Glossary Archaeological method and dating
Use-wear analysis
The microscopic study of scratches, polish, chipping and abrasion on tools and vessels to work out how they were used.
Use leaves traces. Cutting, scraping, spinning, grinding or stirring each produce characteristic wear, which can be examined under magnification and compared with experimental replicas. The method began with stone tools and is now applied to pottery, bone, metal and jewellery.
At Khirokitia a study of 155 bone needles found that most had been used on soft plant fibres (Spindle Whorls and Textile Tools), and wear on Bronze Age spindle whorls from Marki-Alonia shows the low-whorl spindle of the Levant and the Aegean in use. Jewellery and pottery from tombs have been checked for wear to separate objects used in life from those made for burial.
Related terms
- Assemblage
A group of objects found together in one context, such as a tomb, pit or floor, and studied as a set.
- Residue analysis
Chemical identification of traces of food, drink, oils, resins or drugs absorbed into or left on the inside of ancient vessels.
- Chaîne opératoire
French for 'operational sequence': the full chain of steps in making an object, from choosing raw materials to finishing and firing.
Where it appears
- Plank Figures
- Spindle Whorls and Textile Tools in Ancient Cyprus
- Bowls
- Bronze Age Chamber Tombs
- Clothing and Dress in Ancient Cyprus
- Dippers and Ladles
- Neolithic and Picrolite Figurines
- Red Polished Ware
- Red Polished Zoomorphic Vessels and Animal Figurines
- The Jewelry of Ancient Cyprus
- Weapons of Bronze Age Cyprus