Reaping the rewards: the potential of well designed methodology,a comment on Vardi et al. (Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 1716–1724) and Goodale et al. (Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 1192–1201)

The recent articles by Vardi et al., “Tracing sickle blade levels of wear and discard patterns: a new sickle gloss quantification method” (Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 1716–1724), and Goodale et al., “Sickle blade life-history and the transition to agriculture: an early Neolithic case study from Southwest Asia” (Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 1192–1201), are two papers that seek to address interesting archaeological questions through the development of new approaches to measuring the duration of stone tool use. Here comment is made on the fashion in which research design and analytic procedures contribute to limit the capabilities of each of the techniques presented. Whilst the authors support the investigation of novel techniques, in order for the results of any use-wear analysis to be accepted as reliable the methods employed must be demonstrably sound.     

A Paleolithic Cache at Tolbor (Northern Mongolia)*

This study presents analyses of a unique assemblage of lithic artifacts, 57 large flakes, discovered in the Ikh Tulberiin Gol River valley of Northern Mongolia. The assemblage represents the first Paleolithic cache ever discovered in Mongolia and is an isolated find, not directly associated with a habitation or logistic activity site. Results of use-wear analysis suggest most of the flakes were unused, with only a few minimally used for processing wood. GIS analyses of the local landscape indicate that the placement of the artifacts was likely symbolic, rather than utilitarian or for storage, lying in an east-west linear viewshed of the primary mountain pass to an adjacent river basin. Based on the context of the discovery as an isolated find and technical-typological features of the artifacts, the assemblage is interpreted as a cache of tool blanks that was purposefully and symbolically positioned on the landscape relative to the primary mountain pass by Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.     

Millet and sauce: The uses and functions of querns among the Minyanka (Mali)

The central role of grinding activities in the dietary practices of traditional agricultural populations can be approached from an ethnoarchaeological point of view. The comparison of ethnographic references raises the question whether the function and the socioeconomic context in which grinding slabs are used allow to assess issues related to conclusions drawn from archaeological contexts. Our discussion is based on the analysis of the manufacturing of grinding slabs, their use cycles and their social status in several Minyanka villages (Mali), providing useful references when examining the way in which archaeologists explain and interpret technological, functional and spatial observations. The typological and technical evolution and variability of querns results from a combination of several factors determined by the available raw materials, the skill of shaping techniques, the organisation of manufacturing and the transference of the function of grinding tools. But these factors alone cannot explain the encountered range of variation. Our study thus emphasises the very role of cultural aspects within these temporal and regional developments, and the impossibility of dissociating the use of a quern from its socio-economic context.     

Laboratory evidence of the use of metal tools at Machu Picchu (Peru) and environs

An interpretation of use-wear marks on metal artifacts is developed from the principles of metal cutting and brittle fracture and applied to surficial markings and microstructural damage on bronze tools from Machu Picchu and environs. Most of the tools have blunt edges, relatively low tin contents, and were not work hardened before use; they appear to have been designed for work that involved breaking chips from hard, brittle material. Use-wear marks on these tools are interpreted as due to sliding contacts and impacts with rock. One tool with a relatively sharp edge has a higher alloy content than those with blunt edges and has been work hardened; it appears to have been designed for cutting wood and use-wear markings suggest it was so used. A long bronze bar carries markings that suggest use by stonemasons. Many of the tools are broken and study of their microstructures shows that the bronze used has poor mechanical properties because of porosity and bands of sulphide inclusions.     

Salt mining tools and techniques from Duzdaği (Nakhchivan,Azerbaijan) in the 5th to 3rd millennium B.C.

The emergence of mining reflects profound changes in the organization of late prehistoric societies. In terms of lithic and ore mining, salt is a highly strategic mineral resource which was exploited for its dietary and healing properties. The exceptional prehistoric salt mine of Duzda?i (Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan) is located in a high salt-bearing region centered on the Aras River in the Lesser Caucasus. Field survey, spatial recording of archaeological materials and use-wear analysis of macrolithic tools have allowed us to outline the mining operations and techniques there from the Chalcolithic period onwards. We have identified workshops for the manufacture and repair of tools, as well as salt extraction and processing areas.     

