Flint artefacts from the Wielbark culture cemetery at Weklice, Site 7, Elbląg county

In the Bronze Age flint was still being used throughout Europe. In the early periods of that age flint continued to play an important role in the economy in many areas, as evidenced by the numerous flint mines in use at the time as well as flint tools. In the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, flint still had an important place in the economies of communities living in East Central Europe. At the same time, analysis of late flint industries suggests that some of those had no utilitarian significance. The presence of flint, especially in inhumation graves from the cemetery at Weklice (used by communities of the Wielbark culture during the Roman Period) potentially adds to the debate about its significance. The cemetery at Weklice is the one of the best-known sites from the Roman Period in Poland. The graves are mostly equipped with local finds of metals: gold, silver, copper alloys, iron and amber as well as Roman imports (glass beads, vessels: glass, copper alloys). The collections comprise over of 4000 finds, however this number may change, as excavations in 2012 and 2013 revealed 22 flint artefacts. The presence of flint materials in a Roman Period cemetery admits several possible interpretations: 1) Those may be remnants of older settlements, with graves being dug into older strata and thus some of the specimens of flint could be in their secondary filling on the site; 2) Those may be remains of flint knapping activity by the Wielbark culture community; 3) Those may have been placed in the graves deliberately by the Wielbark culture community as an instance of an older custom involving the placing of flint in graves

Pierwsze próby charakterystyki geochemicznej i palinologicznej krzemienia „czekoladowego” z kopalni Wierzbica „Zele”, pow. Radom

W artykule zawarto wstępne wyniki analiz geochemicznych i palinologicznych krzemienia „czekoladowego” z kopalni Wierzbica „Zele”, pow. Radom

An Early Neolithic House in the Foothills:A Case Study of Pottery and Lithic Artefacts from the Biskupice Site 18 (Wieliczka Foothills, Southern Poland)

Highlights•Biskupice site (S Poland) represents the late Želiezovce phase (5300 to 5000 BCE).•Pottery was produced locally, and showed a use of animal fats for cooking.•The face vessel was of local origin, but influenced by Transcarpathian style.•Obsidian artefacts originated from the Carpathian 1a/1b chemical type, S-E Slovakia.•Transcarpathian contacts between LBK and Bükk culture were discussed.AbstractThe paper presents a comprehensive analysis of pottery and lithic materials found in archaeological features associated with an Early Neolithic house from Biskupice (southern Poland) to shed light on exchange networks of the first farmers in Central Europe. The research began with the discovery of a unique fragment of a face vessel made in the Želiezovce style, a motif primarily found in Moravia and north-eastern Austria. Therefore, specialised analyses were undertaken to determine whether the Biskupice fragment was locally produced or originated from areas south of the Sudetes and Carpathians. The study involved an examination of raw clay material and the technology used to create the anthropomorphic vessel, aiming to establish its provenance (local production versus import). Petrographic methods were employed to analyse a diverse group of vessel types for comparison. Additionally, a selected group of pottery fragments, including the face vessel, underwent lipid residue analysis to determine their potential use. The combination of microscopic examinations and lipid residues analysis was utilised to study the link between the physical properties and function of the vessels. Finally, the archaeological context of other artifacts from the same house, including lithic assemblages, was investigated to determine the presence of both local and imported raw materials in Biskupice. The main conclusion of the study indicates local production of pottery, including the face vessel, and lithic implements. Conversely, a Transcarpathian transfer of some technological and decorative ideas, as well as imports of raw material such as obsidian, were confirmed

Characterizing ‘Chocolate’ Flint Using Reflectance Spectroscopy

The study details a pilot experiment in which samples of ‘chocolate’ flint from four procurement sites in Poland and chert from the United States were characterized spectrally and distinguished using reflectance spectroscopy and multivariate statistics. The characterization of ‘chocolate’ flint and the successful differentiation of sources has been, and continues to be, a major research focus for understanding prehistoric consumption, use, and distribution of this favored lithic resource. Reflectance spectroscopy potentially provides an analytical methodology for identifying artefact source by successfully distinguishing spatially and compositionally unique deposits. Initial results from the study show that ‘chocolate’ flint can be distinguished from other silicite tool stone resources, regional lookalike materials, and by individual deposit. Future studies will test a more robust sample size of ‘chocolate’ flints and conduct experiments on surface weatherin

Obsidian source use within the Alföld Linear Pottery culture in Slovakia

This paper reports the results of non-destructive energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis of 186 obsidian artifacts from eight archaeological sites attributable to the Alföld Linear Pottery culture (c. 5600-4900 cal BC). This is the largest instrument-based study yet conducted and reported for Alföld Linear Pottery culture (ALPC) artifacts from Slovakia, where ALPC chipped lithic assemblages are almost entirely composed of obsidian items. Results show that all obsidian artifacts analyzed were manufactured exclusively from a volcanic glass of the Carpathian 1 chemical type, the source of which has been localised in Slovakia. This chemical variety of obsidian appears to have been the most important volcanic glass used by prehistoric communities in East-Central Europe during the Neolithic

Erratic Flint from Poland: Preliminary results of petrographic and geochemical analyses

The paper presents the preliminary results of petrographic and geochemical analyses of erratic flint found throughout present-day Poland. Three different methods have been applied: electron probe micro analysis (EPMA), scanning electron method (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry. The results of the EPMA and SEM analyses of erratic flint have revealed a largely homogeneous mineral composition, which suggests that mineral composition will be of limited utility in in distinguishing erratic flint. However, EDXRF analysis of a small sample of erratic flint has identified differences in calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) content between and among samples of erratic and ‘chocolate’ flint but a much larger sample of erratic flint specimens needs to be analysed to determine the range of chemical composition they contain

The Application of the Multi-Layered Chert Sourcing Approach (MLA) for the Characterisation and Differentiation of ‘Chocolate Silicites’ from the Holy Cross Mountains, South-Central Poland. Archaeologia Austriaca|Archaeologia Austriaca Band 100/2016|

Chocolate silicites from the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains in south-central Poland were widely used for stone tool production from Middle Palaeolithic times to the Early Iron Age. Their presence extends beyond Poland into lithic assemblages from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and eastern Austria. Outcrops of this material are situated within a narrow strip of Mesozoic (Upper Jurassic) sediments at the northeastern footslopes of the Holy Cross Mountains. Attempts of a raw material characterisation were repeatedly undertaken, however, a clear differentiation of the visually defined subvarieties was never achieved. For the present study, we applied the Multi-Layered Chert Sourcing Approach (MLA) by combining macroscopic, microscopic and geochemical analyses using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to samples from five chocolate silicite deposits in order to characterise the materials and to assess the potential of a source differentiation. Secondly, we included chert samples from Sąspów near Kraków for differentiation on a larger scale. Our results illustrate that a source separation of Holy Cross Mountains chocolate silicites is possible to a certain extent – there are limitations due to their geographic proximity and the resulting similar geologic genesis environments. However, our study showed clear possibilities to differentiate chocolate silicites from Jurassic-Kraków silicites based on characteristic microfossil inclusions and trace element contents