[Bonetools] Re : Re : Re : Re : Re : protohistoric object

MARQUEBIELLE Benjamin benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr
Wed Jul 27 10:46:47 CEST 2011


Thank you Jackie, very interesting experiments ! I'll send you the results of 
our metal experiment. I agree with you about the hight possibilities of using 
these kind of pieces like tool and not only like gaming pieces !
About the Ethan hypothesis (smoothing and burnishing plaster on walls), why not, 
but the phalanges are small (some come from young animals) and some of them 
present a very small active part... Maybe a very precise work ? And about 
grinding small amounts of delicate materials like spices,  pigments or 
medicines, there isn't a lot of indications in favour of these hypothesis. 
There's no traces (micro or macroscopic) of pigments (and the conservation of 
some objetcs is quite good) and all the objects present same oblique striations, 
all in the same direction.

Thanks for all these ideas and hypothesis !

 Marquebielle Benjamin
PhD student TRACES laboratory - UMR 5608
5, rue du pont Guilheméry
31000 Toulouse
tel : 06 71 33 61 52
e-mail : benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr





________________________________
De : Etan Ayalon <etana at eretzmuseum.org.il>
À : "Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for thestudy of  
object  and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn." <bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
Envoyé le : Dim 24 juillet 2011, 8h 06min 43s
Objet : Re: [Bonetools] Re :  Re : Re : Re : protohistoric object

 
Dear all,
Another possibility of using straight sided phalanges on wet material  without 
bothering on the problem of the rounded shape of pottery vessels:  smoothing and 
burnishing plaster on walls! This was done on walls of dwelling  houses as well 
as of installations (i.e., connected with liquids), on lime-white  plaster as 
well as on muddy-brown plaster, etc. We are all aware of the  beautiful photos 
from Africa showing women coating their houses with mud and  colors and 
burnishing them.
 
And how about grinding small amounts of delicate materials like spices,  
pigments, medicines etc.?
Etan Ayalon


________________________________
 From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu  
[mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of MARQUEBIELLE  Benjamin
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 3:03 PM
To: Mailing  list for archaeologists of the research group for the study 
ofobject and waste  of bone,antler. ivory and horn.
Subject: [Bonetools] Re : Re : Re : Re  : protohistoric object


Hello  Jackie, hello Alice

Wonderful ! Thank you for the contact, Alice, and,  yes, I would like some 
photos of phalanges from Szazhalombatta please, to  compare with my objects. 
Jackie, this is very interesting and, please, I would  like also a copy of your 
article and poster, of course. 

We tought these  objects could be ceramic smoothers because of the oblique 
striations of the  straight face, and the lack of characteristic traces of hide 
or leather working  (or other smooth raw material), with very bright polish. The 
result of  alternative smooth of inside and outside pots is interesting ! We 
thought also  to experiment the work of metal with a smith and use these objects 
like  smoothers or during quenching and tempering phase of blade production. 
I'll  could share the results of this experiment, as Eva said in a previous  
message.
Thank you for all these informations !

All the best

 Marquebielle  Benjamin
PhD student TRACES laboratory - UMR 5608
5, rue du pont  Guilheméry
31000 Toulouse
tel : 06 71 33 61 52
e-mail :  benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr





________________________________
 De : jacqueline meier  <jacqueline.s.meier at gmail.com>
À  : Alice Choyke <h13017cho at iif.hu>
Cc : "Mailing list for archaeologists of  the research group for the study of 
object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and  horn." <bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
Envoyé le : Ven 22 juillet 2011, 21h 37min  40s
Objet : Re:  [Bonetools] Re : Re : Re : protohistoric object


Hello, 

Alice  Choyke forwarded me this thread. At the last ICAZ meeting, I presented a 
poster  on an experiment that investigated some astragali artifacts that I 
studied for  my Master's thesis, thanks to Alice. I tried using astragali to 
work wet and dry  clay and hide and compared the resulting macro and microwear 
to wear on  flattened astragali artifacts from the Middle Bronze Age sites of  
Zagyvapálfalva-Homokbanya and Kisterenye-Hársas in Hungary. If my results would  
be of interest to anyone, please email me and I will send you a copy of the  
poster and my submitted article for the ICAZ  volume. 

