The Cutting Edge of Subsistence Diversification: Use-Wear Analysis of a Specialized Lithic Plant Processing Technology at a Middle Archaic Central Plains Site

Abstract

Archaeologists are often limited in their understanding of plant use at sites predating cultivation. Such knowledge must typically be inferred by analyses of material culture, since preservation of floral remains is generally poor for this time period. Bifacial knives from the Coffey site (14PO1) in eastern Kansas dating to the Middle Archaic Munkers Creek phase are a case in point. The knives represent a specialized plant-gathering technology predating plant cultivation on the Central Plains, which can be inferred through microscopic use-wear analysis of the tools. When compared to past studies of sickle blade use-wear and an experimental set of tools used to cut big bluestem grass, striation patterns confirm that the Munkers Creek knives are specialized plant processing implements. This is a unique feature for the Central Plains Archaic representing the onset of subsistence diversification in the region as a response to the Altithermal. The experiments which support this conclusion also indicate that plant-cutting striations may be created by abrasive materials within the plants themselves rather than by surface soil or soil adhering to the plants. Future research may identify discernable differences in these abrasive materials and the striations they create, thereby tying particular plant species to wear patterns, and potentially informing archaeologists on prehistoric plant use beyond what is currently known.