Residue and Use-Wear Analysis

SUMMARY: Chapter 7, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers how to assess past subsistence and diet, including plant food (e.g., macro- and microbotanical remains; plant residues; seasonality; domestication), animal resources (e.g., macro-faunal remains; age, sex, and seasonality; domestication; small fauna; types of exploitation), and assessing diet from human remains (e.g., stomach contents; feces; teeth; isotopic methods; bone collagen).  A small case study is placed at the end of this ppt. lecture, emphasizing some aspects of subsistence.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. UPDATED May 2023.

Several lithic artefacts that belong to hunter-gatherer's occupations from Quebrada Seca 3 site during the Middle Holocene (Southern Puna of Argentina, between ca. 5000-4700 years BP), are analyzed (Southern Puna of Argentina, between ca. 5000-4700 years BP), are analyzed. These stone tools have been defined as stemmed projectile points whose blades were intensively maintained resulting in asymmetric shapes. Besides, it was proposed the use of these artefacts as knives because their morphology when the artefacts were discarded. Trying to establish a more complete version of the life history of these artefacts, from projectile points to knives, as it is suggested by the techno-typological analysis, we developed a research design that includes several analytical microscopic and compositional techniques to identify the uses that were preserved over time. Information obtained through microwear use traces analysis and the study of microscopic residues (microfossils and chemical residues) in blades and stems, indicates that these artefact were used in several functions. Tools were last used as knives in generalized tasks, for plant and animal processing. The plant material processed includes roasted or dehydrated tuberous/root plants for food. The processing of animal material (skin, flesh and/or bone) was also developed with the artifacts as knives. As projectile points were used for penetration of animal preys and then were recycled as knives. Besides, evidences for hafting (foreshafts or handles) and adhesives use, were found. The use and life history results obtained from analyses of microfossil and other residue, microwear use traces, chemical and techno-typological, were mutually consistent. This contributed to the discussion of artifact’s life history and resource processing by the Middle holocene hunter-gatherers of South Central Andes.

Use-wear and residue analyses of stone artefacts are widely used to better understand the behaviour and resource utilization of past peoples. There are numerous ethnographic reports describing the processing of animal parts, but identification of collagen, the principle component of animal protein, can be difficult because of the similarity in appearance to other non-collagenous residues (e.g. Lombard and Wadley, 2007). Additionally, damage to collagen structure caused by processing and taphonomic factors can alter collagen's microscopic morphological features and further prevent microscopic identification. This paper describes the trialling, blind testing and application of a modified Picro-Sirius Red (PSR) staining protocol not reliant on intact morphology which can be used to identify archaeological collagenous residues. The protocol allows for differentiation of Types I, II and III collagen and can detect the minuscule amounts in archaeological samples. The application of this staining protocol to ten grindstones from arid and semi-arid regions in south and central Australia supports the view that lack of collagen heretofore reported in residue studies is more likely the result of under-detection than its absence (see Monnier et al., 2012). The staining protocol represents an inexpensive, efficient and reliable process which can be added to contemporary use-wear and residue analyses. This addition allows more inclusive assessments of past function and promotes wider understandings of the behaviour of past peoples.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the storing behaviours in the South of France in the late Neolithic period, in plateaus and lowland structures. Plateaus are limestone formations that present multiple natural cavities for the Neolithic people to use, but in return, have no surface water to offer. The subterranean nature of water has profoundly shaped the storing behaviours in the plateaus as it is mostly turned towards water collection and storage. In the lowland area however, substructures were dug directly in the soil and ceramics were used aswell as possible organic containers. This paper aims to address the similarities and differences between the usage of caves and cellars. The application of a use-wear analysis on ceramic vessels brings new insights on past food practices.

The retouching bone tools are characteristic items from european middle Paleolithic assemblages, so are they related with stone knapping. They are present in many sites from France, central-east Europe, and also the Iberian Peninsula. These tools have a wide chronological spawn, whose examples cover from the oldest european middle Palaeolithic, until the final stages of this period (c. 40.000 BP). The bone tools came from Middle Paleolithic sites, but also are present in recent prehistory ambients. An experimental approach is taken, that includes all the stages of bone processing: obtaining of the bone blanks (from fresh bones and/or old bones), using them, and discarding the tools. We got the archaeological reference of the retouching tools obtained in Axlor site’s modern excavations. This Mousterian site has levels with Quina-type side-scrappers and knapping techniques, and also other levels with really different kinds of stone tools. The site has provided an extensive assemblage of retouching bone tools. This paper describes the main lines of experimental program, and the results of the first phase, the one about  blank obtaining.