In my study, the lack of  contextual information was very limiting, but I made 
several interesting  conclusions about the potential of using unmodified 
astragali as tools. First,  it is very easy to use goat astragali to 
hand-burnish pottery and they are very  effective burnishers. Second, the 
outermost ridges of the medial and lateral  bone sides were ground down to a 
flat surface after 120 minutes of use. Lastly,  microwear developed that was 
very similar to that which was present on the bone  artifacts: oblique 
striations and some micropitting developed. I held the  astragali as was 
indicated by the handling polish on the artifacts and made clay  that was 
comparable to the formula and particle size as clay from the site, thus  I am 
confident in concluding that these flattened astragali were potentially used for 
burnishing leather-hard ceramic. Again, context  limits this conclusion, but the 
wear was assessed with backscatter imaging and  looks very similar.


Several key points may be  relevant to this thread. One is that astragali do not 
have to be pre-flattened  to burnish ceramic. Any sharp or raised areas are 
quickly removed by the gritty  clay. Second, I used astragali to smooth the 
inside and outside of round pots  and the astragali were flattened straight. 
This was not intentionally done, in  fact I did not notice it until compared the 
profiles of these astragali with  those used to experimentally work hide. 

Again, I will send this article  and poster to anyone who requests a copy. I 
look forward to reading about  similar experiments with astragali and phalanges.

All the  best,
Jackie  Meier
jacqueline.meier at uconn.edu





 
On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 9:40 PM, Alice Choyke <h13017cho at iif.hu> wrote:

