Lithic raw material procurement at Bodrogkeresztúr–Henye Gravettian site, northeast Hungary

Abstract

The Carpathian basin provides abundant lithic raw material sources for stone tools. In spite of their abundance, Gravettian lithic assemblages contain raw materials from north and east of the Carpathians. Bodrogkeresztúr–Henye assemblage from Northeastern Hungary is one of the sites yielding an exotic stone assemblage. The procurement strategy of these raw materials has not been discussed until now in the theoretical background of forager societies. The present study demonstrates that Gravettian lithic procurement strategy was opportunistic, most probably embedded in daily foraging, and the technology was adapted to the natural stone environment and anticipated needs during mobility. Although the exotic stones are of high quality and apparently the result of thorough selectivity, those seem to have been acquired with the same strategy, and the reason why those are present in the Bodrogkeresztúr–Henye assemblage is that they were taken as a mobile toolkit, and arrived at the site exposed to curation for a long time.