This study examines decision making concerning tool use and rawmaterial choice through the analysis of bone technology from five sites from the MiddleMissouri subarea of the Northern Plains of North America. The research methods employed include high power optical microwear analysis, experimental replication,and the study of modern bone tool use. At the time of contact with Europeans andEuroamericans, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara lived in semi sedentary villages along the Missouri River where they practiced a mixed economy centered on both agriculture and bison hunting. The villagers were central in indigenous trade networks and later in the international fur trade, as European and Euroamericans traders and explorers sought to insert themselves into the existing networks. Occasional trade goods are found as early as the seventeenth century, increasing through time as more Europeans and Euroamericans entered the area, indicating that the villagers supplied the newcomers with food, horses, and furs in exchange for those goods. They also were impacted by European diseases, increasing violence, and by accompanying changes in many aspects of their society.Post contact technological change is often modeled as a relatively simple unilinear process in which metal tools quickly replaced older technologies. Analysis of modified bone and antler from historic sites indicates the processes were more complicated. Some tool types were quickly replaced, while others persisted, and there was also variation within tool types. Rather than immediately rendering bone technology obsolete, as has been suggested, there was an initial period of experimentation as people used the new metal cutting and chopping tools to modify the older bone technology. Some tools were made by simply shaping the bone with metal rather than stone, but in other cases the new metal tools were used to create bone tools in completely new forms. Both social and functional factors influence tool choices in raw material, form, and use. This study provides a deeper understanding of many processes involved in technological change in the contact period.

Wolf Village is a Fremont farming village located at the southern end of Utah Valley where Brigham Young University has conducted six field schools there and recovered 135 awl and awl fragments. The Wolf Village awls, like the awls from many Fremont sites, represent a large range of morphological variability. Because of the ubiquity and diversity of Fremont bone awls, many different approaches have been taken to organize and understand them; focusing more on morphological characteristics than interpretation. In order to better understand the life use of bone awls, experiments were conducted to replicate the manufacture and use of these tools and to create a comparative collection for diagnostic characteristics. Based on the results of analysis and comparison, the craftspeople at Wolf Village used a variety of methods to make tools for use in basket-making, leatherwork, and other activities.

The adoption of bone tool technology in the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Europe by Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans has been the focus of considerable debate. In particular this debate has focused on the origins of the technology and the possible implications for the extinction of Neanderthals. This dissertation examines the context of element selection for use as raw material to produce bone tools, related to prey species in the Châtelperronian of the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur Cure and the Aurignacian of Abri Cellier, Dordogne. Current research indicates that there was little difference in the subsistence organization of Neanderthals and modern humans. As a more nuanced view of Neanderthal behavior emerges from recent studies, it is becoming apparent that differences between the two hominins are a matter of degree rather than absolute difference. The faunal analysis of the two assemblages in this dissertation found that both Neanderthals and modern humans were pursuing a foraging strategy to obtain prime age herbivores for food. Locally available taxa were taken. Carcasses were processed for meat, marrow and fat. Both assemblages show a preference for non-marrow bearing long bones or long bone shaft fragments to make tools. The raw material was chosen with reference to the mechanical properties of the bones, which exhibit elasticity necessary for use as awls or hide scrapers. Raw material was a by-product of the larger subsistence strategy. There is a difference in the use of antler. This is not used by Neanderthals. In the Aurignacian, it appears that the amount of antler represented by the points and tools at Abri Cellier could be obtained as part of a general foraging strategy. The appearance of bone tools in the Early Upper Palaeolithic has been argued as evidence for `modern' behavior. It might be more profitable to view the adoption of this new technology as a response by two different but related populations to particular ecological problems. It could be argued that the archaeological visibility of bone tools reflects an increasing investment in the production of more effective clothing by both Neanderthals and modern humans.

The Pine Hill collection was discovered in the archaeology lab at State University of New York College at Potsdam after remaining unstudied for over 30 years since its initial excavation in the 1960s and 1970s. Pine Hill has been identified as a fifteenth century St. Lawrence Iroquois village site, located in St. Lawrence County, New York. The faunal remains and bone tools from the site indicate food procurement strategies, seasonal activities, the presence of discrete activity areas at the site, and the production and use of a wide range of bone tools. Replication experiments conducted on several bone tool types provide insight about how these tools were made, used, and how quickly they might be discarded. As one of the first reports on a St. Lawrence Iroquois site in the region, this study presents important information about this group.

No description available.