Angle-hafted bone tattoo combs are found on many Pacific islands
occupied by people speaking languages of the Oceanic sub-group of
the Austronesian linguistic family, with the most elaborate bone tattoo
tools restricted to Polynesia. A critical problem in understanding
the development of an Oceanic tattooing tradition based on hafted
bone combs is their conspicuous absence from nearly all early sites
in the region. Did tattooing with bone combs arrive in the Pacific
with early Neolithic dispersals around 3,000 years ago, or was it an
innovation that developed in West Polynesia that was later diffused
to other parts of the Pacific? AMS dating and traceological examination
of four bone combs from a site in Tonga indicate they are the
oldest multi-toothed tattooing implements in the Pacific and confirm
the existence of the angle-hafted bone comb technology in Polynesia

2,700 years ago. The basic tattooing toolkit represented by narrow
bone combs from the TO.1 site appear to have been remarkably stable
over millennia and we suggest that the angle-hafted bone comb
probably dispersed from West Polynesia to other parts of Oceania.

Dans les séries mésolithiques de l'abri de Vionnaz, situé en fond de vallée alpine, le cristal de roche constitue 26% des matériaux débités. Cet article met en parallèle une étude quantitative des assemblages lithiques (composition fonctionnelle et technologique, utilisation sélective du quartz dans la production de l'outillage) et les résultats de l'analyse tracéologique d'un échantillon de plus de 500 pièces. Les micro-traces mises en évidence concernent principalement des tâches d'acquisition et de traitement du gibier. Par ailleurs, un emploi préférentiel du cristal de roche apparaît pour confectionner des grattoirs et des pièces peu standardisées, majoritairement utilisée comme couteaux de boucherie.

Since its beginnings in the 1960s, the microscopic analysis of use wear traces has aimed mostly at the study of lithic tools made in cryptocrystalline siliceous sedimentites. The methodology developed therefore allowed us to characterize the traces produced by use of flint tools on different materials, and to explain the mechanisms of wear traces formation according to the modification of the crystalline structure that occurs at the interface. However, until recently the functional analysis still suffered from two main problems: raw materials to which it could be applied, and the poor definition and mainly qualitative nature of the variables used for the description of the micropolish.
In this paper we discuss the characterization of surface modifications through microscopic study and digit images analysis developed on different classes of raw materials: crystals (quartz), amorphous rocks (obsidian) and rocks formed by matrix and phenocrysts (quartzites, rhyolites, basalts, cinerites etc.). On this basis we propose a model to explain characteristics and mechanisms of surface modifications on lithic tools.

Large cutting tools (LCTs) are a stone tool techno-group that appeared ca. 1.76 Ma in Africa and marked the beginning of the Acheulean. The group is conventionally comprised of three tool types called handaxes, cleavers, and picks. The function of LCTs has only been determined through assumptions (e.g., names based on historical antecedents or assigning functional names to morpho-types) or through experimental tasks designed to determine if a particular tool type was efficient for a given task, (e.g., are handaxes conducive to butchery tasks?). To date, no extensive use-wear analysis has been carried out on African Acheulean LCTs. This is the pioneering study. Utilising a multi-stranded approach comprised of experimental archaeology, blind testing and low- power use-wear analysis the functions of a sample of LCTs from The Cave of Hearths were derived.

The Cave of Hearths (CoH) lies in the Makapan Valley in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Excavations were carried out from 1947 to 1954, and it is these excavations from which this study draws its sample. Thirty-eight handaxes and cleavers from the CoH Bed 3 Acheulean (ca. 0.5 Ma) were submitted to a low-power use-wear analysis. The results showed that a full range of tasks was performed on site including: wood- working, animal and vegetal matter processing, accompanied by digging and a number of other tasks. Corroborated by faunal analysis and an environmental reconstruction, the results suggest that the cave acted as a home camp/ residential base to the hominins that inhabited the area during the Acheulean. Additionally, evidence was found which may indicate that two of the tools were possibly hafted. If this finding is corroborated by future studies it would push back by approximately 150 Ka the earliest date previously published for hafting with Mode 3 tools.

