Use-wear studies of the function of prehistoric wooden products, is it really possible? The example of pestles from sites in Šventoji, Lithuania

The article presents the preliminary results of the traceological analysis of the collection of wooden pestles obtained during excavations of the complex of subneolithic sites in Šventoji in Lithuania. During the studies, an attempt was made to assess the possibility of interpreting the functions of the analysed tools based on the (probably) functional damage visible on them and to verify the hypotheses about the way they were used put forward by the authors of the excavations. The primary goal of the reported research was an attempt to first (preliminary) assess the nature of damage occurring on wooden tools (in this case, pestles) as a result of their use, the possibility of analysing and interpreting these traces (also in the context of post-depositional changes and modifications resulting from the conservation process), and consequently (in general) the possibility of conducting functional analyses of wooden tools dating back to the Stone Age.