[Bonetools] seeking refs on seasonal bone & antler tool construction

[isabelle.sidera at mae.u-paris10.fr]

Dear Amy,

You will find many discussions on this problem in European Upper
Paleolihic, where antler is commonly used for a diversity of artefact-
types: see Averbouh, Pétillon and Goutas.

Later, raw material choices are more complex, as the diversity of
avialable species is important.
There are two dynamics. One is chronological (from European Early
Neolithic to Chalcolithic and then Bronze Age - see Choyke): the use of
antler increases with time. Its ratio becomes important in Chalcolithic.
This is functional, depending on the artefact-types wanted, mainly hafted
heavy tools like hammers, axes and adzes, always made with shed antler,
same as Catherine describes in Andes.
It means also that deers abound. In front of the aboundance of antler axes
sleeves, Ramseyer in Switzerland made the hypothesis of an exchange
(1982).

The second concerns deer bones and refers to symbols. While there is a
small use of deer in settlements, in graves it becomes important. Deer
bones appear systematically at the side of many other wild animal bones
from boars, bears, foxes, wolves, vultures etc. This is particularly
strong in the Middle Neolithic (1st half of the Vth millenium).
This use makes appear the social structure valorizing the figure of the
hunter or the warrior. Many flint arrow heads are associated to these
toumbs.
I wrote many on these subjects. You will find some notes in my english
papers WBRG Budapest (BAR 2001) and BAR 2008 eds Walker and Gates Saint
Pierre (I can send pdf).
Let's add the example of the PPN of Cyprus, where A. Legrand shows the
symbolic load in the choice of deer for making common awls, while it is
scarcely eaten (BAR 2007).

Best wishes, Isabelle



> Dear Amy,
>
> There is a strong pattern of preferring antler over deer bone along
> the spine of the Andes, where wood is very scarce and antler has
> valuable working properties. This is true in the preceramic (Archaic)
> and in the later, Formative village periods. Deer aren't that common
> (3-25% of NISP), compared to camelids, so the preference for antler
> really stands out. The condition of antler hammers suggests that the
> antler were collected after they had been shed in most cases, and I
> could believe that the loose antler was exchanged over space as well.
>
> You will probably hear from colleagues who have data from other sites,
> but the following is an extract from my paper on sites around Lake
> Titicaca in review for the volume from the ICAZ session on the "Bone
> Raw Material selectivity" held last year in Paris.
>
> "Deer antler, though, was rare (17 fragments of any deer bone or
> antler at the three sites combined during the Late Formative) and very
> commonly worked into hammers, picks, and other heavy tools. The
> special working qualities of antler seem to have been so prized that
> every antler dropped must have been gathered for tool use. At Kala
> Uyuni, 4 antler tools were made compared to scant evidence for one
> deer carcass; Kumi Kipa has a single scrap of unworked antler; at
> Sonaji there was one antler tool compared to an MNI of one carcass.
> Worked fragments made up 29% of all finds of deer."
>
> No other part of deer was worked, but there were thousands of tools
> made of camelid bone. I don't know if this stems from technological
> issues (the camelids are bigger and have bigger bones to work with) or
> some consideration of wild (deer) vs. domestic (llamas and alpacas).
>
> Seasonality is limited in this low latitude region, but these patterns
> may help you sort out the some of the influences on raw material
> choice in your region.
>
> best wishes,
>
> Kate Moore
>
>
>
>
> Quoting "Margaris, Amy V." <amy.margaris at oberlin.edu>:
>
>> Dear colleagues,
>> I am seeking references from anywhere in the world on the preferred use
>> of
>> cervid antler over cervid bone -- or vice versa -- for tool
>> construction. I
>> am particularly interested in how the seasonal availability of these
>> resources may affect raw material choices.
>> Many thanks in advance, and my apologies if you received this message in
>> duplicate.
>> Amy
>>
>> --
>> Amy V. Margaris
>> Assistant Professor of Anthropology
>> Oberlin College
>>
>> * On Research Leave Academic Year 2011-2012 *
>> http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology/
>>
>> http://sites.google.com/a/oberlin.edu/margaris-amy/
>>
>
>
>
> Zooarchaeology Laboratory
> University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
> 3260 South Street
> Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
>
>
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