Use-wear characteristics of the obsidian experimental artifacts
Received date: 2023-08-08
Revised date: 2023-11-21
Online published: 2024-10-10
In order to completely understand the use-wear of obsidian lithic artifacts under Dark and Bright Field, the utilization experiments of obsidian were carried out on various processed material, such as meat, hide, gramineous plants, wood, bone, antler and ochre. Four items were recorded: micro-scarrings, abrasion, striation, and polish. Various of use wear patterns have be concluded in this project, including: 1) Smooth, continuous polish and sleek striation, related to hide work. 2) Rolled-over micro-scarrings, continuous and bright polish, associated with processing gramineous plants. 3) Rolled-over micro-scarrings, rough polish with comet-like pits, and intermittent striations, associated with wood work. 4) Continuous micro-scarrings with hinged and stepped termination, caused by contacting with bone and antler work. 5) Fern-like striations without polish, associated with processing non-organic material. 5) Metal luster, associated with processing ochre.
The effect of processed material, edge angle, action and processing time on microwear patterns were also discussed. The results showed that: 1) The hardness of processed material had great effect on the microwear patterns. With the hardness increasing, the size of micro-scarrings became larger; the abrasion and polish on the ridges grew from smooth to rough; and the striation changed from sleek form to intermittent or rough-bottomed form. 2) The angles of lithic artifact edge and actions also mattered. When cutting with thin-edged tools, discontinuous polish and strong striations will be formed. The striation are always parallel to or oblique to the ridge. While scraping with thick-edged tools, continuous polish and weak striations will be formed. The striations are perpendicular to the ridge. 3) The length of processing had a weak effect on use wear patterns. Various typical microwear patterns were developed in a very short time.
The microwear patterns of obsidian and flint were compared briefly in this study. The results indicated that obsidian and flint share same wear patterns on samples which were used for processing hide, gramineous plants, wood and ochre. However, the wear pattern of bone and antler work have great difference between obsidian and flint.
This paper identified different obsidian use-wear patterns about various processed materials and compared the patterns with the results of other scholars. The results are reproducible and consistent with the conclusion of Hurcombe and and other scholars. The data will support the further research on the function of archaeological obsidian lithic artifacts and the subsistence strategies of hunter-gatherers in Northeastern and Xizang region in China.
Key words： obsidian; experimental archaeology; microwear; polish
LI Yao , CHEN Hong , XU Ting . Use-wear characteristics of the obsidian experimental artifacts[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2024 , 43(05) : 727 -743 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2024.0023
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