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O pierwszych grobach kultur ceramik wstęgowych w Polsce – raz jeszcze. Inwentarze krzemienne grobów kultury lubelsko-wołyńskiej ze stanowiska Grodzisko II w Złotej w świetle analizy traseologicznej

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Mączyński P., Zakościelna A.

Wiadomości Archeologiczne

2017

vol. LXVIII

issue 68

107-118

Archaeological materials from graves of the Lublin-Volhynian Culture at Złota, Sandomierz County were published in the past at least twice, reported on briefly by Józef Żurowski (1930; 1932), and published comprehensively – complete with osteology, archaeozoology and malacology analyses and 14C dates – by Barbara Sałacińska and Anna Zakościelna (2007). The present study reports on insights from the analysis of use-wear on flints from grave inventories no. 101 and 122 deriving from site Grodzisko II at Złota (Fig. 1). The analysis focused on seven flint objects. Two of these survived from the original total of 11 flint objects found in grave 101 (Fig. 2): a retouched dagger on a macrolithic blade (Fig. 3) and an endscraper on a blade (Fig. 4). Grave 122, interpreted as a cenotaph (Fig. 5), contributed five flints: three blades (Fig. 6:1.2, 7:1), a blade-like flake (Fig. 7:2) and a truncation (Fig. 8). All of them were examined for the presence of use-wear. Possibly the most remarkable in this group is the dagger on a retouched blade from grave 101. The use-wear identified on its surface was caused by the use of the lateral edges of this tool for scraping hide and/or plants (Fig. 3, 9:3.4). Additionally, the dagger appears to have been kept in a sheath (Fig. 9:1). Not to be discounted either is the presence of a handle made of an organic material (Fig. 9:2), similar to the one known from a flint dagger found at Charavines in France (Fig. 10). The endscraper from the same grave inventories had been used as a knife for cutting meat (Fig. 4). Flints belonging to the grave inventory 122 appear to have been used in somewhat different activities namely, in firemaking – the truncation (Fig. 8), and working wood – the blade-like flake (Fig. 7:2). Two blades (Fig. 6:1, 7:1) presumably were used in processing animal carcasses, but use-wear observed on them is insufficiently developed to make this conclusion definitive. The investigated assemblage is not the first group of flint tools assigned to the Lublin-Volhynian Culture which was subjected to use-wear analysis. Despite the small size of this series a comparison made of the analysis results revealed a degree of convergence. There was similarity both in how daggers were used as macrolithic scrapers, may have been provided with a handle and/or a sheath. Tools with similar use-wear surfaced at Książnice 2 and Strzyżów 2A. Also worth noting is the frequently observed tradition of offering to the dead on their last journey ‘flint tools’ in the form of unretouched blades which apparently served as knives. This type of behaviour is documented by the grave inventory 122 from Złota, and also, by other inventories, for example, the grave inventory 1/1961 at Strzyżów IA, and by all the funeral features with flint objects in site Strzyżów 2A (graves nos. 3, 4, 5, 6).

Wytwory krzemienne z cmentarzyska z późnej starożytności Nejzac na Krymie

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Mączyński P., Polit B.

