New perspectives for recognizing use wear from cereals

This paper analyses and compares experimental data related to harvesting activities on three species of cereals: Triticum monococcum, Triticum dicoccum and Hordeum vulgare. The ultimate aim is to isolate the features that can be used to associate a specific use wear trace with each cereal. Use wear traces on experimental flint sickles used to manually harvest the three cereal species were analysed under a metallographic microscope. The characterization of the traces was carried out through the introduction of new variables for the description of the traces, and the observation and description not only of the edge area but also of the internal areas. This approach involves the division of the object surface into three specific areas (edge area, outer edge area and interior area) to be analysed both individually and in relation to each other. Preliminary results suggest that it is possible, at an experimental level, to distinguish between the traces of the three cereal species considered.