Hafting wear on quartzite tools: An experimental case from the Wulanmulun Site, Inner Mongolia of north China

Usewear analysis is one of the most important and significant methods in studying the hafting wear. The raw material used in this article is quartzite gathered from identified raw material resource of Wulanmulun Site, and the wooden handle and hemp rope are used as the binding material of accomplishing the experimental study on the hafting wear on quartzite tools. The low-power technique was applied in observing stone specimens. The research shows that the hafting wear on quartzite tools has its own regular pattern that can be well recognized by the low-power technique. Generally, the difference of major features and patterns of hafting wear occurred and distributed at areas of the lateral edges, surface ridges and basal edges of the lower part on the specimens can be well distinguished. The binding material, binding method, processing way of binding and the morphology of stone specimen themselves can be also affected factors to the hafting wear patterns. The present study may contribute a partial set of reference standards in constructing hafting wear patterns on the quartzite tools and aid interpretation of features observed on archaeological assemblages on the basis of the low-power technique.