My Name is Alaina Helm, I interned with the Section of
Archaeology during the summer of 2009, and I am a Junior at Oberlin College in
Ohio. You may already have seen my other posts about previous projects I have
worked on: lithic
analysis of Kings Quarry (36Lh2) and refitting
debitage from Eelskin Rockshelter (36Bu159). This post is about another
project I completed this summer doing experimental archaeology on end scrapers
under the direction of Dr. Kurt Carr, Senior Curator, The Section of
Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.
Prehistoric
peoples demonstrate a preference for different lithic material types during
different time periods. Paleoindians (10,000 to 12,000 years before present)
preferred jasper and chert for making stone tools, despite inhabiting areas in
closer proximity to alternative materials such as argillite and metarhyolite.
During the transitional period (2800-4300 years before present) argillite and
metarhyolite were intensively used throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. With this knowledge in mind, we wanted to perform
an experiment regarding the lithic composition of end scrapers to determine if
there is a reason for biases towards certain lithic materials in the
archaeological record. Prehistoric
peoples demonstrated a preference towards jasper scrapers despite being in
closer proximity to other sources of useable material such as argillite. To
determine if there was a functional reason for obtaining different materials
from farther afield, we made scrapers of several materials and underwent
experimental scraping with them. The goal of the experiment was to observe
variations in wear patterns and effectiveness in scraping pieces of wood by using
different materials.
Scrapers made for our experiment from various materials. Each scraper was assigned an alphanumeric designation for tracking purposes.
Before
beginning our experiments, I researched the literature to see if anyone had
performed and written about a similar experiment. Although numerous articles
have been published about use wear on scrapers, none of the articles compared
wear between various lithic materials.
Our experiment consisted of several scrapers of varying materials created
for the experiment by expert flint knapper Steve Nissley. The materials used
were argillite, metarhyolite, jasper, quartzite, Normanskill chert, and Onondaga
chert. All scraping was done on soft wood because it is easier to acquire than
hide and would more quickly produce wear because it is a harder material.
Before being used, the scraper was hafted by channel lock pliers.
The experiment was performed by hafting an end scraper using pliers padded with softened rawhide. The tools were then
used in increments of 500 scrapes with a stroke length of thirty-two
centimeters. The number of scrapes were carefully counted, and stroke length
and strength was kept as uniform as possible to ensure consistency. Two sets of
scrapers were used; one set was used by a variety of people including museum
staff and volunteers, and the other set was used by only me. Having scrapers
used by several people allowed more scraping to be performed faster without
limitations caused by fatigue. Because several thousand scrapes needed to be
performed for the experiment, having a separate set used by only one person
allowed for a controlled comparison. The scrapers were photographed from
multiple angles and at multiple magnifications using a Dino-Lite digital
microscope with the highest resolution images at around 200x magnification. The
scrapers were also measured using digital calipers at designated reference
marks drawn on the scraper for consistency. All measurements and photographs
were taken before the scrapers were used and at regular intervals of scraping
to ensure a consistent record of wear on each scraper.
Alaina takes measurements and photographs of the experimental scrapers.
The
high-resolution images revealed that Argillite and Metarhyolite seemed to wear
down faster with more visibly rounded edges than the Normanskill and Onondaga cherts,
quartzite, and jasper. The chert scrapers showed a higher level of effectiveness
than the jasper and the quartzite scrapers. Effectiveness was gauged by measuring
the depth of the gouge each scraper created after the same number of scrapes. The
argillite and metarhyolite scrapers shallower gouges than the jasper and chert scrapers,
and the jasper scraper was slightly less effective than the chert scraper.
These results suggest that the reason cherts and jaspers were the preferred
materials for scrapers was due to their increased effectiveness in comparison
with materials that may have been easier to obtain.
Argillite scraper with no wear (top) and after 500 scrapes (bottom).
This experiment was an interesting way to learn about lithic
wear and get hands on experience with experimental archaeology. It allowed me
to experience the nuances of designing an experiment and the difficulties in
separating wear in differing lithic types. I learned a lot about aspects of
experimental archaeology that are often not fully appreciated without the
experience to back it up. This will help inform the way I approach any similar
projects in the future. For example, on paper, scraping something 1000 times
does not seem to be much until you realize that the individual scraping will
need breaks. It is nice to occasionally switch up activities as well to make
such experiments endurable. I hope that
my time with the Section of Archaeology at the State Museum of Pennsylvania
will provide me with insight and experience during the planning and preparation
of future research and will help to form a foundation on which I can further
add to the results of our research.
Upcoming Pennsylvania archaeology events:
This festival features a full day of hands-on activities.
Visitors will be able to work with professional archaeologists and assist with
three different excavations. An archaeologist from The State Museum of
Pennsylvania will be on hand to answer questions.
Archaeologists from The State Museum of Pennsylvania will be
conducting excavations in the mansion’s back yard during the park’s annual fall
festival celebrating the old-time ways of life. Since 2006 archaeologists have
been documenting archaeological evidence from the past occupations at this site
dating from approximately 9000 years ago to the present day.
Don’t miss your opportunity to learn about the prehistoric
people of western Pennsylvania that we call the Monongahela Indians. This theme
will be featured at the 2019 Workshops in Archaeology hosted by the Archaeology
Section at The State Museum of Pennsylvania. The program will take place on
Saturday, November 9, 2019 at the museum.
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