The technology for manufacturing ground slate knives of the Eskimo (based on materials from the Ekven burial ground, 1st millennium AD)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the reconstruction of the technology used by the Eskimo to manufacture slate knives, based on materials from the Ekven settlement and burial site in Chukotka (Russia, 1st millennium AD). A comprehensive methodology was applied to study the artifacts in order to achieve this goal. First and foremost, a traceological analysis was conducted, which made it possible to document in detail the processing traces on the knife surfaces, such as flaking, pecking, grinding and drilling. In addition, archaeological finds of abrasive stones and bow drills were studied, as they could have been used for grinding of the knives and drilling through-holes for attaching them to handles. These data formed the basis for experimental modeling. The specific goal of the experiments was to determine the characteristics of slate processing and the methods used to manufacture replicas of men’s and women’s knives similar to the original Eskimo artifacts. The slate raw material for the experimental replicas was selected based on the results of a petrographic analysis of tools found at the ancient Eskimo settlement of Ekven. The attachment of handles was reconstructed using archaeological and ethnographic data on the use of binding materials and adhesive compositions, as well as the results of their technical and technological analysis.