Needles made of human bones from Xochimilco

The archaeological household at San Pedro, in Xochimilco, presents in its early stages (12th century-15th century) stone technology, and in its final stages (16th century, around the time of arrival of the Spanish conquerors) the possible use of metal. Therefore, it is important to study the technology produced by these different tools. In order to achieve this goal, we have used experimental archaeology with obsidian cutting tools and abrasives (igneous rocks) as well as metal tools and other abrasives (emery). Thus, we have analyzed the use trace, the operational chain (chaîne opératoire) and the effort and time spent when applying each of these techniques.