Analyses of archaeological bone tool assemblages from the southeastern United States rely principally on morphological classification systems to delineate typologies and infer artifact function. Under these systems the actual purpose of pointed bone artifacts generically classified as “awls” is frequently overlooked. In this study we move beyond basic morphological classification by combining zooarchaeological analysis, technological assessment, use-wear analysis, and materials science studies to examine an assemblage of bone tools from an ancient Native American site in central Tennessee. Our analysis reveals that approximately 3500–1600 BCE, occupants of the Fernvale site employed sharpened turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) bone tools as tattooing implements, and that both red and black pigment remains are directly associated with these artifacts. These materials comprise the earliest directly-identified tattooing tools to date, and demonstrate the persistence of Native American tattooing in southeastern North America over at least three millennia.

L'auteur présente les résultats d'une recherche entreprise à l'Institut du Quaternaire de l'Université de Bordeaux I, sous la direction du Professeur François Bordes, dans la perspective d'étudier les outillages de Patagonie, qui sont fabriqués dans les roches siliceuses autres que le silex. L'exposé en est limité ici à la démarche méthodologique et expérimentale, outre l'exemple ethnographique des grattoirs de Patagonie, les résultats régionaux ayant fait l'objet d'une publication antérieure (1984).

Il s'agit en fait de la première synthèse ordonnée et compréhensive publiée en langue française sur les traces d'utilisation observables sur le matériel lithique préhistorique. Avec une grande clarté de raisonnement et de langage, l'auteur y expose l'historique critique des méthodes d'étude, puis son programme expérimental et ses résultats. L'enjeu est d'importance, puisque l'interprétation de ces traces est susceptible de nous éclairer sur les fonctions de ces outillages et, par là, sur les comportements techniques et économiques des hommes préhistoriques.
    Denise de SONNEVILLE-BORDES

Tattoos can be conceptualized as embodied experiences, ideas, and meanings expressed by groups and individuals. In Northeastern North America, many Iroquoian nations from the Contact period were known for practicing body transformations of this sort. Moreover, the archaeological literature abounds with cases of Iroquoian bone objects interpreted as tattooing implements. However, such functional interpretations are often proposed without any clear and thorough demonstration, and thus may be misleading. This paper presents the conclusive results of an experimental microwear analysis of replicated bone tattooing needles. They allow to access and investigate the social dimensions of tattooing practices in the past, as is illustrated with an example from St. Lawrence Iroquoians.

The origins of modern human behaviour have been constructed by some archaeologists as a question of the origins of symbolism. In this thesis I argue that consciousness is embodied and that body modifications are a key element in generating symbolic behaviour. I develop criteria by which body modification tools can be identified in the archaeological record thereby contributing evidence for the antiquity of modem human behaviour.
The possibility that body art preceded the first unequivocal archaeological evidence of symbolic behaviour has long been acknowledged but regarded as an intractable problem because of its archaeological invisibility. Archaeological evidence for body modifications shows that they were practiced from the Upper Palaeolithic, but the reliance on preservation of skeletal material and soft tissue, and the difficulty of interpreting ancient art, means that there are limitations to establishing its presence prior to this. The most abundant archaeological remains in the Palaeolithic are stone tools. I demonstrate that in more recent contexts stone tools are routinely used for head shaving, scarification, and surgery such as finger amputations and genital modifications. The presence of use-wear and human body residues on stone tool edges provides a means of detecting symbolic body practices that is not dependent on stylistic judgements of stone tool form, controversial "non-utilitarian" art objects, burials or changes in brain structure and size, none of which have satisfactorily proved that symbolic behaviour existed before 60 000 bp.
To test this I analyse a collection of flaked bottle glass razors used for shaving the head from the Andaman Islands. The results of this analysis are compared to a further series of glass and obsidian razors from Antigua, New Guinea, Mexico and Egypt, and experimental obsidian razors. I conclude that the combination of residues such as blood and hair, and wear traces that indicate a scraping/slicing motion, allow razor use to be identified on stone tools. This provides evidence with which to test for the presence of body modification in the archaeological record prior to 60 000 bp reflecting complex symbolic behaviour and hence an earlier genesis of language than is currently accepted.

