Stone Dead Project: a multi‐proxy study of lithic grave goods from Zvejnieki cemetery

Abstract

This poster presents results from the AHRC‐funded Stone Dead Project. Focussed on the lithic assemblages from the Stone Age (Mesolithic & Neolithic) Zvejnieki cemetery (Latvia) in NE Europe, the primary aim of Stone Dead was to better understand why people gave lithics to the dead, and how their choices varied across the site and over time. To achieve this, we applied a multiproxy approach, combining geology, techno‐functional analysis (experimental archaeology and microwear analysis), contextual studies and spatial modelling. Information on the biography of lithic artefacts was integrated from human biographical data to assess whether certain tool types, used and unused, were given to specific individuals based on their age and sex and other key categories. Results revealed both spatial and temporal patterns in the deposition of stone axes, bifacial points and scrapers. Wear traces on axes from both the cemetery and adjacent settlement has enabled critical new insights into the special treatment and role of axes within Stone Age death rites. Finally, we present an important legacy from the project: an open access database of Zvejnieki lithic grave goods and associated burial contexts.Abstracts presented at the MESO2025 conference. In 2025, the conference has been held for the first in Italy, at University of Ferrara. The conference takes place every five years and brings together leading scholars involved in Mesolithic research in Europe