Although the project had to be shortened to 10 months, the objectives and tasks planned for the first year have been successfully achieved and even a large part of the activities planned for the second year of the grant have also been carried out.
The Fellow, Dr P. Vidal-Matutano, has achieved through this project an independent research career in the analysis of tool and wear traces in archaeological wooden artefacts. Through the first five work packages (WP), the project has made it possible to:
1) Ensure effective coordination and communication of the work plan throughout the duration of the action with financial and progress monitoring meetings.
2) Provide training to the Fellow in tool-mark and use-wear analysis on wooden artefacts as this approach has been rarely applied to desiccated wooden artefacts from non-metallurgical societies.
3) Test the application of 3D Scanning methods in desiccated archaeological artefacts and experimental wooden material.
4) Identify the raw material used (woody species) for woodworking activities on different islands.
5) Recognise the state of preservation of wooden artefacts stored in Canarian archaeological museums through taphonomy.
6) Carry out tool-mark analyses of Prehispanic wooden artefacts by setting up a protocol and database for this type of analyses.
7) Design an experimental programme and carry it out, obtaining the first reference collection in the Canary Islands of woodworking marks using volcanic lithic technologies and bone technology.
8) Communication and dissemination of preliminary results of the project among both the scientific community and the society.
The WoodTRACES project has applied a novel interdisciplinary approach based on archaeobotany, experimental archaeology, 3D scanning methods and tool-mark and wear analyses to study the process of production and usage of wooden artefacts by the first settlers of the Canarian archipelago. Although the duration of the project has been significantly reduced, the good planning and close work with the project collaborators has resulted in extensive archaeological and experimental data. The analysis of more than 100 wooden artefacts from different islands, including domestic and funerary contexts, revealed meaningful data regarding wood acquisition and woodworking technologies at different islands, involving a deep knowledge of plant availability and the physical and mechanical characteristics of taxa. Preliminary results indicate the existence of elements common to all islands (use of fire in woodworking activities, same manufacturing processes of specific elements, woodworking orientations and directions, specific characteristics of striae and accidents, etc.). Differences in accident features due to the involvement of different lithic technologies in woodworking activities on each island or to different techniques developed have also been identified. These first insights into woodworking activities and the technological strategies adopted by the indigenous groups of the Canary Islands are contributing enormously to the consolidation of a research line with great potential for the Canarian archipelago.
WoodTRACES has produced one Facebook / Twitter account with regular updates on the tasks being completed by the project, conference or workshop talks and posters presenting the project to different audiences, the coordination of a charcoal analysis workshop at the HI with the participation of undergraduate and graduate students and participation at public events such as the MacaroNight 2021. Several public talks, oral communications and papers are in preparation or planned for the coming months.
