From Tool Use to Site Function

Description

This use-wear analysis project begins by discussing the association between form and function in the tools analysed, showing the modes of use of the retouched and unretouched tools. Use strategies are then examined, to explore the factors which determined why a tool with certain characteristics was chosen for each task. The characteristics which define the tool are the type of flint in which it was made, the type of blank, whether or not it was retouched, and if so, which morphotype resulted. The tools are considered as objects subjected to technical behaviour and as agents which participate in the transformation of various materials. The types of tasks carried out with the tools are reconstructed. Finally, the work discusses how the study of stone tool use is valuable in understanding the function of a settlement and, in general, the economic strategies of prehistoric groups.