TOWARD THE STANDARDIZATION OF USE-WEAR STUDIES: CONSTRUCTING AN ANALOGUE TO PREHISTORIC HIDE WORK

TOWARD THE STANDARDIZATION OF USE-WEAR STUDIES: CONSTRUCTING AN ANALOGUE TO PREHISTORIC HIDE WORK A Thesis by JAMES EDWARD WIEDERHOLD Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2004 Major Subject: Anthropology TOWARD THE STANDARDIZATION OF USE-WEAR STUDIES: CONSTRUCTING AN ANALOGUE TO PREHISTORIC HIDE WORK A Thesis by JAMES EDWARD WIEDERHOLD Submitted to Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved as to style and content by: Harry J Shafer (Chair of Committee) D Bruce Dickson (Member) James N Derr (Member) David L Carlson (Head of Department) May 2004 Major Subject: Anthropology iii ABSTRACT Toward the Standardization of Use-Wear Studies: Constructing an Analogue to Prehistoric Hide Work (May 2004) James Edward Weiderhold, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr Harry J Shafer This thesis is a use-wear study that deals with microwear on stone endscrapers used on one worked material: animal skins The first part of the study defines and describes the process of rendering freshly skinned pelts into functional leather or rawhide products, addressing confusing terminology found in the literature as well Problems with past usewear experiments dealing with animal skins are also confronted and explained The second part of the study examines endscrapers used to flesh and dehair bison hides and compares the use-wear traces left on the tool edge by each activity This suite of characteristics is then compared to those found on an assemblage of Clovis-age scrapers from the Gault site in central Texas iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr Harry Shafer, for suggesting that I incorporate the Gault scrapers into my study and for allowing me to take part in the Gault project Further, I thank Dr David Carlson for allowing me to participate in a second season at Gault Thanks are also due to the other committee members: Dr James Derr for helpful comments and criticisms, and Dr D Bruce Dickson for suggesting that I pursue a graduate degree and for help and encouragement along the way I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Robson Bonnichsen of the Center for the Study of the First Americans for the use of state-of-the-art imaging equipment as well as his time in which he so graciously shared his knowledge and insight in the manufacture and use of stone tools I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr Michael Collins of the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL) for sharing his theories on spurred scrapers as well as allowing me to participate at Gault I am likewise indebted to Dr Dale Hudler, also of TARL, for graciously allowing me to use TARL’s imaging equipment and for sharing his knowledge and expertise in the microscopy of use-wear I am also grateful to Daralyn Wallace for editing the manuscript and to Carl Sager of Meyer Instruments for his patience while I learned to use the Leica equipment Finally, I wish to express my love and heartful appreciation to my long-suffering wife and children, without whom, none of this would be possible, and to my father, Albert G Wiederhold, who unknowingly sparked a young boy’s interest in working hides “the hard way.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .v LIST OF TABLES .vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Study of Indigenous Hide Processing II TOWARD A WORKING MODEL OF HIDE PROCESSING Structure of Hide Analysis of Schultz’s Model 11 Preliminary Preparations 12 Fleshing 13 Hair Removal 17 Introducing the Softening Agents .24 Physical Manipulation of the Pelt .29 Smoking 33 Summary and Discussion 36 III THE DEVELOPMENT OF USE-WEAR STUDIES .39 A Brief History 39 The Low-Power Approach 41 The High-Power Approach .44 More Recent Studies 46 Summary 51 IV USE-WEAR EXPERIMENTS RELATED TO HIDE PROCESSING .53 The Validity of Experimental Archaeology .53 Conflicting Results of Hide-Working Use-Wear Studies 56 Summary and Conclusion 70 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page The Validity of Experimental Archaeology .53 Conflicting Results of Hide-Working Use-Wear Studies 56 Summary and Conclusion 70 V USE AND ANALYSIS OF THE TOOLS 72 The Worked Material and the Tools 73 Scraping the Hides 75 Analysis 78 Relating Polish Attributes to Their Causal Factors 86 Conclusions 90 VI THE GAULT ENDSCRAPERS .94 Lithic Analysis 95 Functional Analysis 99 Discussion and Conclusions .110 VIII CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS .118 The Model 118 Clarification of the Process 119 Use-Wear Characteristics on the Experimental Scrapers Compared to Earlier Studies 120 Are Different Steps in Hide Processing Reflected in the Resulting Use-Wear? 123 Can These Use Wear Features Be Recognized in the Archaeological Record? .124 Implications and Areas of Further Study 124 REFERENCES CITED 126 APPENDIX 137 VITA 241 vii LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page Metric Data and Number of Strokes per Scraper for Each Task for Experimental Scrapers 75 Metric Data for Gault Scrapers 98 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This