usewear

Usewear, or use-wear, is the study of the wear traces produced on artifacts by their use in tool-related tasks. In archaeology, usewear analysis aims to infer tool function, materials worked, and techniques from edge damage, polish, micro-polish, and striations observed on objects, rather than from form alone.

Though most common on lithic artifacts, usewear patterns are also identified on bone, antler, metal, ceramics, and other materials. The approach helps reconstruct how people manipulated tools across the Paleolithic to historic periods and is typically supported by experimental replication to build reference collections of wear signatures.

Analytical methods range from low- and high-power macroscopic inspection to stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Researchers compare wear with experimental references, map polish distribution and edge alteration, and document striations, micro-scar patterns, and edge rounding. Residue analysis may accompany usewear when preserved.

Interpretation depends on material-specific wear signatures; the same pattern can arise from different uses, and post-depositional processes may modify surfaces. Analysts emphasize multiple lines of evidence, controlled observations, and clear documentation to reduce subjectivity and to distinguish usewear from transport and abrasion.

Usewear analysis contributes to reconstructing subsistence strategies, craft technologies, and daily practices. It complements typology and residue studies and is limited by preservation, context, and the need for extensive reference material. Ongoing work seeks standardized protocols and broader reference corpora to improve reliability.