Tracing Traces from Present to Past

This thesis presents the study of the possibilities of functional analysis on shell implements. Shell tools from the pre-Columbian sites of Anse à la Gourde and Morel, Guadeloupe were studied and interpreted based on archaeological, ethnographical, ethnohistorical and experimental data. In addition, flint and stone tools of both sites were analysed. In this thesis functional analysis is approached from an integral point of view in order to be able to reconstruct the past technological system. The results of the functional analysis of all artefact categories are presented as well as a reconstruction of the technological system in the pre-Columbian period. It is demonstrated how this integral approach provides the possibilities to shed light on the choices made in the past on tool use and the utilisation of different raw materials.

Yvonne Lammers-Keijsers works at the Laboratory for Artefact Studies at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University.