Bone hammer in anthropology and archaeology refers to a tool made from animal bone, used as a hammer or percussor in prehistoric contexts. It is part of the broader category of bone tools, which were crafted for specific functions when stone or wood alternatives were less suitable.
🌍 Definition
- Bone Hammer: A hammering implement fashioned from dense animal bone (often long bones or antlers), used for percussion tasks.
- Morphology:
- Heavy, compact bone fragments.
- Ends often show battering, polish, or crushing from repeated use.
- Sometimes modified with grooves or shaping for grip.
🔑 Archaeological Contexts
- Lithic Technology:
- Bone hammers were used in flintknapping as soft hammers, providing controlled force to detach flakes without shattering brittle stone.
- Craft Production:
- Applied in hide working, woodworking, or shaping other bone tools.
- Global Use:
- Found in Paleolithic contexts across Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
- Antler hammers are especially common in Upper Paleolithic blade industries.
- Diagnostic Evidence:
- Wear patterns (crushing, polish) distinguish bone hammers from ordinary faunal remains.
📚 Importance in Anthropology
- Technological Insight: Demonstrates resourcefulness—using available animal remains as functional tools.
- Cultural Identity: Reflects traditions of toolmaking beyond stone, highlighting multi-material technologies.
- Comparative Value: Bone hammers show how prehistoric artisans balanced efficiency and control in lithic reduction.
- Material Culture Link: They connect subsistence (hunting animals) with technology (using bones for toolmaking).
In short: A bone hammer is a prehistoric tool made from animal bone, used especially in flintknapping as a soft hammer to detach flakes with precision, linking subsistence and technology.
