Lithic Workshops and Depots/Hoards in the Early/Middle Neolithic of the Middle Danube Basin and of the Northern Balkans

Abstract

In the earliest horizon (Karanovo I-Starcevo-Koros), the workshops where blanks were produced were situated close to the raw material deposits. Lithic production within settlements was very limited, and blanks produced off-site were used. With the Early Neolithic expansion to the middle Danube basin, some part of production gradually moved to settlements. Depots of cores or blades appear in settlements, which can be linked with itinerant specialists knappers. In the eastern linear complex (ALP) lithic production took place within special areas of the settlements or households. Depots discovered in settlements and containing cores and blades usually made from local raw materials were a supply available for the inhabitants of a given settlement.In the western linear complex (LBK) one can notice the wide circulation of various meso- and extra-local raw materials processed on-site but not in separate zones. The depots of blades and tools comprise artefacts made of extra-local rather than local materials