L’industrie osseuse des Iroquoiens du site Mailhot-Curran (BgFn-2) : une étude des déchets de fabrication

Bien que l’os soit une matière première ayant joué un rôle essentiel au sein des activités quotidiennes des Iroquoiens du Saint-Laurent, il existe à ce jour très peu d’analyses systématiques de l’outillage en os et des débris de fabrication retrouvés en Iroquoianie. Afin de pallier ces lacunes, ce mémoire de maitrise porte sur l’analyse des vestiges en os ouvragés récupérés sur le site villageois Mailhot-Curran (BgFn-2), occupé durant le Sylvicole supérieur tardif par une communauté iroquoienne du Saint-Laurent. Plus précisément, l’étude consiste à analyser l’industrie osseuse en portant une attention particulière aux déchets de fabrication. Cet examen attentif a pour principal objectif de documenter les modes de gestion et de sélection de la matière première ainsi que d’améliorer la compréhension des techniques préhistoriques employées pour la fabrication des objets en os. Au moyen d’analyses technologiques, zooarchéologiques et tracéologiques, il sera possible de classifier les déchets de fabrication, de documenter leur origine technologique et, ultimement, de reconstituer un certain nombre de chaines opératoires. Une étude détaillée de la distribution spatiale des artéfacts permettra également de mieux comprendre l’organisation des activités dans l’espace villageois. Ce mémoire a aussi pour objectif de fournir des balises méthodologiques et empiriques relatives à l’étude des déchets de fabrications en os, afin de démontrer la pertinence de considérer ces derniers dans la compréhension des systèmes socioéconomiques et culturels. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were very talented producers of bone tools of all kinds but little is known about the ancient technologies involved in the manufacture of these objects. The relevance of this study arises from the fact that there are significant methodological and theoretical gaps in the analysis of the bone objects produced by St. Lawrence Iroquoians. The aim of this thesis is to provide some answers to those specific gaps of information. This research involves various analyses which are characteristic of technological approaches, and zooarchaeological and use-wear methods. These particular methods will allow me to examine and understand more accurately the past technologies associated with St. Lawrence Iroquoians bone tool industries. Through the analysis and classification of the by-products, debris, blanks, rough-outs and finished objects, I hope to provide a method for understanding the sequence underlying the production of bone tools (procurement, selection, treatment, debitage, shaping, finishing, etc.) and to evaluate the investment made in the procurement and selection of the raw materials. A spatial distribution analysis is carried out to better understand the context for the planning and manufacture of bone tools within the village space. The main purposes of this study are to present methodological guidelines regarding the classification of bone refuse and by-products; to reveal morphological and technological characteristics of these archeological remains through macrosopic and microscopic obsevations, and to provide an empirical model adapted to the analysis of the chaines opératoires leading to distinct categories of bone refuse.

Keyphrases: Archéologie, Sylvicole supérieur, Iroquoiens du Saint-Laurent, Industrie osseuse, Chaine opératoire, analyse technologique, os, Matières dures d'origine animale, os, Archaeology, Late Woodland, St. Lawrence Iroquoians, Bone tool industry, technological analysis, Bone, Osseous materials