Archaeology, Stone tools and RIMAPS technique: a quantitative characterization of use-wear traces.

PAL, N.; ALVAREZ, M.; BRIZ I GODINO, I.; DOMÍNGUEZ, A; FAVRET, E.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; XV CIASEM Congress; 2019

Committe of the InterAmerican Society of Microscopy

Archaeology, Stone Tools and RIMAPS Technique: a QuantitativeCharacterization of Use-Wear Traces N Pal1,MR Alvarez1, I Briz1, A Domínguez2 and EA Favret3* 1 CADIC-CONICET, Ushuaia, Argentina.2 CAC, CNEA, San Martín, Argentina.3 CNIA, INTA, Hurlingham, Argentina.*Corresponding author: favret.eduardo@inta.gob.ar Archaeology relies on material remains to attain abroad comprehensive understanding ofhuman evolution, creating undeniable challenges to the methodologicalfield.  Microscopy and image techniques have had a paramountrole in this field of research since they provide different analytical lines tosolve problems related to human tools. One of these problems entails toidentify how a lithic tool was used. It is known, following the Russianresearcher Sergei Semenov, thatdifferent working processes leave singular traces on the surface of a stonetool in contact with the working material [1].  The search of quantitative variables that allowcharacterizing these traces has been an important aim from the beginning of theuse-wear method with different degrees of success [2]. Despite of thelimitations of the methods applied, most of them showed differences on lithictools roughness and texture according to the worked material. Following this line of research, weapplied Rotated Image with MaximumAverage Power Spectrum (RIMAPS)technique in order to detect patterns that characterize the structuralmodifications that occur on stone tool as a result of its use [3]. RIMAPS is a novel characterizationtechnique that allows revealing theorientation and characteristics of the topographic pattern of a surface.  In the present paper, quantitative patterns on chert and quarzitetools that worked hide, wood and bonewere distinguished and the incidenceof the mineralogical and textural properties of the rocks in the formationprocesses of use-wear traces was analyzed. RIMAPS technique wasperformed on digitized images, similar magnification and more than 30 imagesper tool, taken with a scanning electronic microscope (FEI Quanta 200). Figure 1 shows the RIMAPS spectra of anunused chert tool and one that worked hide. The peaks appearing in the resulting plots indicate the surface patternorientation and its characteristic topographic form. Thisstudy reveals, in quantitatively terms, the micro-topographic transformationproduced on a lithic surface as a consequence of its usage. It has allowed the observation of the development of the use-wear tracesthat happens during the work process. Although these traces show the generalfeatures of wear related to work in mineral substances, they show some specificcharacteristics that are related to the used materials, the tools employed andthe activities carried out. RIMAPS could become a powerful andsupportive tool that can be successfully applied in use-wear research.        References[1] SASemenov in ?Prehistoric Technology?, (Moonraker Press, Wiltshire) 1.[2] WJ Stemp, AS Watson andA Evans, Surf. Topogr.: Metrol. Prop. 4 (2016) 013001[3] N Fuentes and EA Favret, Journal ofMicroscopy 206 (2002), 72-83.