An inverted perspective: Identification of stone tools used in the production of bone and antler artefacts in the North European Mesolithic - the case of the Dąbki site, Poland

Abstract

The overwhelming majority of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites recorded on the North European Plains are composed exclusively of lithic assemblages. Numerous macro- and microscopic surface trace studies have been conducted with the aim of the identification of micro-wear traces visible on flint tools and the classification of these traces. The main trace categories are related to the main groups of materials processed on the site, like wood, hide, bone, antler or plants. However, it is problematic to take the next step forward and interpret what exactly the flint tool may have been used for.This difficulty can be partially overcome by research of peatbog sites located next to biogenic deposits filling river valleys and lake basins that preserve artefacts made of organic materials. One such site is Dąbki, in northern Poland, on the southern Baltic coastal zone. The paleogeographic context of the site appears to be an island within an ancient lake. Over twenty years of archeological research has led to the recovery of tens of thousands of animal bones, including a rich collection of bone and antler tools. This fortunate circumstance allows us to conduct a microwear study from a reverse perspective: instead of starting with a flint tool and finishing with some general conclusions about what materials were processed, we begun with the analysis of bone and antler tools, describing first the primary activities, techniques and morphology of tools necessary to make a final product. Only later we moved to use-wear analysis describing the traces of bone and antler working observable on flint tools. Together with morphological features distinguished in the course of technological analysis of antler and bone tools it was the foundation for initial selection of flint and stone materials later detailly analyzed microscopically. Basing on this approach, we distinguished specific sets of flint tools used for manufacturing certain categories of bone and antler tools.