Of all the items in table 2, only two, the stone axe head and the chert flake, would be sure to survive in a prehistoric context. Those aspects of Wola life which would be likely to go undetected archaeologically include all items relating to clothing and decoration, all musical instruments, all evidence for hunting and food processing (except some butchering use-wear traces on chert flakes), all evidence for hafting axes, and manufacturing agricultural tools, fire-lighting equipment and bags. While the use of soft raw materials can be detected through use-wear analysis, evidence for the procurement of fur animals, the presence of needles and so on, what these materials were used to make can only be speculation. Direct evidence of women and women's work would all but disappear and they would become archaeologically invisible.
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Last updated: Wed Oct 8 2003