Wiadomości Archeologiczne

2016

vol. LXVII

issue 67

175-193

Major development of metallurgy production in the Crimean Peninsula and adjacent areas led to a gradual decline in late 2nd millennium BC of the use of flint in the manufacture of tools and elements of weapons. Contrary to the prevalent view about the loss of interest in this resource flint has been recorded in proto- and early historic sites. There is evidence for the use of flint resources by the population of Crimea from the site at Neyzats, rai. Bilohirsk (Fig. 1) dating to 2nd–3rd quarter of the 2nd–4th century AD. The large and quite varied inventory from this cemetery included flint finds that are uncharacteristic for this period. Their number, and quite importantly, their location inside the graves, have prompted us to make a closer study of the assemblage from this sepulchral site. Our analysis covers the finds from excavation seasons 1996, 1997, 1999–2008 and 2011–2013 headed by prof. I. N. Khrapunov. They include 65 flint artefacts and a single quartzite chunk (?) recovered from 557 graves that were identified and excavated during this period. The study focuses on a series of flint artefacts that were found resting on the grave pit bottom at the level of detection of the inhumations, and on other elements of the grave inventories eg, vessels, tools and personal ornaments. Left outside the analysis were flint artefacts found in the fill of the entrance corridors, their location recognized as accidental since deposition of grave goods in this part of the grave was not practiced. The typological description of the flint finds was made using the system established for Stone Age assemblages. The inventory of interest includes chunks (Fig. 2:2–4, 3:1.2.4.5), flake forms (Fig. 5:1–7, 6:2–8, 9), blades and retouched blades (Fig. 3:3.6–9, 4:2.4–10), a para-blade (Fig. 6:1), cores (Fig. 4:1.3) and bifacial tools (Fig. 7:1.2, 8:1.2). Also classified to this group is a single object made of quartzite (?). Technological and morphological analysis of the assemblage identified the style of manufacture of these forms as typical for the Stone Age (Mesolithic) and the Bronze Age. This would confirm the conjecture that in the first centuries AD the population of the Crimean Peninsula obtained lithic resources by collecting flint artefacts from the surface of chronologically older sites (debitage) and from flint outcrops (natural flint chunks and fragments of concretions). The study took into account 20 graves containing a total of 26 burials in situ with flint artefacts found resting where they originally had been deposited. The other 16 graves had been robbed in Antiquity or in the modern age, their inventories displaced and mixed. In most cases the flints rested in the area of the belt of the deceased, together with other items, eg, whetstones, knives, awls, buckles and iron objects too heavily corroded to identify. The arrangement of the artefacts and their location within the grave space suggest that the flints were carried placed with other objects in a container fastened at the belt (leather pouch?). Many of the flint artefacts have evident macroscopic alterations attesting to their use, in the form of heavily polished or battered areas (Fig. 2:1.2, 3:1.2.5, 4:1.5.9, 6:1–3, 7:1.2, 8:1.2). Marks of this sort are regarded as typically associated with the process of striking fire. The method which most likely caused the blunting of the edges involved striking a flint against a concretion of pyrite or marcasite to produce sparks. Although the observed polish is characteristic for this process to confirm the use of this technique additional use wear analyses are needed. In the context of firemaking methods we cannot overlook the question of the identification of iron firesteels, a tool used in striking fire. Unfortunately, in the past these objects were not recognized in the materials dating to the Late Antiquity. The observation of our material suggests that it is safe to interpret as firesteels some of the iron objects of oblong shape (Fig. 9) found in male graves. They appear to be similar in their form to needle-shaped firesteels of with a large number is has been recorded in Scandinavia and Hungary. The question of the correct interpretation of the discussed group of artefacts requires further study. In addition, an ingot firesteel (Fig. 10) was discovered in one of the graves in the Neyzats cemetery. In any study of archaeological sites from the proto- and early historic period it is essential to take note of the occurrence of lithic artefacts. As the finds assemblage from the Neyzats cemetery has demonstrated they are an extremely interesting but insufficiently recognized source of information useful in the study of the everyday life of a population during a given age. Definitely an important issue in need of resolution is the question of the use in the process of firemaking of a set consisting of a flint and an iron firesteel.

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2 Wiadomości Archeologiczne

2 Mączyński P.

1 Polit B.

1 Zakościelna A.

1 2017

1 2016

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O pierwszych grobach kultur ceramik wstęgowych w Polsce – raz jeszcze. Inwentarze krzemienne grobów kultury lubelsko-wołyńskiej ze stanowiska Grodzisko II w Złotej w świetle analizy traseologicznej

Wytwory krzemienne z cmentarzyska z późnej starożytności Nejzac na Krymie