Bone industry at the Bronze Age settlement of Mursia, Pantelleria.

Abstract

The whole bone industry, coming from the excavations that took place between 2001 and 2005 on the site of Mursia, consists of 137 finds, mostly awls and drills. In order to create a typology of the industry, it was performed the determination, where possible, of species and anatomical parts and the technological and functional analysis. Specifically, to understand the technological aspects, modes of production and reconstruction of the chains, the production techniques through the manufacturing and finishing of tools have been performed experimentally. Afterward, especially for the understanding of the functional aspects so the real use of tools, have been performed traces of use and production analysis, observed by light microscopy and SEM, performing comparisons with experimental traceological models, with studies observed in existing literature and with ethnographic contexts. The creation of a database allows to explicit all aspects of each artifact, its location and any observations to obtain the statistical data, of recurrence of types and shapes. It allows to create plans, explanatory charts and diagrams relating to every metric, formal and technical aspects of the instruments, as well as the statistical analysis of the spatial distribution of artifacts in different settings and stratigraphic levels. This multidisciplinary approach has allowed a detailed typological classification of the collection, which may be a reference point for materials coming from Mursia in future excavations.