The site of Finch Camp in the middle Queen Creek area of Arizona, southeast of Phoenix, has produced some of the earliest evidence of utilitarian pottery use in the US Southwest. Using multiple lines of evidence from vessel morphology, surface alteration, and minute fatty acid residues in vessel walls, I evaluate the nascent function of the earliest vessels (mostly neckless jars, or tecomates) and infer a diachronic process of functional expansion from about 350 B.C.–A.D. 400. This evidence provides robust evidence for evaluating various theoretical models of pottery origins. I argue that utilitarian pottery was initially adopted in connection with the intensification of small particulate plant foods (e.g., seeds, grains) and increasing household-level control over resources. Further, vessel functions may have expanded during the early centuries A.D. in response to women’s task-scheduling conflicts stemming from increasing residential stability and growing reliance on low-level horticulture.

Regionalisation of the Late Neolithic Vinča culture has been observed primarily based on the pottery analysis several decades ago. Despite a long research tradition, this process has never been discussed
and explained. The previous research of Bronze Age macro-lithic tools of the copper and Bronze Age in southern Iberia showed territorial division produced by diversities economic activities. Based onthis experience and
methodology we have analysed 2174 macro-lithic tools from
the 12 Neolithic settlements (c. 5900- 4650/4600 BC cal) from the Central
Balkans. Our aim was to answer several questions concerns the Neolithic economy of the Central Balkans such as detection of economic changes through time and space, to define and confirm regional economic differences during the Late Neolithic, identifying distance exchange
patterns, identification of standardization of the macro-lithic objects, and defining if the Vinča culture had highly organized production and society. Thus we applied a complex methodological system that includes
  petrographic analysis, analysis of morphometric characteristics, functional analysis, and an experimental examination.

Northern Minnesota lies within the southern edge of the Boreal Forest and, as a result, archaeological sites in this region typically have poor organic preservation and thin, disturbed, stratigraphy.  For this reason, little is known about specific plant foods and their importance at many sites.  In order to fill this gap, my research focuses on the extraction of plant microfossils (starch, phytoliths and pollen) from carbonized and non-carbonized food residues associated with Middle Woodland (100 BC – AD 500) components.  My results show that wild rice was widely consumed during this time along with cultigens such as maize.  No additional evidence suggested farming, so there is a possibility of trade with periphery groups to acquire the cultigens recovered from the microfossil analysis. These results demonstrate the importance of plant microfossil studies as a tool for identifying subtle evidence of wild and domesticated plants in regions characterized by poor organic preservation, small seasonally-occupied sites and other fundamental limitations. The mixed economic strategy apparent in some Northern Minnesota sites re-defines a diet of native and domesticated cultigens, which can be applied to the wider archaeobotanical literature of northeastern North America.

Investigations of organic lithic micro-residues have, over the last decade, shifted from entirely morphological observations using visible-light microscopy to compositional ones using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy, providing a seemingly objective chemical basis for residue identifications. Contamination, though, remains a problem that can affect these results. Modern contaminants, accumulated during the post-excavation lives of artifacts, are pervasive, subtle, and even "invisible" (unlisted ingredients in common lab products). Ancient contamination is a second issue. The aim of residue analysis is to recognize residues related to use, but other types of residues can also accumulate on artifacts. Caves are subject to various taphonomic forces and organic inputs, and use-related residues can degrade into secondary compounds. This organic "background noise" must be taken into consideration. Here we show that residue contamination is more pervasive than is often appreciated, as revealed by our studies of Middle Palaeolithic artifacts from two sites: Lusakert Cave 1 in Armenia and Crvena Stijena in Montenegro. First, we explain how artifacts from Lusakert Cave 1, despite being handled following specialized protocols, were tainted by a modern-day contaminant from an unanticipated source: a release agent used inside the zip-top bags that are ubiquitous in the field and lab. Second, we document that, when non-artifact "controls" are studied alongside artifacts from Crvena Stijena, comparisons reveal that organic residues are adhered to both, indicating that they are prevalent throughout the sediments and not necessarily related to use. We provide suggestions for reducing contamination and increasing the reliability of residue studies. Ultimately, we propose that archaeologists working in the field of residue studies must start with the null hypothesis that miniscule organic residues reflect contamination, either ancient or modern, and systematically

