Determining form and function: an analysis of use-related wear on Strombus gigas shell tools.

Abstract

The objective ofthis paper is to present the findings of author's research on shell artifacts in southeast Florida. Collected data comes from the analysis of 21 Strom bus gigas shell tools in the collection of the Anthropology Department at Florida Atlantic University. These samples were recovered from the Boca Weir and Jupiter Inlet sites, both of which are representative of a southeast Florida village complex. A Strom bus gigas shell artifact typology is presented along with supporting analysis of macrolmicrowear variables. The methods of Masson (1988), Eaton (1974), Keegan (1984), and Andrefsky (1998) serve as a framework and source of reference for this study.