New contributions to the functional analysis of prehistoric tools (original) (raw)

Editorial New contributions to the functional analysis of prehistoric tools Half a century after the publication of Sergej Semenov's fundamental work "Prehistoric Technology" (1964), traceology or microscopic use-wear analysis continues to be the major method for the identification of prehistoric tool use and function. The recognition of macroscopic and microscopic wear traces as well as use-related residues contributes to various important aspects of archaeological research. Among them are relevant questions on site functions and activities carried out in prehistoric settlements or the reconstruction of archaeologically invisible components of complex tool technology, for example hafting and composite tool design. Traceology has significantly contributed to the debate on human behavioural complexity and cultural and cognitive advancement as well as other aspects of the evolution of the human cognitive capacity. Since the establishment of the International Scientific Commission A17 on "Functional studies of prehistoric artefacts and their socioeconomic influence on past societies", and particularly since the Li ege Congress in 2001, its main activity has been devoted to the complex and manifold role of artefacts in human palaeoecology and the reconstruction of ancient economic systems. This implies that the reconstruction of production and use of artefacts in the past is not just the reenactment of processing of different raw materials , human activities or prehistoric technologies but a matter of understanding the evolution and adaptation of production techniques and their consequences for the people that produced and used the artefacts in a socioeconomic context. The Commission ensures that the greatest possible efforts are made to promote meth-odological advancement and support cutting-edge research that is aimed at widening the informative capacity of use-wear analysis, as well as establishing new data recording and relational database systems. This volume is the result of the Commission's activities during the XVII th UISPP World Congress from 1 to 7 September 2014 in Burgos, Spain, which included the organisation of three sessions dedicated to traceology. The first session was titled "Recent trends and aspects of use-wear analysis and their contribution to the modernization of archaeology", and was oriented on the theoretical and archaeological reasoning from which a traceological study should stem from. As well it welcomed the discussion on recent innovations aiming to overcome specific problems of the basic meth-odological procedures of the discipline. They included technological enhancements to improve the microscopic observations , as well as combined methodological procedures aimed to face especially difficult archaeological issues. The second session was titled "Traceological work research and experimental work", and was the one with the highest number of contributions. The presentations focussed on the importance of the experimental works for the study of the prehistoric tool uses, complemented by ethno-graphic observations and technical knowledge. Here archaeologists who work in the field of microwear and residue analysis and related experimental framework presented their current research in order to contribute to methodological debate and the exchange of ideas in the discipline. The third session, entitled "Microscopic determination of hafting technology: use-wear and residues" was specifically devoted to the issue of prehistoric hafted tools, which can be identified through examples of preserved hafts (resulting from very specific sedimentary contexts or because the handle has been produced in less perishable materials such as bone and ant-ler), through use-wear studies describing microwear produced by the haft itself or related to the use of a hafted tool, or after identification of residues used to adhere the tools to the haft. From the overall 63 oral presentations and posters presented during the congress, 21 studies were finally included as articles in the current volume.