Animal rib tools in Bronze Age mining: insights from the Great Orme (UK) and Kartamysh (Ukraine) copper mines

This paper presents the results of a functional analysis of a relatively underexplored category of bone tools – primarily made from animal ribs – discovered within Bronze Age copper mining contexts. The study examines 30 bone artefacts associated with copper ore extraction from the Great Orme mines in North Wales, UK. Comparisons are made with rib tools from the well-studied bone tools collection from the Kartamysh mines in eastern Ukraine. Functional evidence enables the reconstruction of tool kinematics and offers new interpretations regarding how the tools were used. Experimental research at the Kartamysh mines has previously identified a distinct class of bone tools used for stirring and sweeping copper ore particles during wet beneficiation. Here, the functions of similar artefacts from the Great Orme mines are explored. A brief review of other ore-processing sites employing wet beneficiation is also presented. Findings from both sites suggest variability in how ancient miners utilized rib tools for extraction and ore processing activities. However, the Great Orme collection requires further detailed examination and additional experimental research.