Stones, bones and reedsoperating chains in manufacture and use of artifacts for the production of basketry in the societies of Tierra del Fuego

Abstract

Many ethnographers and travellers have described the hunter-gatherer societies of Tierra del Fuego. In these records there are references to different types of stone andbone tools, as well as to different products made with reeds and skin. Although notpreserved in the archaeological record, the techno-functional analysis of lithic and bonematerials has provided information about the technology and use of these perishablematerials.Basketry is an activity which leaves no direct evidence in the archaeological record inour region. For this reason, we undertook this work in order todevelopan experimentalprogram concerning production and use of lithic and bone instruments involved in thedifferent operating chains interlinked in the process ofreeds weaving. Our study uses ananalytical approach that combines morphological and techno-functional analysis,ethnographic recording and experimental research. We believe that this work can helpto understand how are interlinked the different operating chains involved inmanufacture and use of instruments for the production of other goods, especially whendealing with perishable materials that only have indirect evidence in the archaeological record.