Reconstruction of the Technology for Manufacturing Slate Knives Based on the Results of Studying Materials from Sites of Ancient and Historical Eskimos

Abstract

The article deals with reconstruction of the technology for making slate knives of the Eskimos of Chukotka and Russian America, obtained during archaeological excavations and ethnographic collections. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive methodology for studying artifacts was used. First of all, a traceological analysis was carried out, which made it possible to record in detail traces of processing on the surfaces of knives, such as percussion, picketing, grinding and drilling. In addition, archaeological finds of abrasive stones and bow drills, which could be used for grinding knives and drilling through holes when fastening them in handles, were studied. The recorded uniformity of most technological features on both archaeological and ethnographic artifacts indisputably indicates the commonality of their manufacturing techniques. These data formed the basis for experimental modeling. The specific purpose of the experiments was to clarify the features of slate processing and methods for making replicas of women's and men's knives from it, similar to the original Eskimo products. The slate raw materials for the experimental replicas were selected based on the results of petrographic analysis of tools found at the ancient Eskimo settlement of Ekwen. The fastening of the handles was reconstructed on the basis of archaeological and ethnographic data on the use of binding material and adhesive composition. Technological traces identified and interpreted using a complex methodology on the surfaces of archaeological and ethnographic artifacts made it possible not only to characterize the methods of making these products, but also to prove the identity of their production, which is important evidence of the long existence of production traditions that have been preserved in Chukotka since the existence of the ancient Bering Sea culture of the 1st millennium n. e. until the time of ethnographic observations made in the 19th–20thcenturies.