The Green River region of western Kentucky has been a focus of Archaic period research since 1915. Currently, the region is playing an important role in discussions of Archaic hunter-gatherer cultural complexity. Unfortunately, many of the larger Green River sites contain several archaeological components ranging from the Early to Late Archaic periods. Understanding culture change requires that these multiple components somehow be sorted and addressed individually. Detailed re-analyses of Works Progress Administration (WPA) era artifact collections from two archaeological sites in the Green River region – the Baker (15Mu12) and Chiggerville (15Oh1) shell middens – indicate that these sites are relatively isolated Middle and Late Archaic components, respectively. The relatively unmixed character of Baker and Chiggerville makes these sites excellent candidates for evaluating aspects of complexity during the Archaic. After developing a theoretical basis for evaluating the relative complexity of the social organization of the Baker and Chiggerville site inhabitants on the basis of the material record they left behind, I employ detailed analyses of the bone, antler, and stone tools from these two sites to examine six microscalar aspects of complexity – technological organization, subsistence, specialization, leadership, communication networks, and exchange. These microscalar aspects of complexity all can be linked materially to the archaeological record of the Green River region and can be evaluated as proxies for changes in social organization among the hunter-gatherers who inhabited this region during the Middle and Late Archaic periods. Although the Baker assemblage indicated greater complexity in communication networks and certain proxies for leadership and technological organization, most indicators suggest that the Chiggerville site inhabitants were the more complexly organized group and were in the process of developing a tribal-like social formation. This research, therefore, tentatively supports the hypothesis of increasing complexity through time during the Archaic. However, marked differences in the technological strategies utilized by the Baker and Chiggerville site inhabitants indicates these groups may not have been historically related, thereby violating one of the primary assumptions of the project. If this alternative hypothesis is confirmed through additional research, then no conclusions concerning change through time can be derived from this study.

The examination of the tools that prehistoric people crafted for subsistence and related practices offers distinctive insights into how they lived their lives. Most often, researchers study these practices in isolation, by tool type or by material. However, by using a relational perspective, my research explores the tool assemblage as a whole including bone, stone and shell. This allows me to study the changes in tool industries in relation to one another, something that I could not accomplish by studying only one material or tool type. I use this broader approach to tool manufacture and use for the artifact assemblage from Crystal River (8CI1) and Roberts Island (8CI41), two sequential Middle and Late Woodland Period (A.D. 1-1050) archaeological sites on the central Gulf coast of Florida. The results of my research show that people made different choices, both in the type of material they used and the kind of tools they manufactured during the time they lived at these sites as subsistence practices shifted. Evidence of these trends aligns with discrete changes in strata within our excavations. The timing of depositional events and the artifacts found within each suggest people also used the sites differently through time. These trends exemplify the role of crafting tools in the way people maintain connections with their mutable social and physical world.

L’industrie osseuse dans la région maya demeure peu comprise à cause de la mauvaise préservation des os. Les fouilles de la structure J-2 et de la place adjacente au site d’Ucanal, situé dans la province de Petén au Guatemala, ont permis de mettre au jour un dépôt daté Classique récent (700-810 DNÈ) contenant des déchets de production osseux. La concentration de déchets produits à Ucanal est l’une des plus élevées de l’aire maya, précédée seulement du dépôt L4-3 à Dos Pilas au Guatemala. Les débris regroupent une quantité importante de restes humains (~20%) mélangés aux restes d’animaux. Le travail des os humains dans la région maya est peu documenté et est principalement connue à travers les représentations artistiques ainsi que par les objets finis découverts dans les tombes de l’élite. Ce mémoire examine les restes humains retrouvés dans le dépôt de déchets de production d’Ucanal. Dans un premier temps, l’analyse des processus de réduction, utilisant le principe de chaîne opératoire, a documenté peu de différences entre le traitement des os humains et des os de mammifères non humains. Dans un second temps, l’organisation de la production semble indiquer que l’élite prenait part au travail de l’os puisque l’ensemble des stades de production ont été retrouvés au sein de leur résidence. Finalement, les isotopes de strontium et d’oxygène montrent que les individus, dont les os ont possiblement été transformés en outils, présentaient des valeurs locales impliquant qu’ils n’aient pas été originaires d’une région suffisamment éloignée du site contrairement à ce qui pourrait être attendu de captifs ou d’étrangers. / The ancient bone industry in the Maya region is currently not well understood due to the poor preservation of bones in the area. The excavations conducted of Structure J-2 and the plaza nearby at the site of Ucanal in Petén, Guatemala unearthed a large deposit dated to the Late Classic period (700-810 AD) containing primarily bone production debris. The number of bone fragments from the production debris deposit at Ucanal is among the highest recorded in the Maya area, second only to the L4-3 deposit found at Dos Pilas, Guatemala. The bone debris included a large quantity of worked human bones (ca. 20%) that were mixed with animal bones. The crafting of bone objects from human remains in the Maya area is poorly documented and primarily identified through artistic representations and finished objects found in elite tombs. This thesis specifically examined the human remains found in the bone production deposit from Ucanal. Firstly, analysis of the production process, using the principle of la chaîne opératoire, documented only small differences between the treatment of human bone and non-human mammal bone. Secondly, analyses of the organization of production indicated that bone working occurred within an elite residence where all stages of production were undertaken in the same context. Finally, strontium and oxygen isotope analyses of human teeth from the deposit revealed that the individuals whose bones may have been worked into tools possessed isotopic values local to the region, suggesting that they were not born at significant distances from the site as one might expect for war captives or foreigners.

