Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

An Artifact of Human Behavior? Paleoindian Endscraper Breakage in Midwestern and Great Lakes North America

Perrone, Alyssa R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586799200003825

Abstract Details

2020, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology.
Endscrapers, comprising the most abundant tool class at Eastern North American Paleoindian sites, are flaked stone specimens predominately used for scraping hides. They are broken in high frequencies at Paleoindian sites, a pattern that has been attributed to Paleoindian use. However, previous experimental and ethnographic research on endscrapers suggests they are difficult to break. We present a series of replication experiments assessing the amount of force required for endscraper breakage, as well as the amount of force generated during human use. We also analyze which morphometric variable best predicts the breakage force. Our results demonstrate that human use comes nowhere close to breakage force, which is best predicted by endscraper thickness. Finally, we examine an actual Paleoindian endscraper assemblage, concluding that humans were not the cause of breakage. Taphonomic factors such as modern plowing, or trampling, are a much better potential explanation for the high breakage frequencies present Paleoindian sites.
Metin Eren (Committee Chair)
Michelle Bebber (Committee Member)
Linda Spurlock (Committee Member)
C. Owen Lovejoy (Committee Member)
67 p.
Archaeology
endscrapers; breakage; force; paleoindians; stone tools; great lakes; north america

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Perrone, A. R. (2020). An Artifact of Human Behavior? Paleoindian Endscraper Breakage in Midwestern and Great Lakes North America [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586799200003825

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Perrone, Alyssa. An Artifact of Human Behavior? Paleoindian Endscraper Breakage in Midwestern and Great Lakes North America. 2020. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586799200003825.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Perrone, Alyssa. "An Artifact of Human Behavior? Paleoindian Endscraper Breakage in Midwestern and Great Lakes North America." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586799200003825

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1586799200003825
532
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.