Form and Function of Bipolar Lithic Artifacts from
the Three Dog Site, San Salvador, Bahamas
Mary Jane Berman, April K. Sievert, and Thomas R. Whyte
Abstract
The significance of a microlithic assemblage composed of imported, nonlocal materials is discussed for the Three Dog site, an early Lucayan
site located on San Salvador, Bahamas. The Bahama archipelago is an
interesting area in which to examine the organization of technology because the islands
lack cherts and other suitable materials for chipped stone manufacture,
suggesting that economizing strategies may have been practiced. The artifacts
were manufactured by bipolar production and a few show evidence of recycling and reuse.
Microwear analysis, undertaken to determine function, was inconclusive
due to heavy weathering from the depositional environment. Traces of
an organic adhesive suggest that some of the objects were used as hafted or composite
tools. The presence of starch grains, most likely Xanthosoma sp., and
other plant residues on some artifacts suggests they were used in plant processing.
The morphological similarities of the flakes produced through bipolar reduction
with those from ethnographic sources suggest that most of them probably
were used as grater chips to process root or tuber foods. The assemblage was
compared to other bipolarly-produced microlithic assemblages from nearby islands.
Resumen
Este artículo discute la importancia de la presencia de un conjunto microlítico compuesto de materiales importados en el sitio Three
Dog, un sitio Lucayo temprano localizado en San Salvador, Bahamas. Las Bahamas
es un área interesante para el estudio de la organización de la tecnología
ya que las islas carecen de silex u otros materiales apropriados para la manufactura
de piedra tallada. Numerosas evidencias de medidas de economizar inducidas
por la escasez del material, tales como la técnica bipolar y el reuso
y reciclaje de los artefactos, estan presente en el conjunto. Se llevó a
cabo un análisis de microdesgastes para determinar el uso de los artefactos. El marcado
deterioro de los artefactos líticos producidos por las pobres condiciones
de deposición hace difícil la identificación de los patrones de lustre.
Las semejanzas morfológicas entre las lascas producidas por la reducción bipolar y las descritas
en las fuentes etnográficas sugieren que muchas de ellas fueron usadas como
microlascas de ralladores de tubérculos. Tanto la función y el
uso anticipado como la falta de buenas fuentes de lítica son consideraciones importantes en
la determinación de la forma y la tecnología de artefactos.
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