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Bone Point Functional Diversity: A Cautionary Tale from Southern Africa

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Osseous Projectile Weaponry

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

In this chapter I present the results of a use-trace study conducted on 357 pointed bone tools from terminal Pleistocene and Holocene assemblages in southern Africa. All the bone points considered here conform to the morphological criteria of projectile arrow heads, as defined by analogy to historic Bushman arrows. Use-wear and residue traces consistent with wood-working and hide processing reveal that not all bone points functioned as projectile armatures in the past. Functional diversity is evident only during the last 6000 years. Bone points from the Pleistocene are routinely subject to rigorous use-wear analyses to establish their function, yet it is often taken for granted that similar tools found in the more recent Holocene were used as projectile tips. This paper cautions against the specious imputation to projectile technology of all bone points based solely on morphometric criteria.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Michelle Langley for inviting me to contribute to this volume. I also wish to thank the South African National Department of Arts and Culture, the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and its Scatterlings of Africa programs, the South African Archaeological Society’s Kent Bequest, the Oppenheimer Fund, and the University of Johannesburg for their financial support. My thanks also to the numerous individuals and institutions for granting me access to material. Finally, I thank my reviewers for their constructive criticisms of an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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  1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Justin Bradfield

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  1. Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Australia

    Michelle C. Langley

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Bradfield, J. (2016). Bone Point Functional Diversity: A Cautionary Tale from Southern Africa. In: Langley, M. (eds) Osseous Projectile Weaponry. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0899-7_3

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