Courtesy Photo | Three examples of multifunction stone tools found at Fort McCoy archaeological sites...... read more read more
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The idea of a multifunction tool, such as a Leatherman or Swiss Army knife, is not a recent concept. In prehistoric times, indigenous people crafted their own form of a multifunction tool by flintknapping.
Flintknapping is the term archaeologists use to describe the process of shaping and manufacture of stone tools using rocks, bone, antler, and even copper.
Flintknapping is a reduction process that begins with a type of stone that will break in relatively predictable ways, so that specific pieces of the stone can be removed at will. The flintknapping process results in not only the final product (a spear point, arrowhead, or other tool), but also waste chips and flakes, commonly referred to as debitage by archaeologists.
Based on the type of waste chips and flakes present within a concentration of artifacts, researchers can discern whether the flintknapping process at that location was the result of stone-quarrying activities, tool manufacturing, or stone tool resharpening.
The picture that accompanies this article shows three examples of multifunction tools recovered at three sites located on the Fort McCoy military installation by archaeologists with Colorado State University’s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands. All three multifunction tools have one thing in common in that they have one or two types of scraping edges.
The stone tool on the left side of the picture was used as an end scraper and spokeshave or notched scraper. Scrapers are unifacial tools (worked on one side or face only) used for working wood, bone, or animal hides.
There are three categories of scrapers based on where the scraping edge is located: end (the bottom end of a flake), side (longest side of a flake), and notched or spokeshave (semi-circular or concave notch). Notched scrapers or spokeshaves are used to shape and smooth wooden shafts for arrows, spears, and darts.
The stone tool in the center was used as a graver and spokeshave or notched scraper. A graver is characterized by a small, sharp point created by pressure-flaking two edges at one end of a flake. Gravers are used to incise or engrave bone, antler, shell, wood, or soft stone. A graver may be used to cut, score bone or antler before snapping it, or etch designs on objects. A graver can also function as a perforator for punching holes in leather (animal hide).
The stone tool on the right was used as an end scraper and spokeshave or notched scraper. End scrapers and side scrapers are typically used for preparing hides, a process which involves removing all the bits of muscle and tissue from a hide before it is turned into leather. As a scraper is used, the scraping edge will become chipped, polished, or worn down, resulting in the scraping edge needing to be resharpened. The resharpening process would result in the scraper becoming smaller and smaller until the scraper is too small to use anymore and discarded by the user.
For two of the three sites from which the tools were found, debitage recovered consisted of small resharpening flakes, suggesting tool maintenance rather than tool production. These maintenance-oriented sites yielded the multifunction tools pictured on the left and center. The presence of notched scrapers or spokeshaves may indicate that someone was shaping and smoothing wooden arrow shafts.
Interestingly, both sites are small, single-use activity areas located in a wetland setting. A wetland setting would have been advantageous for refurbishing arrow shafts and spear foreshafts due to the availability of nearby plant materials. Both sites date to the Woodland cultural period (500 B.C. to A.D. 1200) and were recommended for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
The third multifunction tool (pictured on the right) was recovered from a site dating from the Middle Archaic period through the Oneota tradition (8,000 B.C. to A.D. 1650). This site is located near a drainage basin with wetlands surrounding the northern portion of the site. As with the other two sites, this site was strategically located to resources needed for hunting gear maintenance, and it too was recommended for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was sponsored by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals. Any person who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any historic or prehistoric site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.
The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch at 608-388-8214.
(Article prepared by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.)
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2021 13:34 |
| Story ID: | 403984 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 414 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort McCoy ArtiFACT: Multifunction lithic tools, by Aimee Malone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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