Wear Traces and Projectile Impact: A Review of the Experimental and Archaeological Evidence

Dockall, John E.

doi:10.2307/530688

Cited by 13 publications

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“…Obviously, it cannot be ruled out that they were used for a short time or on a one-off basis for hunting activities. Experimental research suggests that specimens used as projectile weapons do not always show distinct use-wear traces (see, among others, Barton, Bergman 1982;Fischer et al 1984;Odell, Cowan 1986;Dockall 1997;Kelterborn 2000;Dmochowski, Pyżewicz 2012). however, at this stage of the research there is no macro or microscopic usewear evidence on arrowheads from Ulów.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use-wear analysis of flint artefacts from the barrows of the Corded Ware Culture in Ulów

2017

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As part of the interdisciplinary research conducted in the settlement microregion in the area of Ulów in central Roztocze (south-east Poland), a complex of late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture barrows was discovered. Apart from numerous ceramic items, grave inventories included flint artefacts, some of which underwent use-wear analysis in order to identify their potential function, and production techniques. This paper presents detailed results of use-wear analysis of arrowheads, blade and flake specimens, and axes discovered in four barrows located at sites 3 and 4 in Ulów. K e y w o r d s: use-wear analysis, flint artefacts, the Neolithic, Corded Ware Culture, Ulów, Roztocze Środkowe mATERIALS AND mEThODS For in-depth use-wear analysis, artefacts from four barrows were selected. The research involved the examination of all flint artefacts from barrows I, II and III at site 3, and barrow II located at site 4. most numerous among these specimens are flint arrowheads, yet retouched blades and axes were also recorded. The sets of these tools were obtained from barrow I at site 3 (six arrowheads, one retouched blade, one axe, and random objects-one arrowhead and one bipolar flake), barrow III at site 3 (one arrowhead, one retouched blade and one axe), and barrow II at site 4 in Ulów (six arrowheads, one retouched blade and two axes). Analysis also included two flakes, two splintered pieces, one burin, one end-scraper, one blade and one chip from barrow II at site 3. The artefacts were made of Cretaceous flint of good quality, most likely Volhynian flint. Unfortunately, in several cases the identification of the raw material was impossible due to the burning of the pieces. Use-wear analysis was conducted with a Nikon LV150 metallographic microscope. The surfaces of artefacts were observed at magnifications of 50×, 100×, and 200×. The flints were cleaned with a detergent in warm water, and acetone. microscopic analysis was carried out in order to find potential use-wear and hafting traces, and to identify the marks made by tools used in the process of knapping. The microscopic traces were interpreted on the basis of the literature (e.g.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use-wear analysis of flint artefacts from the barrows of the Corded Ware Culture in Ulów

2017

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“…There has been extensive review and experimental verification of impact fractures (e.g. Dockall ; Iovita et al . ; Iovita & Sano ; Lombard et al .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retouched, rejuvenated, recycled and occasionally hafted as projectiles: stone points of Holocene Australia

Maloney

2019

Archaeology in Oceania

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Macroscopic evidence for projectile use of stone points across the Kimberley region of northern Australia is examined using archaeological assemblages from the mid to late Holocene. There is scant evidence to support more than occasional projectile use. High rates of rejuvenation, recycling and continuous resharpening contribute to the low frequency of impact damage. The extent and location of edge damage, interpreted as probable use-wear, is demonstrated to have distribution patterns consistent with multipurpose functions. Projectile use was merely one, albeit infrequent function of these versatile tools. This study uses use-wear data to engage with technological organisation theory and discusses rates of use, resharpening, rejuvenation and recycling. Standardisation and an emphasis on maintainability provide the best explanation as to why people produced these tools during the Holocene. RESUMELes preuves macroscopiques de l'utilisation de pointes de pierreà l'aide de projectiles dans la région de Kimberley, dans le nord de l'Australie, ontété examinéesà l'aide d'ensembles archéologiques datant de l'Holocène moyenà tardif. Il existe peu de preuves pour appuyer davantage que l'utilisation occasionnelle de projectiles. Les tauxélevés de rajeunissement, de recyclage et de réaffûtage continu contribuentà la faible fréquence des dommages par impact. L'étendue et l'emplacement des dommages sur les bords, interprétés comme une usure probable, présentent des schémas de distribution compatibles avec les fonctions polyvalentes. L'utilisation de projectiles n'était qu'une des fonctions, même si ellesétaient peu fréquentes, de ces outils polyvalents. Cetteétude utilise des données d'usure pour porter sur la théorie de l'organisation technologique et pour discuter des taux d'utilisation, de réaffûtage, de rajeunissement et de recyclage. La normalisation et l'accent mis sur la maintenabilité fournissent la meilleure explication sur la raison pour laquelle les gens ont fabriqué ces outils pendant l'Holocène.

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“…The fractures were identified and photographed with the aid of a Leica M420 macroscope, with magnifications up to 40x. The fracture typology followed those used by the major experiments in the 1980s, e.g., Barton and Bergman (1982), Fischer et al (1984), and Odell and Cowan (1986), also reviewed more recently by Dockall (1997), and Sano (2009;Iovita et al 2014). We use six major categories of damage:…”

Section: Macrofracture Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Weapon Delivery Systems Using Macrofracture Analysis and Fracture Propagation Velocity: A Controlled Experiment

Ioviţă

Schönekeß

Gaudzinski‐Windheuser

et al. 2016

Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology

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In the last few decades, zooarchaeological studies have demonstrated beyond doubt that the hunting abilities of hominins were quite formidable from quite early on. Unfortunately, direct evidence for the use of weapons in hunting is quite rare and depends heavily on the preservation of organic elements. In particular, in the absence of such evidence, it is notoriously difficult to pinpoint the first appearance of complex, mechanically-assisted projectiles (such as darts and arrows) in the archaeological record. In this chapter, we present data from a controlled ballistic experiment with the aim of establishing patterns in the formation of impact fractures that would allow for the discrimination of thrusting spears, (hand-thrown) javelins, and spearthrower darts and arrows. By controlling for the weapon tip shape, weight, and raw material, impact angle (IA), as well as target composition, we are able to focus on the key elements that separate the different launching systems: velocity and kinetic energy output. The results show that fracture scar length is proportional to kinetic energy at impact, but only if the impact is perpendicular, as acute IAs reduce the energy requirements for the production of large, typical impact fractures. We also confirm previous results of Hutchings (JAS 38:1737-1746, 2011) regarding the relationship between precursory loading rate and fracture propagation speed, documenting a weak linear relationship between the two in our sample. We conclude by discussing the implications of this study for identifying different weapon armatures in the archaeological record.

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Wear Traces and Projectile Impact: A Review of the Experimental and Archaeological Evidence

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Use-wear analysis of flint artefacts from the barrows of the Corded Ware Culture in Ulów

Use-wear analysis of flint artefacts from the barrows of the Corded Ware Culture in Ulów

Retouched, rejuvenated, recycled and occasionally hafted as projectiles: stone points of Holocene Australia

Identifying Weapon Delivery Systems Using Macrofracture Analysis and Fracture Propagation Velocity: A Controlled Experiment

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