Lithic Raw Material Procurement in the Late Neolithic Southern-Transdanubian Region: A Case Study From the Site of Alsónyék-Bátaszék (original) (raw)
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Archeometriai Műhely/Archaeometry Workshop, 2019
This article summarizes the dissertation which was defended in 2019. The basis of this doctoral thesis is the nearly 6200 pieces of chipped stone material from the site Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Hungary, and compares them with a similar quantity of lithic materials from the assemblages of the other published Late Neolithic sites from southeastern Transdanubia. The first topic presented is a characterization of the local lithic raw materials usage in the different lithic assemblages. This has been assessed through field surveys to locate the primary raw material sources and reconstruct the method of the procurement activity. The second topic is an analysis of the stone tool making procedure and artefacts usage patterns. Upon this basis, a view at the entire chaîne opératoire of the lithic assemblages is taken focusing on the operational sequence of lithics production involving processes beginning from the finding of the original lithic raw material sources in their specific environmental setting, the selection of preparing and tool making procedure taking place within the settlement, and it lasts until it is deposited in the graves. This gives us a better understanding of the significance of the environmental surroundings, the knowledge of the raw material and the lithic procurement methods based on the raw material selection strategy of the particular communities, in this case the Southeastern Transdanubian Late Neolithic Lengyel culture. In the settlement, the technological system of the community, the possible activity zones and patterns of tool-use can be reconstructed by studying the lithic artefacts. In the case of those stone tools deposited in burials, a transformation from an average utilitarian/everyday stone tool into a definite symbol with in the burial context takes place, which can again be related back to the environmental surroundings ("the physical world"). Kivonat A cikk a 2019-ben megvédett doktori disszertációm összefoglalása. A doktori dolgozat alapját az Alsónyék-Bátaszék lelőhelyről előkerült közel 6200 darabos pattintott kőeszköz leletegyüttes képezi, amely eddig publikált délkelet-dunántúli késő neolitikus lelőhelyek közel azonos mennyiségű kőeszköz leletanyagával került összehasonlításra. A kőanyagokra elsősorban a helyi nyersanyag felhasználása jellemző, így a nyersanyagforrások felkutatása mellett, a begyűjtés módja jelenti az egyik elsődleges kutatási témát. Emellett a kőeszközkészítő tevékenység és az eszközhasználat képezte a vizsgálat tárgyát,-jelen esetben a délkelet-dunántúli késő újkőkori közösség-nyersanyag-kiválasztási stratégiáján keresztül a környezettel történő kapcsolat, a nyersanyagismeret és a kőzet beszerzésének módja ismerhető meg, a környezet-közösség relációjában. A településen belül a kőeszközkészítési tevékenység rekonstrukciójával a közösség technológiai rendszere, esetlegesen a tevékenységi zónák és a használati mód válik megismerhetővé. Amennyiben a sírba helyezték a kőeszközöket, fény derülhet arra, hogyan válik az egyszerű használati/hétköznapi kőeszköz jelentésen túl a sír kontextusában egy határozott jellé, amely a környezetet szimbolizálja (a "fizikai" világot).
Piotr Chachlikowski, 2018
For the late Neolithic communities in the Polish Lowland the primary raw material employed to manufacture their stone implements was obtained by extensive exploitation of local Fennoscandian erratics. The wide use of glacially deposited rock fragments in the local stone industry was common and frequent, whatever the physical dimensions, tool purpose and the lithological composition of appropriate raw material used for its production were needed. The Polish Lowland abounded in glacial erratics which constituted an extremely rich and exhibiting considerable lithological variety source of all necessary raw materials for the local stone worker. The raw material abundance in all necessary materials for the local stone industry virtually eliminated any necessity for importing raw materials from areas of their natural deposits. The relics of the glacial past of the Polish Lowland with their rich lithological variety fully satisfied the demand of the local population for raw materials necessary for the local stone production, making the stone industry of the local early agrarian communities fully independent of the stone deposits in the South. The documented attractiveness of the inventory of erratics in the Polish Lowland thereby challenges the traditional and the so far well-established scholarly explanation of most of the manifestations of the acquisition and exploitation of raw materials imported to the Polish Lowland in the Neolithic as a deliberate action aimed in extenso at supplementing supposed shortcomings in certain types of rock in the local early glacial available resources.
Ground stone tools from the Late Neolithic site Hlebozavoda, Nova Zagora district
The materials from the Late Neolithic site Hlebozavoda provide important information about the changes in the ground stone tool production as well as their use during the occupation of the site. The analyses of the raw materials, together with the study of production techniques, the artefacts’ particularities and their stratigraphic position have strongly suggested that although ground stone tools production was taking place at the site, it was not an important part of its economy. Two finds are of special interest: a fragment of quartz adze and a fragment of marble mace head. These two artefacts are not common in the Late Neolithic and most probably have a representative or symbolic character. The raw material of the mace head is most probably imported from the region around Topolovgard and Elhovo, some 55 km to the southeast from the site. Considering the data from the separate building horizons, a steady decline of ground stone tool production and use is observed. This situation may account for the restriction of the raw material supply area and the resulting use of limited rock types. On the basis of the accumulated data and observations about the separate occupation stages, we believe that this state of affairs is related to the slow decline of the settlement.
2021
The study of bone tools is one of the branches that take the first true steps in Georgia today. This explains the fact that the bone tools discovered on this territory are fragmentarily studied. Therefore, I faced the problem of terminology and typology even for well-studied Shomu- Shulaveri Culture. This research is an attempt to eradicate this problem of lacking the basic aspects around bone tools assemblage. Here, in this thesis, I will present the typology of bone tools which is the main core of my research and it was implemented based on the largest collection of Khramis Didi Gora site. The proposed typology encompasses several aspects like examining the raw materials, technology and techniques, and use wear. These research issues have formed the main idea of the thesis and provided some striking results. Particularly, several basic types of bone tools were identified in the typology – edged tools, cutting tools, pointed tools, diverse tools, and waste/preform/undetermined tools, which in turn indicates that the assemblage is represented by the diversity of the materials where the total number of the tools was 1766. This demonstrates the importance and richness of this collection and the site itself. Use-wear analyses revealed a functional variety of bone tools where that were used for agricultural activities, building work, textile and leather processing, wood and stone industry. I believe this research provides new and important information for the study of Shomu-Shulaveri Culture, as well as the study of bone tools in the Caucasus and neighbouring regions in general.
“Archäologie in Eurasien" 31, Berlin, pp. 105-128.