Introduction to Session: Recent Research and Future Objectives

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Metal Tool Production and Use by Indigenous Hunter-Gatherers in North America" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The discovery and development of metals as tool media is a topic of global interest. Although this phenomenon is generally associated with sedentary, agrarian-based societies, in North America there is regularly documented, albeit not widely known, use of metals by hunter-gatherer populations as early as 9,000 years ago. Here, we bring together scholars from across the continent to share their research on this fascinating topic. We first introduce the goals of this session, which aims to cover a diversity of Indigenous metal use, from procurement and practice to ideological and functional interpretive frameworks that place the use of metals into broader regional and interregional contexts. We then review our recent work, which uses a variety of methods—including experimental archaeology, cost/benefit analysis, and statistical modeling—to clarify the origin, duration, and decline of copper as tool medium. We conclude with future objectives aimed at advancing the broader study of hunter gatherer metal use.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Metal Tool Production and Use by Indigenous Hunter-Gatherers in North America   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36244.0