Gloss and use-wear traces on flint sickles and similar phenomena

Using a scanning electron microscope, the high optical polish or gloss and other use-wear traces on the edges of sickle blades are characterized and compared with polishes on other artifacts and natural pieces. The photomicrographs of the surface features and cross sections of the sickle blades as well as laboratory simulation tests, show that the gloss does not form an additive surface layer. Instead, polish formation is considered to be the result of surface alteration caused by frictional mechanisms. Use-wear traces also suggest evidence of how and on what crop the sickles were used.     

An experimental ethnoarchaeological approach to understanding the development of use wear associated with the processing of river cane for split-cane technology

Southeastern Indians have been using cane (Arundinaria spp.) for basketry and matting for thousands of years. Unfortunately, it is only under extraordinary preservation conditions that such items survive archaeologically. Inferring the production of split-cane technology requires an understanding of prehistoric manufacturing and processing techniques. It is hypothesized that stone tools were once used to process cane for use in split-cane technologies. In the Southeast, it is not uncommon to find stone tools with traces of plant use; however attributing wear to specific plants has been problematic. Pilot experiments, grounded on ethnoarchaeological observations, were conducted with river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) in collaboration with expert basket weavers in the Cherokee Nation. The experimental ethnoarchaeological program was designed to test the efficiency of stone tools in cane processing and document use wear through microscopic observations. The results found that non-retouched flakes were efficient for processing river cane and that the different stages of splint preparation resulted in the differential development of use-related wear. Additional experimentation with river cane is necessary to better define use wear and establish criteria for identification in archaeological contexts. Nonetheless, the collaborative and experimental approach undertaken demonstrated the utility of combining traditional archaeological methods with experimentation, ethnoarchaeology, and tribal knowledge.     

Clues to Stone Tool Function Re-examined: Comparing Starch Grain Frequencies on Used and Unused Obsidian Artefacts

The identification of plant residues observed on prehistoric stone artefacts has often been used to inform on tool function without adequate consideration of potential contamination due to post-depositional processes. The paper redresses this balance by proposing a methodology which combines use-wear and residue analyses with systematic testing of depositional context to distinguish residues formed during tool use from accidental contamination. A case study involving obsidian artefacts from an open site in Papua New Guinea is used to illustrate the new approach. Starch grains, a class of residue which has had little attention outside Australia, were chosen as the focus of study because of their abundance at this site. The frequency of starch grains extracted from residues on stone artefacts was compared with those in sediments adhering to and adjacent to the artefact. A use-wear study conducted as a blind test provided an independent measure of whether the artefacts had been used. The frequency of starch grains was shown to be significantly correlated with used artefacts and not correlated with unused artefacts or the sediments. The case study demonstrates the importance of testing for contamination and also illustrates the benefit of studying starch grains as a class of plant residue.     

Coastal Maya Obsidian Tool Use and Socio-Economy in the Late Postclassic-Early Spanish Colonial Period at San Pedro,Ambergris Caye,Belize

Microscopic use-wear analysis of the obsidian artifacts recovered from Late Postclassic-Early Spanish Colonial occupations at the site of San Pedro yields useful information for interpreting Maya socio-economic activities. Obsidian traded into the community was used for a variety of tasks with emphasis placed on subsistence and domestic manufacture associated with marine resources, including intermittent and contingent crafting. Trade in obsidian and marine resources likely provided San Pedro community members access to inland economic networks and enabled the acquisition of resources not found on the caye. Microwear on chert and obsidian tools indicates relative stability in the traditional lives of the San Pedro Maya in the 15th–17th centuries a.d. Although the San Pedranos likely suffered to some degree from coastal raiding and the introduction of epidemic diseases by the Spaniards, their off-shore location provided them some protection from the upheaval experienced by the Maya in mainland communities.