Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis

Experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis are methods used together to understand aspects of an object’s life, such as manufacture and use. This paper demonstrates the benefits of analysing use-wear through experiments. It presents the results of experiments which were carried out to test the u...

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Autor principal: Amber Roy
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: EXARC 2020
Materias:
axe
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/b4529454379d4333945da5b6da3f6e7e
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:b4529454379d4333945da5b6da3f6e7e2021-12-01T14:42:34ZEnhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis2212-8956https://doaj.org/article/b4529454379d4333945da5b6da3f6e7e2020-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10521https://doaj.org/toc/2212-8956Experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis are methods used together to understand aspects of an object’s life, such as manufacture and use. This paper demonstrates the benefits of analysing use-wear through experiments. It presents the results of experiments which were carried out to test the use of battle-axes and axe-hammers. Most notably, the paper presents the new discovery of a previously unknown use-wear formation, the ‘three-group-arrangement’. This is a formation of wear on bladed implements which forms in the early stages of use – in contact with wood using chopping motions. Its discovery was only possible through the analysis of wear development throughout experiments. This use-wear formation was analysed on stone battle-axes and axe-hammers from the northern British Isles, c. 2200 - 1500 BC and allowed an interpretation of their use which was not previously possible for several artefacts in this assemblage. The discovery of this wear pattern significantly adds to the knowledge of use-wear formation on bladed and perforated, ground and polished stone implements which have previously been overlooked. It allows the previously unfeasible interpretation of less developed wear, formed during the early stages of use in contact with wood. The results demonstrate the importance of analysing the changing use-wear formations throughout experiments to understand the formation of use-wear patterns on implements in the archaeological record.Amber RoyEXARCarticleaxebronze ageunited kingdomstone workinguse wear analysisMuseums. Collectors and collectingAM1-501ArchaeologyCC1-960ENEXARC Journal, Iss 2020/3 (2020)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic axe
bronze age
united kingdom
stone working
use wear analysis
Museums. Collectors and collecting
AM1-501
Archaeology
CC1-960
spellingShingle axe
bronze age
united kingdom
stone working
use wear analysis
Museums. Collectors and collecting
AM1-501
Archaeology
CC1-960
Amber Roy
Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis
description Experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis are methods used together to understand aspects of an object’s life, such as manufacture and use. This paper demonstrates the benefits of analysing use-wear through experiments. It presents the results of experiments which were carried out to test the use of battle-axes and axe-hammers. Most notably, the paper presents the new discovery of a previously unknown use-wear formation, the ‘three-group-arrangement’. This is a formation of wear on bladed implements which forms in the early stages of use – in contact with wood using chopping motions. Its discovery was only possible through the analysis of wear development throughout experiments. This use-wear formation was analysed on stone battle-axes and axe-hammers from the northern British Isles, c. 2200 - 1500 BC and allowed an interpretation of their use which was not previously possible for several artefacts in this assemblage. The discovery of this wear pattern significantly adds to the knowledge of use-wear formation on bladed and perforated, ground and polished stone implements which have previously been overlooked. It allows the previously unfeasible interpretation of less developed wear, formed during the early stages of use in contact with wood. The results demonstrate the importance of analysing the changing use-wear formations throughout experiments to understand the formation of use-wear patterns on implements in the archaeological record.
format article
author Amber Roy
author_facet Amber Roy
author_sort Amber Roy
title Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis
title_short Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis
title_full Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis
title_fullStr Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovery of a New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis
title_sort enhancing the accuracy of use interpretation: the discovery of a new wear formation with the complementary methods of experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis
publisher EXARC
publishDate 2020
url https://doaj.org/article/b4529454379d4333945da5b6da3f6e7e
work_keys_str_mv AT amberroy enhancingtheaccuracyofuseinterpretationthediscoveryofanewwearformationwiththecomplementarymethodsofexperimentalarchaeologyandusewearanalysis
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