Les effets taphonomiques spécifiques de l'abrasion éolienne à long terme sur les os sont encore mal compris. Afin de mieux comprendre ce processus et sa capacité à créer des pseudo-outils, nous avons abrasé expérimentalement des fragments d'os longs d'ongulés dans des conditions de laboratoire. La reconnaissance croissante, au cours des dernières années, que les outils en os non modifiés sont une partie intégrale de la culture matérielle des êtres humains du passé, et constituent un objet d'étude valable, a conduit à un besoin accru de comprendre si des phénomènes naturels peuvent produire des objets similaires. Une soufflerie ayant la capacité de transporter du sédiment a été utilisée pour étudier l'impact de l'abrasion éolienne sur les surfaces des os. Différentes tailles de sédiments et vitesses de vent ont été testées. L'évolution qualitative de l'os a été documentée pendant un maximum de 250 heures d'abrasion éolienne. Une nouvelle méthode de quantification des polis et autres modifications de surface a été développée en utilisant les paramètres de rugosité de surface tels que définis par la norme ISO 25178. Ils sont appliqués ici pour mesurer et distinguer le polissage éolien et anthropique. Un polissage mat uniforme ainsi qu'un arrondissement important des rebords sont les deux modifications les plus fréquemment observées. Les stries ou fissures visibles sur les os non modifiés sont devenues moins apparentes avec le temps. La masse des spécimens a été suivie pendant les expériences afin de calculer le taux d'abrasion et d'établir une base quantitative pour étudier comment différentes conditions sédimentologiques et atmosphériques peuvent modifier les os. Nos résultats suggèrent que la vitesse du vent est un facteur plus important que la taille des sédiments pour déterminer l'intensité des modifications et le taux d'abrasion. Les résultats ont été comparés à des outils en os créés expérimentalement, fabriqués et utilisés pour une étude précédente. Les traces d’usures sur les outils se distinguaient, qualitativement et quantitativement, des modifications éoliennes. Cette recherche a de nombreuses implications pour l'étude des traces d’usure sur des os non modifiés provenant de contextes archéologiques et l’abrasion éolienne en tant qu'agent taphonomique primaire ou secondaire, ainsi que pour la formation de sites en contexte arides et venteux. / The specific taphonomic effects on bones of long-term aeolian abrasion are still poorly understood. In order to gain a better understanding of this process and its capacity to create pseudo-tools, we have experimentally abraded large ungulate long-bone fragments in laboratory conditions. The growing recognition, over the last few years, that unmodified bone tools are an integral part of past human material culture, and a valid object of study has led to an increased need for understanding if natural phenomena can produce similar objects. A wind tunnel with the capacity to transport sediment was used to study the impact of wind abrasion on bone surfaces. Different sediments sizes and wind speeds were tested. The qualitative evolution of the bone was documented during a maximum of 250 heures of aeolian abrasion. A novel method of quantifying polishes and other surface modifications was developed using surface roughness parameters as defined by ISO 25178. They are applied here to measure and distinguish aeolian and anthropogenic polishing. A uniform matte polish as well as significant edge rounding were the two most common modifications observed. Any striations or fissures visible on the unmodified bones became less apparent over time. The mass of the specimens was tracked during the experiments to calculate the abrasion rate and establish a quantitative base line for studying how different sedimentological and atmospheric conditions can modify bones. Our results suggest that wind speed is a more important factor than sediment size in determining the intensity of modifications and abrasion rate. The results were compared to experimentally created bones tools fabricated and used for a previous study. Tool manufacture and use-wear were distinguishable, both qualitatively and quantitatively, from aeolian modifications. This research has numerous implications for the study of use-wear on unmodified bone from archaeological contexts, aeolian abrasion as a primary or secondary taphonomic agent as well as on site formation in arid windy environments.