The Lublin-Volhynian culture retouched blade daggers in light of usewear analysis of artefacts from burials at site 2 in Książnice, Poland

The Lublin-Volhynian culture retouched blade daggers are unique forms of flint tools in the Eneolithic in Poland. They are most often found in male graves, around the chest or skull, as signs of prestige and high status of men possessing them. Anna Zakościelna also suggested that such kind of tools did not served utilitarian function. Contrary to prevailing opinion usewear analyses of retouched blade daggers from the Lublin-Volhynian culture burial ground site 2 in Książnice, Busko Zdrój district, showed that they bear intense and various traces of use

Microliths from Graves of the Lublin-Volhynian at Site 2 in Książnice, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship

Znaleziska mikrolitów krzemiennych o formach trapezów znane są z różnych wczesnorolniczych kręgów kulturowych środkowej Europy, od kultur ceramiki wstęgowej, po kulturę pucharów lejkowatych i kulturę amfor kulistych. Formy te odkrywane są zarówno w kontekstach osadowych, jak i w sepulkralnych. Cmentarzysko kultury lubelsko-wołyńskiej w Książnicach 2, woj. świętokrzyskie jest - obok cmentarzyska kultury jordanowskiej w Domasławiu 10/11/12, woj. dolnośląskie - jedną z dwóch największych nekropolii młodszych kultur naddunajskich w południowej Polsce, z których pochodzą najliczniejsze zbiory trapezów stanowiących integralną część inwentarzy grobowych. Orientacja jam grobowych, sposób ułożenia szkieletów, a także podobieństwo różnych elementów wyposażenia zmarłych wskazują, że rytuały grzebalne obu społeczności pod wieloma względami były zbliżone. Analiza przestrzenna i traseologiczna posłużyły zrozumieniu pierwotnej funkcji trapezów oraz przyczyn obecności tych wytworów w grobach. W obrębie cmentarzyska w Książnicach liczącego 17 grobów kultury lubelsko-wołyńskiej, odkryto łącznie 30 mikrolitów o formach trapezowatych, w tym 5 grocików typu Sośnia. Mikrolity odkryte na stanowisku w Książnicach różnią się między sobą kształtem, sposobem wykonania, rodzajami mikrośladów i stopniem zużycia. Ponadto, ułożenie mikrolitów w jamach grobowych jest niejednolite, tak w relacji do samych szczątków ludzkich, jak do innych zabytków krzemiennych. W Domasławiu obserwujemy odmienną sytuacją. Sposób deponowania i funkcja mikrolitów w jamach grobowych kultury jordanowskiej wpisują się w pewien schemat.Trapezoidal flint microliths have been attributed to various early agricultural cultures in Central Europe. They are found in both settlements and cemeteries. The cemetery of the Lublin-Volhynian Culture in Książnice, Site 2, one of the two biggest necropolises of younger Danubian cultures in southern Poland, has provided the greatest number of trapezes. Use-wear analysis has revealed the manner in which trapezes were used and has shed some light on the reasons for the presence of these artifacts in graves. Microliths differ in terms of their shapes, their production and usage. The location of microliths within grave pits is heterogeneous, both in relation to the human remains and to other flint artifacts. We observe a different situation at the cemetery of the Jordanów Culture in Domasław, Site 10/11/12. Despite the fact that burial rites of both societies were similar in many respects, the distribution and the function of trapezes from graves in Domasław is quite uniform as compared to Książnice

The Lublin-Volhynian culture retouched blade daggers in light of usewear analysis of artefacts from burials at site 2 in Książnice, Poland

The Lublin-Volhynian culture retouched blade daggers are unique forms of flint tools in the Eneolithic in Poland. They are most often found in male graves, around the chest or skull, as signs of prestige and high status of men possessing them. Anna Zakościelna also suggested that such kind of tools did not served utilitarian function. Contrary to prevailing opinion usewear analyses of retouched blade daggers from the Lublin-Volhynian culture burial ground site 2 in Książnice, Busko Zdrój district, showed that they bear intense and various traces of use

Mammoth hunting : impact traces on backed implements from a mammoth bone accumulation at Kraków Spadzista (southern Poland)

This article presents the results of use-wear analysis of the backed implements (shouldered points and backed blades) discovered at Kraków Spadzista, trench B + B1. Of the 197 examined tools, 113 specimens (55%) bear traces of use. In this group, 55 artefacts show a complete set of clear, characteristic impact traces and could be interpreted as the flint parts of thrown weapons. They were used in mammoth hunting at the Kraków Spadzista site 24 thousand years ago. The hafting method can be identified on the basis of the direction of linear traces and impact negatives. Most of these artefacts were placed at the top of wooden or bone shaft. Only single specimens were attached laterally

Sickles of the Funnelbeaker culture in the light of use-wear and residue analysis

The aim of this paper is to present new data on the use of plants and on flint management by Funnel Beaker societies. Studies of usewear and residues on flint tools from the Polwica-Skrzypnik site complex located in SW Poland included microscopic analyses of traces, starch and phytoliths, and adhesives. According to the usewear analysis, most of the tools were used as sickle inserts. The production of sickles was mainly based on goodquality imported flint material, but local groups also supplemented their needs with local flint. The identified phytoliths can be assigned to the grass and sedge families Poaceae and Cyperaceae, respectively, and to the subfamily Panicoideae of Poaceae. Microscopic traces indicate that inserts were re-sharpened during use and recycled by modifying them into other morphological and functional tools, such as hide scrapers. FTIR and GCMS analyses show that the resinous substance preserved on the surfaces of the flint tools is wood tar, obtained by a process of pyrolysis of the bark of Betulaceae trees

Population mobility and lithic tool diversity in the Late Gravettian – The case study of Lubná VI (Bohemian Massif)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordThis paper presents the results of excavations conducted at the Late Gravettian site of Lubná VI in 2012 and 2018. This site is an exceptional example of a short-term Late Gravettian campsite, occupied between 27.5 and 27.1 ka cal BP. Due to the specific location of this site, in an area situated far from lithic raw material sources, the archaeological remains offer a rare possibility to understand the subsistence strategy of highly mobile hunter-gatherers in the Late Pleistocene. The knapped lithic assemblage is composed of erratic Cretaceous flint imported over long distances, and the tool inventory is typical of Late Gravettian assemblages from Central Europe, with a dominance of burins and backed implements. However, the lack of chert and flint raw material in the vicinity of the site inspired the occupants to use bladelet blanks to make hunting weaponry from burin spalls. This specific behaviour is unique among Gravettian inventories known from the western Carpathians. Reindeer dominate the faunal assemblage over other species. The season of occupation at Lubná VI was probably early autumn, and may be associated with the maximum use of environmental resources by the hunter-gatherers. The small campsite was located at a convenient spot for processing reindeer carcasses, where some hearth stone constructions were arranged. Because there was no woody vegetation in the closest vicinity of the site, reindeer bones and fat were used as fuel in hearths. Given the lack of nearby flint raw materials, the accessibility of large numbers of reindeer near Lubná, probably present on a seasonal basis, explains the occurrence of Late Gravettian occupation in this micro-region.National Science Center, PolandMinistry for Innovation and TechnologyHungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA