Jade polishing techniques in NW Alaska, from the end of the 1st millennium AD to the 18th century.

Summary

The study applies a qualitative and quantitative characterization of polished jade tools from Cape Espenberg in Northwestern Alaska, dated from the Thule period.

An experimental study of polishing techniques on jade was carried out in order to reproduce diagnostic use-wear traces associated with different polishing techniques, processing, and craft activities. The study was carried out at the Laboratory of Tribology and Systems Dynamics - Ecole Centrale Lyon 2 and was based on different scales of observation (interferometry, confocal microscopy).

Different parameters of characterization (bearing area, various topographic parameters) and the method of continuous wavelets were applied. This methodology allowed for the identification of different use wear patterns related to various tool functions and polishing processing: wood processing, hide processing, butchery, and resharpening of the active part of the tools.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage