tools

For the Grater, Good: The Value of Informal Experiments for Understanding Bipolar Flaking and Manioc Grater Teeth

Author(s)
John C. Whittaker 1 ✉,
Mary Jane Berman 2
Publication Date
Informal experiential experimentation is often helpful for understanding a technology and raising interpretive questions and testable hypotheses. Here, a simple experiment in manufacturing microlithic flakes by bipolar percussion and using them as teeth in a wooden grater, helped us understand archaeological evidence of such teeth and the ‘manioc complex’ on San Salvador, Bahamas...

The Production of Roman Metal Screw Threads - Extended Version

Author(s)
David Sim 1 ✉,
Chris Legg 2
Publication Date
During the Roman period, small metal screw threads were used both as fastenings and to impart motion. This paper, which is an extended version of my previous article, will show that it is possible to produce metal screw threads using very simple technology. The tools and expertise to carry out this work is...

Cross-Contamination via Stone Tool Use: A Pilot Study of Bifacial Butchery Tools

Author(s)
Alexander Whitehead 1 ✉,
Anthony Sinclair 1,
Christopher Scott 1
Publication Date
The pathogenic environment has been a constant shaping presence in human evolution. Despite its importance, this factor has been given little consideration and research. Here, we use experimental archaeology and microscopic analysis to present and support a novel hypothesis on the pathogenic properties of bifacial butchery tools...

The Production of Roman Metal Screw Threads

Author(s)
David Sim 1 ✉,
Chris Legg 2
Publication Date

Metal Screw Threads In Antiquity

During the Roman period, small metal screw threads were used both as fastenings and to impart motion (Burstall, 1970, p.77; Singer, et al., 1972, pp.631–632). Screw threads as fastenings can be seen in some jewellery and screw threads to impart motion can be seen in olive presses. These screw threads could have either a square or V-shaped profile.

A Proposed New Appearance of the Iron Stand from Sutton Hoo, Based on Existing Material

Author(s)
Rowan Taylor 1
Publication Date

The stand and its previous representations

The ‘iron stand’ was excavated in 1939, one of the many objects discovered in the Sutton Hoo, Mound 1 ship burial. To date, the stand is unique in the archaeological record but due to adverse burial conditions it is incomplete (See Figure 1). This makes its appearance and function difficult to discern. Due to this difficulty, while the first description of the object was published in 1940 (Phillips, 1940, pp.

Hoes or Adzes? Experimental Reproduction and Uses of Deer Antler Tools from the Bronze Age Terramara of Pragatto (Italy)

Author(s)
Arianna Durante 1, 2 ✉,
Sara Maria Stellacci 3,
Alessio Pellegrini 1, 2,
Antonella de Angelis 1, 2,
Federico Scacchetti 3
Publication Date

Introduction

The Terramare civilization occupied the Central-western Po Valley in Northern Italy in a chronological span from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) to the Recent Bronze Age (RBA) (circa 1650-1150 BC) (Bernabò Brea and Cardarelli, 1997; Cardarelli, 1997, 2009).

Putting life into Late Neolithic houses

Author(s)
Annelou van Gijn 1
Publication Date
Investigating Domestic Craft and Subsistence Activities through Experiments and Material Analysis Leiden University currently coordinates the project “Putting Life in Neolithic Houses”. This will take until 2025 and is funded by the Dutch Research Council NWO. Besides EXARC, there are other nine partners in this project.

The Process of Making Schist Axes of Paja Ul Deˀŋ – “The People of Big Water”

Author(s)
Alexander Akulov 1
Publication Date
Paja Ul Deˀŋ [padʒaul’deˀŋ] “The People of Big Water” is a conventional and compact name given to Neolithic inhabitants of the territories of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region in their hypothetical reconstructed language (it is possible to state that these people spoke a language that was very close to Yeniseian languages). Paja Ul Deˀŋ made axes/adzes mainly of schist, a process that takes...

Roe Deer as Raw Material for Middle Mesolithic Fishhooks? An Experimental Approach to the Manufacture of Small Bone Fishhooks

Author(s)
Anja Mansrud 1 ✉,
Morten Kutschera 2
Publication Date
Bone fishhooks have occasionally been retrieved from bone assemblages at coastal sites dating to the Middle Mesolithic phase (8300-6300 cal. BC) in Southern Norway and Western Sweden. Several studies of fishhooks from these sites have been undertaken in recent years. Fishhooks can be manufactured from different osseous materials, including antler, ribs and shafts of different long bones...

Trampling Experiments – A Contribution to the Pseudo-Retouch Issue

Author(s)
Katarina Šprem 1 ✉,
Katarina Gerometta 1,
Ivor Karavanić 2
Publication Date
11th EAC Trento 2019
***Apart from human-made retouch, stone tools can also exhibit traces of damage caused by several post depositional processes, one of which is trampling. Edge damage provoked by trampling, be it of animal or human origin, is sometimes interpreted as human-made retouch ...