thesis identifies and describes the necessary steps in aboriginal hide processing in an effort to standardize the functional analysis of endscrapers, and further, to determine whether these steps can be detected in the archaeological record When we consider the wide variety of serviceable products potentially available in a freshly taken, or "green," hide or skin, we must conclude that the processing of animal hides and skins was undoubtedly an industry of paramount importance in the lives of native people of North America, perhaps second only to the manufacture of stone tools Archaeologists have gained a great amount of technological knowledge of the past through studies of stone tool manufacture, especially through the actualistic work of individuals like Don Crabtree, Francois Bordes, J.B Sollberger, and Errett Callahan Their efforts, along with the efforts of many others like them, are largely responsible for providing us with first hand knowledge of how stone tools were made Additionally, their work has generated a wealth of further studies, including not only description and classification, but also ecological and behavioral aspects of stone tool technology Similarly, data provided by the archaeological record and ethnographic accounts, enhanced by task-oriented experimentation, can provide knowledge of indigenous hide working methods Understanding these methods and their resulting products would This thesis follows the style and format of American Antiquity allow us to expand our perception of the use of plant and animal resources, trade and other economic activities, seasonality, and climate In addition, it would shed more light on how certain stone tools were used Yet, useful as such information might be, the actual process by which a green hide or skin is changed into a useful product and the techniques or methods employed are not well known by archaeologists No study that I am aware of describes the process in a comprehensive and unambiguous manner The purpose of this thesis then is twofold The first is to determine, describe and analyze indigenous methods of hide processing The second is to conduct an experimental usewear study to determine whether we can identify different steps of the process in the archaeological record More specifically, this study will: Define and describe the steps that must be included in any hide-working activity in order to transform a freshly taken hide into a functional product regardless of time, space, species, or method used Based on these steps, a model of aboriginal hide processing will be constructed and used to identify and describe methods available to, and used by native peoples to accomplish the process Evaluate previous use-wear studies in light of the model and the described methods in order to resolve some of the contradictions and disputes they have generated, and clarify some of the confusion regarding hide processing in general Describe the features and characteristics of use-wear on replicated endscrapers generated by processing bison hides according to the above model, and compare these data with previous use-wear studies and experimentation Determine whether different steps within a particular method and/or different methods of hide processing will result in different use-wear features and characteristics Determine whether such use-wear features and characteristics can be recognized in the archaeological record (a central Texas Paleo-Indian site) The Study of Indigenous Hide Processing I mentioned above that hide processing steps as well as various methods are not generally well known There are several reasons that this is the case First, one of the most obvious reasons is that the archaeological database is small in that hides and skins and the products made from them not preserve well in the archaeological record Secondly, hide products that are preserved are often very small pieces and badly weathered as well, making analysis difficult There are, however, hide and skin products from the historic era in the form of clothing, parfleches, tipis and the like, that are housed in various museums across the country, but even so, it is difficult to identify how these products were manufactured if the methods and techniques are not known Comparing the study of hide processing to the study of the manufacture of stone tools, it would be hard to visualize the emergence of a projectile point from a lump of chert without knowing anything about the fractal properties of stone However, if one were presented with prismatic blades along with a blade core, the pathway from raw material ... USE-WEAR STUDIES .39 A Brief History 39 The Low-Power Approach 41 The High-Power Approach .44 More Recent Studies 46 Summary 51 IV USE-WEAR... Dr Robson Bonnichsen of the Center for the Study of the First Americans for the use of state-of-the-art imaging equipment as well as his time in which he so graciously shared his knowledge and... of Hide-Working Use-Wear Studies 56 Summary and Conclusion 70 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page The Validity of Experimental Archaeology .53 Conflicting Results of Hide-Working