Roman Bone Artefacts. First Steps Towards a New Approach

This study aimed to assess whether use-wear analysis combined with experimental archaeology could be applied to bone artefacts from the Roman period as an aid in identifying the function of these artefacts. Artefacts of the Roman site Augusta Raurica, Switzerland, were examined employing the use-wear approach and compared with experimentally reproduced and used replicas. These replicas were experimentally crafted from bone using lathes, files, knives, horsetail and leather. During the experimental reproduction, many interesting observations about the different methods and raw materials were made.