The excavation of the 8000-year-old Hidden Valley village has highlighted the importance of wild plant exploitation in the Mid-Holocene contexts of the Farafra Oasis. This site yielded high numbers of plant macro-remains, which were analysed during the early 2000s by A.G. Fahmy. Among these, Sorghum and other species of wild grasses, often found charred in the fireplaces of the site, prevail; together with the assemblage from E−75-6 (Nabta Playa) these represent the oldest evidence of wild Sorghum exploitation in the Eastern Sahara. Hidden Valley village has also yielded one of the largest assemblages of grinding implements for the whole of North Africa, which, until recent times, had been analysed only from a techno-typological perspective. The general assumption of a direct link between grinding tools and plant exploitation has been tested, and challenged using, for the first time for North African contexts, an integrated method, carried out on the actual tools, combining low-and high-power use-wear and plant micro-residue analyses. Firstly, micro-residues (mainly starch granules and phytoliths) were extracted from the Hidden Valley grinding tools, and analysed by means of a high magnification transmitted-light microscope. The identification of the plant micro-fossils was based upon the 'visual matching' of morphological characteristics with those of a purpose-built reference collection of modern starch granules and phytoliths. Then, tool micro-topography and use-wear traces were analysed both using a low-and high-power approach in order to detect the possible presence of macro-and micro-wear associated with plant exploitation. The grinding stones analysed showed very developed wear mainly consistent with plant processing activities. The same artefacts also yielded starch granules, sometimes in large quantities, together with a lower number of phytoliths. A number of plant tribes from the grass family Poaceae were represented in the micro-remain assemblage. Our results integrate and complement the previous archaeobotanical work carried out on the plant macro-remains from this site and stress the important role played by grinding tools in the processing activities of the variety of wild grasses that were consumed as staple food by Eastern Saharan communities during the Holocene.

RESUMO: A região cárstica de Lagoa Santa (Minas Gerais) contém dezenas de sítios
arqueológicos, cujos mais antigos datam do Holoceno Inicial (período entre 10.000 e
7000 anos A.P.), com coleções numerosas de remanescentes esqueletais humanos bem preservados. O sítio em abrigo Lapa do Santo, localizado ao norte do carste, contém mais de 30 sepultamentos humanos escavados, tendo sido identificadas práticas funerárias complexas que incluem o descarnamento, a decapitação e a remoção intencional de dentes. A matriz sedimentar que contém os vestígios é constituída de cinzas de antigas estruturas de combustão, acesas em um período de 3000 anos. Muitos artefatos líticos foram escavados no sítio, a maioria com pequenas dimensões (comprimento com cerca de 22 mm). Os líticos do sítio são lascas (raramente retocadas), núcleos e resíduos de lascamento, grande parte produzidos com cristais de quartzo hialino. Estudos tecnológicos e experimentais prévios sugerem que os líticos seriam usados para cortar e raspar materiais pequenos e macios, como plantas. Nesta pesquisa, para verificar o uso dos líticos da Lapa do Santo para o processamento de plantas, foram realizadas análises de microvestígios botânicos (fitólitos e amido) recuperados em 20 líticos do sítio. Esses artefatos foram recuperados de três unidades de escavação diferentes e do contexto de um sepultamento, seguindo um protocolo específico para evitar a contaminação durante a coleta. Amostras de sedimento do sítio também foram analisadas para verificar a possível contaminação dos microvestígios retidos nos líticos com os microvestígios presentes no sedimento. As análises revelaram fitólitos nos líticos (n = 19) e no sedimento (em todas as amostras), assim como amido na maioria dos líticos (n = 16) e em uma única amostra de sedimento. Os morfotipos de fitólitos identificados são diagnósticos dos seguintes táxons de plantas: Aristidoideae, Bambusoideae, Chloridoideae, Arecaceae (palmeiras), Poaceae (gramíneas) incluindo Panicoideae e, dentre essas, Zea mays (milho), Cyperaceae, inclusive Cyperus/Kyllinga
sp; Zingiberales e Eudicotiledôneas (arbóreas). Os grãos de amido identificados
apresentam semelhanças, embora nem sempre totalmente, com aqueles pertencentes aos táxons: Araceae (taioba), Arecaceae, Poaceae incluindo gramíneas selvagens e Zea mays; Ipomoea batatas (batata-doce), Capsicum sp. (pimenta e pimentão) e Dioscorea sp. (cará). Os resultados indicam que os instrumentos foram usados para processar plantas amiláceas cruas. Na quadra N23 quase todos os fitólitos que estão presentes nos líticos estão presentes também no sedimento (com exceção de Cyperaceae, presentes nos líticos, mas não no sedimento). Isso sugere uma possível contaminação dos líticos com os fitólitos do sedimento. Na quadra P11 há fitólitos de dois táxons de plantas (Aristidoideae e Zingiberales) nos líticos que não estão presentes no sedimento. Na quadra AE1 há fitólitos de quatro táxons de plantas (Bambusoideae, Chloridoideae, Cyperus/Kyllinga sp. e Zingiberales) nos líticos, que não estão presentes no sedimento ao redor. A presença exclusiva desses fitólitos nos líticos das quadras P11 e AE1, mas não no sedimento, indica que tais plantas foram, de fato, processadas com os artefatos.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Microarqueobotânica, Lagoa Santa, Fitólitos, Amido,
Instrumentos Líticos, Holoceno Inicial.

