Bevel-ended tools on large ungulate ribs during the Bronze Age in northern Italy: Preliminary result of functional and experimental analyses

The experiments were carried out using the experimental tools on various hard materials, such as wood (fresh and dry) and antler (dry and wet) and elastic ones (fresh and dry skin). During the testing phase, the time of use, the state of the material processed, the gestures employed (direction and quantity) were monitored and recorded. All the archaeological artefacts bear almost similar use-wear patterns. Some of them have fractures and micro-chipped areas on the distal margin that indicate contact with a hard and durable material. The remaining artefacts, however, present edges slightly smoothened and with less evident anomalies. On the upper face, use-wear ends after about 5 mm from the distal edge, while on the lower face it seems to be slightly larger, about 1 cm from the edge. Under the microscope, very dense longitudinally-oriented striations are visible on the distal edge, while in the mesial portion of the artefact, they proceed to become rarer and often oblique. Under high magnification, the analysed surfaces are fairly uniform near the edge and more irregular at farther distances from it. The experimental work has allowed us to hypothesize that some of these artefacts were used for the removal of fresh and dry bark. In fact, experimental use-wear presents macro-and micro-morphologies compatible with the ones detected on the archaeological remains.