Traceology Today: Methodological Issues in the Old World and the Americas

Since it was established as a formal discipline, use-wear analysis has become routine practice in archaeological research, under the general heading of 'Traceology', 'Wear Trace Analysis', 'Functional Analysis', etc. Until recently, most of the scientific meetings relating to these themes have taken place in Europe or in North America. This volume, however, represents work from South America, covering a selection of papers from the first session organized within the scope of Commission 33 of the UISPP 'Functional Studies of Prehistoric artifacts and their Socio-economic inferences on past societies', realized in Brazil during the XVI World Congress of the UISPP (Florianópolis, 4-10 September 2011). During the session, researchers sought to explore and discuss particular approaches to use-wear analysis and its application to different raw materials. The papers also cover the current state of the discipline, the delineation of basic directions of investigation, new technologies and their correct application, modelling technological processes, and paleo-economic reconstructions. As a corollary, the work also explores the differences between European and recently developed Latin American lines of research.