A Scraper is Sometimes Just a Scraper: A Multi-Method Approach to Inferring Tool Use at an Oneota Site in Southeastern Wisconsin

Summary

A sample of lithic artifacts from the Crescent Bay Hunt Club site, a 12th-14th century Oneota village at Lake Koshkonong in southeastern Wisconsin, were subjected to a multiple-method analysis to determine individual tool use. In this example, an assemblage based analysis of raw material type and quality, heat alteration and energy input into manufacturing combined with debitage analysis provides an overall understanding of the lithic economy. Triangular bifaces and unifacial tools from Crescent Bay were then subjected to a combination of micro- and macroscopic identification of edge damage and surface polishes, followed by protein residue analysis to provide four independent lines of evidence that yield strong inferences about tool use. This multi-pronged approach to raw material acquisition, tool manufacturing, tool use, and tool discard provides more comprehensive insights into the role of lithic economy in the daily lives of people than are often derived from Late Prehistoric sites in the Midcontinent.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage