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Working With Wilmsen: Paleoindian End Scraper Design and use at Nobles Pond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark F. Seeman ,
Thomas J. Loebel ,
Aaron Comstock  and
Garry L. Summers
Mark F. Seeman
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242 (mseeman@kent.edu)
Thomas J. Loebel
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, St. Xavier University, Chicago, IL 60467
Aaron Comstock
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
Garry L. Summers
Affiliation:
8170 Sharon Ave NW, North Canton, OH 44720
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Abstract

This study is an investigation of tool design and the organization of work. Here we further test Wilmsen’s (1970) conclusion that early Paleoindian tools—specifically, hafted end scrapers—were redesigned to facilitate the processing of a broader range of resources as colonizing populations moved into the forested environments of eastern North America from the west. We use a large sample from the Nobles Pond site, morphometic variables, and high-powered microwear to evaluate the effects of design and reduction as they bear on this generalization. Results do not support Wilmsen’s model, and, more generally, we conclude that an understanding of form and function in reductive technologies comes not only from an appreciation of the planned, stage-like change that is inherent in the design of reliable tools, but also from a consideration of the many contingencies and particular work situations that arise in the lives of mobile foragers.

Resumen

Resumen

Este trabajo es una investigación del diseño de herramientas y la organización del trabajo. Evaluamos la propuesta de Wilmsen (1970) de que las herramientas del periodo Paleoindio temprano, específicamente raspadores con mango, se rediseñaron parafacilitar el procesamiento de un rango de recursos más amplio, cuando poblaciones colonizadoras se trasladaron desde oeste a los ambientes boscosos del este de Norteamérica. Utilizamos una gran muestra del sitio de Nobles Pond, variables morfométricas y desgaste de alto impacto para evaluar los efectos del diseño y la reducción ya que estos son usados para las generalizaciones. Los resultados no apoyan el modelo de Wilmsen, y en general concluimos que la comprensión de la forma y la función en las tecnologías de reducción proviene no sólo de la apreciación de los cambios planeados, o en etapas que son inherentes al diseño de herramientas confiables, sino también de la consideración de muchas contingencias y situaciones particulares de trabajo que surgen en la vida de los grupos nómadas de cazadores – recolectores.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , July 2013 , pp. 407 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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