While ground stone tools represent diverse activities, the technology is analyzed at a coarse level in the Pacific Northwest. Conducting more detailed analyses of ground stone assemblages can inform on regional Indigenous raw material knowledge, resource use, and tool manufacturing and maintenance practices. In this thesis I addressed questions regarding ground stone technology, including manufacturing time investments, tool recycling, and how ground stone tools were used through the application of experimental tool replication, use studies, and in depth analyses. I replicated tools that are common in the region, including a banded and notched net weight, a maul, two bowls, and a pestle. The replicated tools were all produced with raw materials collected from nearby sources and all ground stone tools were manufactured with cobble choppers. I conducted use wear studies in two phases to examine the impacts of processing both hard and soft materials using the replicated bowl and pestle. The tools underwent an in-depth analysis before and after manufacture and the use wear study to assess manufacturing and use wear attributes. The experimental replications and use study resulted in associating specific attributes with known activities and actions. These insights were then applied to the analysis of ground stone artifacts from the 35CO2 Rylander assemblage, a private artifact collection from a contact-period archaeological site located in the Lower Columbia. I was able to identify manufacturing and use wear attributes to further explore how the ground stone tools were manufactured, used, and maintained. Additionally, I demonstrated a strong relationship between raw material selection, time investment, and tool recycling in the region through the experimental studies and comparative analysis with the Rylander assemblage. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for more robust ground stone analysis standards. Analyses that include in-depth examination at the attribute level will help expand our understanding of ground stone tool technology. Employing standardized vocabulary, terminology, and referencing attributes in photomicrographs builds more comparable datasets, giving researchers valuable insights into skill level, specialization, and time investment associated with ground stone technology.

The rhizome of the bracken fern was an important part of the subsistence base of the pre-contact Maori of Aotearoa. It provided an essential source of starch - especially to the southern Maori, who relied mainly upon wild resources for the vegetable component of their diet. The preparation of the rhizome (or fern-root) for consumption necessitated the beating of the cooked root upon a smooth stone anvil. The implement that was used to beat the fern-root is an important Maori tool which, until now, has had little detailed attention paid to it. Therefore, the aim of this research was to characterize the form of the fern-beater using morphological attributes. Through the combination of a comprehensive literature review of enthographic-historical accounts and more contemporary documentary research, along with a nationwide survey of implements labelled as "fern-root beaters" in museum collections, this thesis identifies a number of critical and common attributes that are inherent in a beating implement. It was found that wooden and stone beaters/pounders were dissimilar in size and proportions, with the majority of wooden implements displayed larger circumference dimensions, were shorter and considerably heavier, thus casting some doubt on their practicality as a beating implement. Four distinct morphological forms were identified for both the wooden and stone items surveyed, and it was found that metric variables were more significant in suggesting function than non-metric. Regional distribution analysis of the survey implements highlighted a northern North Island predominance, particularly in the Northland, Auckland, Taranaki and Waikato regions. A tenuous comparison with Simpson�s distribution of prehistoric dental attrition known as "fern-root plane" showed a loose regional correlation, however; the actual cause of this tooth wear is still a hotly contested issue.

This thesis examines a lithic assemblage from Cat�s Eye Point (J42/4), Kakanui, North Otago, New Zealand. This archaic site was excavated during 1996 and 1997 and the lithic assemblage was collected from 41m� excavated during these two seasons. Previous studies of lithic material from New Zealand and the Pacific are reviewed to indicate the range of information that can be gained from lithic analysis. Themes of research in the North Otago region are also examined to place Cat�s Eye Point into its regional context. This thesis had three main areas of investigation. The first involved a descriptive and technological analysis of the debitage using mass flake analysis (MFA) and individual flake analysis (IFA). Formal artefacts, such as hammerstones, blanks, and performs, were also examined. Secondly, spatial analysis was used to determine if the lithic assemblage could be used to infer intra-site activity areas. This was conducted by analysing macro- (flakes larger than 3mm) and microdebitage (flakes less than 3mm) by examining the range of material types. The third area of investigation examined debitage recovered from 6.4mm (1/4 inch) and 3.2mm (1/8 inch) sieves to determine if any significant technological information was gained by debitage from the 3.2mm sieve. The conclusions of this study indicate that there were two methods of basalt cobble reduction at Cat�s Eye Point for adze production. Adze production at Cat�s Eye Point was opportunistic and the non-local material curated. The results of the debitage analysis indicate that the entire sequence of adze manufacture did not occur in the excavated area of Cat�s Eye Point and the initial cobble reduction probably occurred on the adjacent beach where the cobbles are found today. Consequently, coastal rock outcrops, even without evidence of associated debitage, must be viewed as potential sources of rock for stone tool manufacture unless determined otherwise. The spatial analysis detected two activity areas and a disposal area at Cat�s Eye Point. The analysis of the 6.4mm and 3.2mm debitage found that no significant technological information was gained by examining the smaller flakes.

