Methods and means for technological and functional studies of bone Industry

Technological and functional analyses of bone, antler, and tooth assemblages in European Neolithic have been strongly developed in the last decades, with the aim of characterizing the cultural particularities and similarities. This paper aims to present the different steps of analysis and the means given for studying bone artifacts, within which experimentation and microscopic observation are central. Methodologies and their feedback on archaeological interpretation will also be expounded. Technological study is the first analytical step. The latest works demonstrate that the reduction techniques (techniques de débitage), cutting procedures and manufacturing methods shift rapidly within time and space. Thus, these parameters must be characterized in order to integrate the study of bone assemblages with the Neolithic archaeological problematic, principally those related to neolithization. Examples are given here to illustrate the relevance of these criteria. Experimentation is regarded from a historical point of view. For 20 years, we have constructed an experimental referential which aims to document the techniques and the use of archaeological artifacts. Different artifact types associated with various action modes and worked materials have been tested. The goal of the project is to build up a data bank, which can be shared in the future with other researchers. The second analytical step consists of use-wear analysis. Material functions of archaeological artifacts are important to investigate, since they bring new data on human activities during Neolithic times. Moreover, they evolve with time and space in certain cases, so that they become relevant cultural or environmental variables. We propose here, a methodology which combines different scales of observation, involving various magnifications and microscope types (stereomicroscope, reflection microscope, SEM, etc.). It begins with the analysis of artifacts volume (macroscopy) in order to characterize the ,,volume alterations and get the first functional evidence. This is followed by the analysis of surfaces (microscopy), which details the alteration and permits us to precise the use. The continuing exploration of these methods and their current results will be presented here through archaeological and experimental artifacts' examples. Conditions and limits concerning the use of different optical methods involved in use-wear analysis are also discussed. Lately, the appraisal of digital imaging has had a deep impact on ways of documenting and describing archaeological artifacts. Pieces are now much more documented by microscopic pictures than they were previously. Above all, digital imaging leads to quantitative approaches, which complete microscopic qualitative observation. This last approach needs to be developed in the near future.