From These Bare Bones: Raw Materials and the Study of Worked Osseous Objects
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From These Bare Bones: Raw Materials and the Study of Worked Osseous Objects
A fundamental component of the study of worked osseous objects is the identification of the raw materials chosen to make them. In archaeological contexts many objects become degraded to the point where identification is very difficult and the way in which these materials decay during burial and upon excavation can vary greatly. Correct identification is crucial to the investigation of objects, their conservation and future curation. Above all, understanding raw material selection aids our understanding of human-animal interaction in the past both on pragmatic and symbolic levels since the choices made by artisans vary by cultural tradition as well as availability. The 20 papers presented here explore a wealth of information pertaining to the use of osseous materials over the long period of human craftsmanship and tool manufacture by exploring several key themes: · Raw material selection and curation within tool types · Social aspects of raw material selection · New methods of materials identification It is demonstrated that the issue of raw material identification has numerous implications for conservation work, reproduction of objects, the physical characteristics of the tool or ornament, availability of raw materials, the materials chosen for procurement and the cultural reasons that lie behind the choice of raw materials from particular species and skeletal elements to produce planned tool and ornament types. Together, these papers emphasize the need for confident and correct materials identification and demonstrate that functionality is by no means the only, nor necessarily the most important, factor in the selection of osseous raw materials for the fabrication of tools and other cultural objects.
Table of Contents
Preface Jean-Denis Vigne, Christine Lefèvre and Marylène Patou-Mathis Introduction to the volume Alice Choyke and Sonia O’Connor Keynote Paper 1. Hidden Agendas: Ancient Raw Material Choice for Worked Osseous Objects in Central Europe and Beyond Alice Choyke
Social Aspects of Raw Material Selection 10. The Materiality of Production: Exploring Variability and Choice in the Production of Palaeolithic Portable Art made in Antler and Bone Rebecca Farbstein 11. Evidence of Bone Technology on the Santa Fe´s Pampa Lagoons. The Laguna El Doce Site (Santa Fe Province, Argentina) Jimena Cornaglia Fernández and Natacha Buc 12. Beyond Stones: Bone as Raw Material for Tools in the Central Plateau of Santa Cruz, Argentinean Patagonia Laura Miotti and Laura Marchionni 13. The Meaning of “Smoothing†Implements from the Levantine PPNB seen from the Basta Perspective Cornelia Becker 14. Tubular Bone Artefacts in Burial Context at Ajvide, Gotland c 2500 cal BC. Are they Musical Instruments? Kristiina Manermaa and Riitta Rainio 15. Strict Rules – Loose Rules: Raw Material Preferences at the Late Neolithic Site of Aszód, Central Hungary Zsuzsanna Tóth 16. More than Fun and Games? An Experimental Study of Worked Bone Astragali from Two Middle Bronze Age Hungarian Sites Jacqueline Meier 17. Economic and Social Context of Bone Tools Use, Formative Bolivia Katherine Moore
New Methods of Materials Identification 18. Exotic Materials Used in the Construction of Iron Age Sword Handles from South Cave, UK. Sonia O'Connor 19. An Introduction to ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectromtry) for Taxonomic Identification of Worked and Raw Materials Oliver W. Hounslow, Joanna P. Simpson, Lauren Whalley, Matthew J. Collins 20. Some Comments on the Identification of Cervid Species in Worked Antler Steven Ashby