6533b862fe1ef96bd12c61dd

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Needles made of human bones from Xochimilco

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Abstract This paper presents the study of needles made of long human bones (Homo sapiens) from the region of Xochimilco, now a quarter in Mexico City, which in pre-Hispanic times was one of the cities conquered by the Aztec empire. We shall discuss the development and use of these needles, as well as the identification of the raw material they are made of and a proposal about what people these bones were obtained from: captives or craftsmen's relatives? The archaeological household at San Pedro, in Xochimilco, presents in its early stages (12th century–15th century) stone technology, and in its final stages (16th century, around the time of arrival of the Spanish conquerors) the possible use of metal. Therefore, it is important to study the technology produced by these different tools. In order to achieve this goal, we have used experimental archaeology with obsidian cutting tools and abrasives (igneous rocks) as well as metal tools and other abrasives (emery). Thus, we have analyzed the use trace, the operational chain (chaine operatoire) and the effort and time spent when applying each of these techniques.