Paper short abstract:

Specific use-wear patterns were identified on experimental stone tools by an interdisciplinary methodology involving ethnoarchaeology and anthropology of technology, showing the potential of these approaches for the understanding of past technical behaviours.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I will present some unexpected results I obtained, having recourse to ethnoarchaeology and anthropology of technology, which emphasise the powerful potential of these approaches to recover information regarding past technical behaviours. The aim of my research was to know if it is possible to differentiate the working of bamboo from the one of other plant taxa based on use-wear it produces on stone tools, and therefore to recognise it in the archaeological record. The first part of the work consisted in studying extant practices of plant exploitation in the forests of Palawan Highlands, Philippines. I carefully documented activities with a camera video and later on analysed them in detail with the concept of "chaîne opératoire", which can be defined as the series of operations that transform a raw material into a product. The aim of this first stage was to gather data in order to design realistic archaeological experiments. I then reproduced selected activities with stone tools and analysed the subsequent use traces that developed. Although the goal of this project was to distinguish the traces produced by the processing of different plant taxa, I was able, because of the careful attention I paid to current practices and know-how, to identify specific patterns related to two different techniques, including basketry. There is now a mean to identify these techniques in the archaeological record, thanks to the actualistic approach developed and the mobilisation of anthropology of technology.