Stones, Bones and reeds. Operating chains in manufacture and use of artifacts for the production of basketry in the societes of Tierra del Fuego

ALVAREZ SONCINI, M. CELINA; FRANCH, ANNA; MANSUR MARÍA ESTELA; PARMIGIANI, VANESA; DE ANGELIS, HERNÁN

Nice

Congreso; AWRANA- Beyond use wear traces: Tools and People; 2018

CNRS

The ethnographic and ethnohistorical records describe aspects of the way of life of hunter-gatherer societies from Tierra del Fuego. There are references to different types of instruments, both made of stone and an abundant and varied series of bone-tools. There is also a record of goods manufactured with hides and a varied production of baskets. However, reports on technological aspects, in particular the production and use of tools, are not detailed. What we know about technology comes from the archaeological record, in particular from the techno-functional analysis of lithic and bone materials from sites of different areas of Tierra del Fuego.Our study uses an analytical approach that combines morphological and techno-functional analysis, ethnographic recording and experimental research. The theoretical-methodological framework is hypothetical-deductive. We use the information from the archaeological record and the ethnographic information to build hypotheses that are then contrasted with the experimental study and the use-wear analysis.The goal of this work is to present the results of an experimental program in relation to basketry. It is an activity with perishable materials, which has no direct evidence in the archaeological record. However, it comprises a series of operating chains that interlink. They include search, collection and preparation of reeds, but also preparation of lithic edges and polishers to make bone awls, then the manufacture and use of these awls to knit the reeds, among others. The final objective of the program was to understand the different processes involved in the production and use of each type of instrument, to verify their effectiveness and characterize the technological and use traces that occur on the lithic and bone tools involved in this process.We believe that this work can help to understand how are interlinked the different operating chains involved in manufacture and use of instruments for the production of other goods, especially when dealing with perishable materials that only have indirect evidence in the archaeological record.