A traceological and quantitative assessment of the function of the bone awls from the Late Neolithc of the Cueva del Toro (Antequera, Malaga).

Abstract

In this communication we present the results of the experimental and traceological analysis of some of the bone awls from the site of Cueva del Toro (Antequera, Malaga, Spain), proceeding from the Late Neolithic layers dated to the last quarter of the fourth millennium cal BC. The cave is one of the most important Neolithic sites of the southern façade of the Iberian Peninsula with human occupations spanning, basically, from the Early to Late Neolithic. In order to quantitatively approach the use of the archaeological tools, a reference collection of the use-wear traces from different materials and different kinematics have been included: boring hide, scraping wood, scraping pottery, drilling bark, working linen and wool, scraping fish skin, etc. Each experimental tool has been measured with a Sensofar S Neox confocal microscope, and sampled images processed with Mountains@ software. After that, this quantitative reference collection has been used to statistically classify the archaeological tools. Results confirm previous analysis through optical reflected-light microscopy suggesting that the awls from Cueva del Toro were used for textile activities