use processes of tools and baskets, to observe similarities and differences between the experimental and ethnographic elements and to characterize microwear traces. In this manner, the experimental program allows us to replicate the actions andverify the effectiveness of the awls in basketry making, comparing to thoseused in traditional basketry practises of hunter-gatherer societies of Tierradel Fuego.