An Investigation of the Manufacture and Use of Bone Awls at Wolf Village (42UT273)

• Main Author: Bryce, Joseph A.
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2016
• Subjects: Native Americans; Fremont; Wolf Village; Bone Tools; Experimental Archaeology; Anthropology
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6189; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7189&context=etd

Wolf Village is a Fremont farming village located at the southern end of Utah Valley where Brigham Young University has conducted six field schools there and recovered 135 awl and awl fragments. The Wolf Village awls, like the awls from many Fremont sites, represent a large range of morphological variability. Because of the ubiquity and diversity of Fremont bone awls, many different approaches have been taken to organize and understand them; focusing more on morphological characteristics than interpretation. In order to better understand the life use of bone awls, experiments were conducted to replicate the manufacture and use of these tools and to create a comparative collection for diagnostic characteristics. Based on the results of analysis and comparison, the craftspeople at Wolf Village used a variety of methods to make tools for use in basket-making, leatherwork, and other activities.