Functional Analysis (Archaeology)

Esta monografía constituye el resultado del 1er Congreso de Análisis Funcional de España y Portugal, celebrado en Barcelona durante los días 28-30 de noviembre del 2001. La obra pretende reflejar los adelantos que se han obtenido en ambos países durante los últimos años dentro del campo del análisis funcional de los artefactos arqueológicos. Con el objetivo de avanzar en el potencial heurístico de esta metodología arqueológica, se dedican secciones específicas a cuestiones teóricas y a nuevas propuestas metodológicas. Además, se ha logrado ampliar el ámbito convencional de aplicación del análisis funcional (fundamentalmente, sílex de contextos paleolíticos) al conjunto de los materiales arqueológicos y a todas las fases prehistóricas del desarrollo humano.

Ceramic use-wear analysis has been cited in ethnoarchaeological studies as a way to identify the results and material damages of fermentation. In turn, the presence of a fermentation use-wear signature has been taken to denote the presence or absence of fermented foodstuffs and, in some cases, the possibility of alcoholic products. However, such a deterioration signature has never been fully explored, let alone had its application in archaeological interpretations critically discussed. While use-wear analysis has proven to be a valuable methodological tool in interpreting the biography and function of objects, its use in studies on alcohol production has not been meaningfully integrated into a nuanced interpretation of the craft. Integral to this, sequences of technical gestures that form specific techniques and craft practices, and mediate the creation of material culture, cannot be easily observed. Conversely, use-wear analysis has the potential to reveal technical gestures and mitigate this issue due to its intrinsic ability to explore the relationship between technical choice, action, and resulting surface damage. Combining these ideas, this study uses alcohol-related material from the Early Iron Age Heuneburg, Germany, as a basis for an exploratory experimental programme to further this methodological discussion. Through using this process, the merits of ceramic use-wear analysis as a source of information for enhancing our interpretations of the socially facilitated process of alcohol production can be discussed, while also offering a more meaningful application of the analytical procedure for this craft practice.

Gebrauchsspurenanalysen an Keramik wurden in ethnoarchäologischen Studien als eine Möglichkeit zitiert, um Ergebnisse von und Materialschäden durch Fermentation zu identifizieren. Im Gegenzug wurde das Vorliegen einer Gebrauchsspur infolge Fermentation als Nachweis der An- oder Abwesenheit fermentierter Nahrung und in manchen Fällen des möglichen Vorkommens alkoholischer Erzeugnisse betrachtet. Allerdings wurden solche Abnutzungszeichen nie vollständig untersucht, geschweige denn wurde ihre Anwendung bei archäologischen Interpretationen kritisch diskutiert. Während Gebrauchsspurenanalysen sich als wertvolles methodisches Werkzeug zur Interpretation der Biographie und Funktion von Objekten erwiesen haben, wurde ihre Verwendung bei Studien zur Alkoholherstellung bisher nicht aussagekräftig in eine ausführliche Deutung des Handwerks integriert. Dadurch bedingt lassen sich Abfolgen technischer Handgriffe („Gesten“), die spezielle Techniken und Handwerkspraktiken bilden und die Erschaffung materieller Kultur übermitteln, nicht leicht beobachten. Umgekehrt hat die Gebrauchsspurenanalyse das Potential, technische Gesten zu entdecken und dieses Problem zu entschärfen dank ihrer naturgegebenen Möglichkeit, das Verhältnis zwischen technischer Wahlmöglichkeit, Handlung und resultierendem Oberflächenschaden zu erforschen. Diese Untersuchung verbindet diese Ideen und benutzt alkoholrelevante Funde von der früheisenzeitlichen Heuneburg, Deutschland, als Grundlage für ein experimentelles Forschungsprogramm, um diese methodische Diskussion voranzubringen. Durch diese Vorgehensweise können gleichermaßen die Stärken der Gebrauchsspurenanalyse von Keramik als Informationsquelle für eine verbesserte Interpretation des sozial geförderten Vorgangs der Alkoholproduktion diskutiert und eine bedeutungsvollere Anwendung der Analyse dieser Handwerkspraxis gegeben werden.

The study of flaked stone assemblages from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands has contributed little to the understanding of the region’s prehistory.  The primary reason for this is that few formally shaped stone tool types have been identified from the region.  Archaeologists commonly describe these excavated stone artefact assemblages as ‘amorphous’, ‘opportunistic’ or ‘monotonous and unimaginative’.

To overcome the interpretive problems posed by these assemblages, Johan Kamminga conducted an extensive experimental program of stone tool-use in the Philippines.  This provided a reference collection of stone tools, with use-wear patterns and residues from a wide range of activities, relevant to both prehistoric hunter-gatherer and farming peoples from the region.  These activities include working bamboo, rattan, pandanus and reed, in addition to more complex functions including the manufacture of multi-component bows and arrows.  Rice harvesting was also investigated, including upland and paddy varieties.

The wear patterns associated with these activities are studied by the author using microscopic analysis, including low-power optical and scanning electron microscopy.  A preliminary investigation of residues is also conducted.  The results of the experimental program and preliminary microscopic study are then applied to a collection of archaeological stone tools from caves in East Timor, excavated by Ian Glover in 1966-7.  This analysis identifies a number of ‘glossed flakes’ as rattan processing tools, which formed a major component of the cave assemblages for over 10,000 years, until the introduction of metal.  Other activities are also identified, such as working wood and possibly bamboo.

A comparison of these results with previous reports, demonstrates that rattan processing was probably also an important activity at Leang Burung in Sulawesi.  The importance of this activity to different prehistoric peoples, over great distances in time and space, attests to the overall utility of rattan as a manufacturing material.  The utility of rattan and bamboo, and their demonstrated ability to be successfully worked with a simple, non-standardised stone technology, can account for the apparent ‘amorphous’ nature of assemblages from the region.  Moreover, the results of this research demonstrate that the lack of formal shaping need no longer be an obstacle to the study of Southeast Asian – Pacific Island stone tools, as functional analysis can overcome the interpretive problems this may otherwise pose.