If you wish I can also send you plentiful photos of phalanges from    
Szazhalombatta as well. there are many of these objects from the MBA. You    
should also contact Jacquie Meier (jacqueline.s.meier at gmail.com) who did some 
experiments with these    objects.
> 
>Best,
>Alice
>
>
>On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 10:35 AM, MARQUEBIELLE Benjamin 
><benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr> wrote:
>
>Hello      Selena, hello Alice
>>
>>Marianne Christensen send to me your article,      Alice, about 
>>Jászdózsa–Kápolnahalom and there is photo with worked      phalanges. We'll 
>>begin experiments in August, with potter and smith, maybe      they'll bring 
>>some indications... One of the problem of my object is the      context is 
>>unclear, most of them was found in wells full of      rubbish.
>>Thanks for the abstract reference, Selena, I'll contact the      author !
>>
>>Best 
>>
>>
>> Marquebielle      Benjamin
>>PhD student TRACES laboratory - UMR 5608
>>5, rue du      pont Guilheméry
>>31000 Toulouse
>>tel : 06 71 33 61 52
>>e-mail : benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
________________________________
 De : Alice Choyke <h13017cho at iif.hu>
>>À : "Mailing list for archaeologists of      the research group for the study of 
>>object and waste of bone, antler. ivory      and horn." 
>><bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
>>Envoyé le : Ven 22 juillet 2011, 10h      17min 18s
>>Objet : Re:      [Bonetools] Re : Re : protohistoric object
>> 
>>
>>
>>Unless the clay surfaces being smoothed are straight such as the wall      of an 
>>oven: I have been struggling with the exact same problem for      astragalii and 
>>phalanges of all kinds, especially from the Middle Bronze Age      of Hungary 
>>and am not much smarter than I began... Multiple hypotheses need      to be 
>>tried out again and and again because sadly there will not be one      right 
>>answer to this problem. It is definitely context driven.
>> 
>>Alice 
>>
>>De : Selena Vitezovic <selenavitezovic at gmail.com>
>>À : "Mailing list for archaeologists of      the research group for the study of 
>>object and waste of bone, antler. ivory      and horn." 
>><bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
>>Envoyé le : Sam 2 juillet 2011, 19h      10min 35s 
>>
>>Objet : Re:      [Bonetools] Re : protohistoric object
>> 
>>
>>Hello everyone, 
>>Hello, Benjamin, 
>>
>>Perhaps a little bit      out of time and place - but last year at ICAZ 
>>conference I saw a poster on      astragals from Bronze age Hungary with similar 
>>usewear pattern, used      probably for clay working. 
>>
>>This is the link for the abstract, perhaps      photos may be found or asked 
>>from author. 
>>
>>http://alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/items/show/1383 
>>
>>And I agree with Marloes, they must have been flattened before use.      Some 
>>other used astragals, from Balkan Neolithic and Chalcolithic, seemed to      
>>have been flattened before use (probably with sandstone) - although they      
>>were most likely used on soft, organic materials, since they have intense      
>>polish. 
>>
>>
>>best, selena 
>>
>>
>>On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 9:51 AM, MARQUEBIELLE      Benjamin <ivrel001 at yahoo.fr> 
>>wrote:
>>
>>Hello        Marloes, sorry for the delay, I traveled.
>>>Good remark... Phalanges        internal side are flat but not so flat. I agree 
>>>with you : the (possible)        worked surface must be straight and a pottery 
>>>generaly        isn't.
>>>
>>>Best
>>>Benjamin 
>>>
>>>
>>> Marquebielle        Benjamin
>>>PhD student TRACES laboratory - UMR 5608
>>>5, rue du        pont Guilheméry
>>>31000 Toulouse
>>>tel : 06 71 33 61 52
>>>e-mail : benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
________________________________
 De : Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen        <marloesrijkelijkhuizen at hotmail.com> 
>>>
>>>À : bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
>>>Envoyé le : Ven 1 juillet 2011, 21h        02min 49s 
>>>
>>>Objet : Re:        [Bonetools] Re : protohistoric object
>>> 
>>>
>>>
>>>Hi Benjamin
>>> 
>>>I couldn't see if it was flattened        (before use). 
>>> 
>>>If used, it should be used for/on something        with a flat surface, the 
>>>surface is completely flat. (compare the medieval        skates, these were used 
>>>on ice and have a flat surface, but were sometimes        flattened before use). 
>>>If used for pottery the surface wouldn't be        straight.
>>> 
>>>Best, Marloes
>>>
>>> 
>>>
>>>
________________________________
 Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 12:35:47 +0100
>>>From: benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr
>>>To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
>>>Subject:        [Bonetools] Re : protohistoric object
>>>
>>>
>>>No,        it isn't.
>>>I send photo of another object where you can see more        precisely the 
>>>traces. Use wear area is the result of the use/exploitation        of the 
>>>flatest face of the phalanx, maybe with a kind of abrasion        technique... 
>>>The mophologic modification of the bone could be various but        never very 
>>>important.
>>>
>>>Non, il ne s'agit pas de sciage. 
>>>Je joins        une photo d'un autre objet sur laquelle on voit plus précisément 
>>>les        stigmates. La zone d'usure est le résultat de l'utilisation ou de        
>>>l'exploitation de la face la plus plate de la phalange, peut être en        
>>>utilisant une technique d'abrasion... Ce degré d'usure peut varier mais il        
>>>n'est jamais très important.
>>>
>>> Marquebielle        Benjamin
>>>PhD student TRACES laboratory - UMR 5608
>>>5, rue du        pont Guilheméry
>>>31000 Toulouse
>>>tel : 06 71 33 61 52
>>>e-mail : benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
________________________________
 De : François Poplin <poplin at mnhn.fr>
>>>À : bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
>>>Envoyé le : Ven 1 juillet 2011, 12h        20min 16s
>>>Objet : Re: [Bonetools] protohistoric object
>>>
>>>Est-il sûr qu'il ne        s'agit pas d'un sciage ?
>>>
>>>Would not be sawing traces ?
>>>
>>>Le        01/07/2011 11:00, MARQUEBIELLE Benjamin a écrit : 
>>>Hello          !
>>>>Does anybody have an idea about the type or function of this object          ? 
>>>>It's an young pig          phalanx, with use wear          traces on the 
>>>>internal face, covered by oblique striations. It          comes from large 
>>>>protohistoric          site (possible marketplace) of Toulouse, in the south of 
>>>>France          (II-I° century BC). About 20 objects was found, a majority made 
>>>>of pig          phalanxes (young or not) and only two made of bovid pahlanxes. 
>>>>Use wear          is always located on the same face, with different use degree 
>>>>and some          objetcs are perforated on the          proximal face. We 
>>>>thought about a kind of smoother (in relation with          potery ? metal ?) 
>>>>but objects are realy small and found in various          contexts (more often 
>>>>in wells full of          rubbish).
>>>>Thanks a lot and best regards
>>>>
>>>> Marquebielle          Benjamin
>>>>PhD student TRACES laboratory - UMR 5608
>>>>5, rue du          pont Guilheméry
>>>>31000 Toulouse
>>>>tel : 06 71 33 61 52
>>>>e-mail : benjamin.marquebielle at yahoo.fr
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________ Bonetools mailing list 
>>>>Bonetools at listserv.niif.hu https://listserv.niif.hu/mailman/listinfo/bonetools 
>>>>
>>
>>
>>--  François POPLIN  Directeur honoraire de l’UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, 
>>Archébotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements  Responsable du Séminaire 
>>d'Anthropozoologie  Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle CP 56 Ancien 
>>Laboratoire d’Anatomie comparée 55, rue de Buffon 75005 Paris 01 40 79 33 11 fax 
>>------ 33 14  francoispoplin.blogspot.com 
>>
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>


-- 
Jacqueline S. Meier, MSc
Department of  Anthropology
Unit 2176, 354 Mansfield Road
University of  Connecticut
Storrs, CT    06269


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