Elsdon Best�s 1925 work Maori Agriculture has been influential in New Zealand archaeology impacting on the terminology and assumed functions applied to so called �horticultural� implements retrieved in excavations, as well as those in museums and private collections. This thesis critically examines Best�s horticultural tool classification and the decisions he made with regards to tool function. Ethnographic accounts are investigated in an effort to understand how and why Best selected the terms and functions that he did. The literature review reveals anomalies in the conclusions that Best drew and the morphology of the tools that he described, highlighting the lack of order and confusion surrounding horticultural tool function, terminology and morphology, and prompting a much needed reassessment of horticultural implements. A study of artefacts from New Zealand museums was undertaken with the aim of generating two typologies for so called �horticultural� tools. The artefacts are classified to specific types using specified attributes, and following the classification process, are investigated for metric and non-metric variables that are indicative of the tool�s function. Graphical and basic statistical analyses revealed largely unimodal distributions for the metric attributes recorded for each tool type. Non-metric qualities also displayed a uniformity to their occurrence within the individual types. The data for each type is discussed with regards to tool function, combining the results of the attribute analyses with comparable tool morphologies from other Pacific cultures. The distribution of tool types in prehistoric New Zealand is also investigated in an effort to elucidate tool function. This investigation highlights the artefacts as earth-working implements, disestablishing the restricted horticultural context which for so long has been associated with such tools.

Thesis (M.A in anthropology)--Washington State University, December 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-105)

The studies described here introduce a model for residue preservation on stone tools. They simulate stone tool manufacture in order to define parameters important for the study of DNA residues. Microscopic examination of stone tools has identified microcracks that trap DNA and protein from animal blood cells. Thorough investigation of different methods to recover residues from stone tools shows that surface washing leaves DNA and protein, trapped in subsurface microcracks. However, other extraction techniques are able to release 60-80% of DNA and protein residues. Previous research documents the identification of protein from stone tools sonicated in 5% ammonium hydroxide, but it remains untested whether the same treatment yields useable DNA. Using this treatment, I identified 13-year-old DNA residues from experimentally manufactured stone tools. In addition, results clearly indicate that washing procedures typically used to curate stone tools removed only a small fraction of the DNA deposited during animal butchery. Twenty-four pieces of chipped stone recovered from the Bugas-Holding site were studied to explore the validity of ancient DNA residue identifications. Nine tools yielded DNA residues. Modern humans did not touch three of these tools, which suggests that the DNA recovered from them was present prior to excavation. One tool, which was handled by excavators without gloves, harbored DNA from three species, and these templates competed during PCR. On at least two tools, handling after excavation introduced animal DNA unrelated to tool use. Careful testing of Bugas-Holding chipped stone suggests that stone tools may harbor both ancient and modern DNA, and that investigators must take great care to exclude modern DNA from ancient specimens. Ultimately, I developed and streamlined a method to analyze DNA-containing residues preserved on stone tools. This led to several technical improvements in ancient DNA residue analysis. These include a more effective DNA recovery protocol, methods to measure sensitivity and inhibition of PCR in each sample, and strategies to surmount competition between templates during amplification, which can occur in samples that contain DNA from multiple species. These new developments will help future investigators achieve the full potential of ancient DNA residue analysis. / Graduation date: 2003

Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary Studies--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-208).

Thèse--Paris. / At head of title: Université de Paris, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines. Includes bibliographical references.

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