Toward an Understanding of Stone Tool Variability: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Konso Hide Workers of Southern Ethiopia

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Kathryn Weedman博士和她的同事将在埃塞俄比亚南部的Konso人中进行两个民族志和考古研究，Konso人是世界上为数不多的继续制作和使用石器的人之一。他们的目标是调查石器变异背后的意义，100多年来，石器变异一直是考古学研究的一个巨大兴趣的来源，因此，基于推断方法、民族史学文献和实验考古学，对这种多样性有多种解释。Konso人每天都会制作和使用石器，将兽皮加工成床上用品、衣服和包等日常用品。此外，Konso是独一无二的，因为他们代表了唯一已知的文化，在那里，女性主要制作和使用石器。该小组将重点采访HIDE工人、其他工匠和农民，以了解HIDE工人的社会-经济-政治地位及其在近索社会中的活动。将观察石器的制造、使用和丢弃，并收集每个人的石材生产废物、重新磨削的薄片和刮刀。他们将对石器和废品进行宏观和微观形态分析以及DNA残留研究。通过将人种学和材料研究相结合，他们将能够为解释石器多样性提供背景。最后，他们将挖掘废弃的兽皮工人家庭，以评估随着时间的推移，石器的形态、残留物(DNA)和空间分布如何受到文化和环境因素的影响。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。在我们史前的大部分时间里，石器是我们祖先最常见的遗物，在许多情况下，它们是考古学家破译我们祖先生活方式的唯一物品。作为为数不多的继续制造和使用石器的民族之一，Konso人可能会为考古学家了解石器的多样性提供有用的见解。由于妇女使用和制造石器，它们是独一无二的，对于增进我们对性别角色以及它们可能如何反映在石器技术中的知识尤为重要。随着西方服装和其他产品的涌入，用石器制作兽皮是一门垂死的手艺。因此，他们必须通过书面描述和纪录片来记录这种罕见的隐藏女工。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Kathryn Weedman and her colleagues will conduct two field seasons of ethnographic and archaeological research in southern Ethiopia among the Konso, who are one of the few people in the world to continue to make and use stone tools. Their goal is to investigate the meaning behind stone tool variation, which has been a source of great archaeological interest for over 100 years, and as a result there are multiple explanations for this diversity based on inferential methods, ethnohistoric documents, and experimental archaeology. The Konso make and use stone tools on a daily basis to process hides into everyday items such as bedding, clothing, and bags. Furthermore, the Konso are unique because they represent the only known culture, where women primarily make and use stone tools. The team will focus on interviewing the hide workers, other artisans, and farmers for information concerning the social-economic-political position of hide workers and their activities within Konso society. The manufacture, use, and discard of the stone tools will be observed and stone production waste, resharpening flakes, and scrapers from each individual will be collected. They will conduct macro- and microscopic morphological analysis and DNA residue studies of the stone tools and waste products. By combining ethnographic and material studies, they will be able to provide a context for interpreting stone tool diversity. Lastly, they will excavate abandoned hide worker households to assess how the morphology, residues (DNA), and the spatial distributions of stone tools are affected by cultural and environmental factors through time. This research is important for several reasons. For most of our prehistory, stone tools were the most commonly left object by our ancestors, and in many instances they represent the only objects archaeologists have for deciphering our ancestors' lifeways. The Konso, as one of the few peoples to continue to make and use stone tools, may provide archaeologists with useful insights for understanding stone tool diversity. Unique because of the use and manufacture of stone tools by women, they are especially important for enhancing our knowledge of gender roles and how they may be reflected in stone tool technology. With the influx of western clothing and other products, hide working with stone tools is a dying craft. Thus, it is imperative that they document this rare occurrence of female hide workers through both written descriptions and documentary films.