ABSTRACT: The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (Minas Gerais state) contains several archaeological sites dating back to the early Holocene with an astonishing number of well-preserved human remains. The Lapa do Santo rockshelter site, in the northern part of the karst, contains more than 30 human interments in which complex funerary rituals were identified, including defleshing, decapitation and intentional teeth removal. The sedimentary matrix containing the skeletal remains is mostly made of ashes from
ancient combustion structures, lit within a period of about 3000 years. Several lithic
artifacts have been recovered from the site, most of them of small dimensions (length
around 22 mm). Lithics are mostly flakes (rarely retouched), cores and splinters made
from single crystals of hyaline quartz. Previous technological research suggests that
lithic artifacts were used to cut and scrape small and soft materials, like plants. To
verify whether the lithics from Lapa do Santo were indeed used to process plant
resources, analyses of plant microremains (phytoliths and starch) were undertaken in 20 artifacts from the site. The artifacts were recovered from three different excavation units (1 m x 1 m) and one interment, following a specific protocol to prevent contamination during collection. Sediment samples from the site were also analyzed in order to differentiate between microremains retained in the lithics after their use or incorporated later from the surrounding sediments. The analyses revealed a larger amount of phytoliths in the lithics (19 of them) and sediment (all samples) and starch in most of the artifacts (16 of them) and in one sediment sample. The identified phytolith morphotypes are diagnostic of the following plant taxa: Aristidoideae, Bambusoideae, Chloridoideae, Arecaceae, Poaceae, including Panicoideae and among these, Zea mays (corn), Cyperaceae, including Cyperus/Kyllinga sp; Zingiberales and Eudicots. The starch grains show resemblances (even though not completely sometimes) to those belonging to: Araceae, Arecaceae, Poaceae, including wild grasses and Zea mays, Ipomoea batatas, Capsicum sp. and Dioscorea sp. The results indicate that the instruments were used to process raw (non cooked) starchy plants. Almost every phytolith from the N23 excavation unit that are present in lithics, are also present in the sediment from this unit (except the ones of Cyperaceae, present in lithic but not in the sediment), which strongly suggest contamination of the lithics with the phytoliths and starch from the sediment. From the P11 excavation unit there are phytolithis of two plant taxa (Aristidoideae and Zingiberales) in the lithics that are not present in the sediment. From the AE1 excavation unit there are phytoliths from four plant taxa (Bambusoideae, Chloridoideae, Cyperus/Kyllinga sp. and Zingiberales) in the lithics that are not present in the sediment. This suggests that the phytoliths in these artifacts may have been originated by their use and not by contamination with the sediment.

KEYWORDS: Microarchaeobotany, Lagoa Santa, Phytoliths, Starch, Lithic Artifacts,
Early Holocene.