Possibilities of investigating Neolithic flint economies, as exemplified by the banded flint economy

Abstract

There is a relatively large amount of evidence helpful in reconstructing the economies of Neolithic farming communities. Material relating to flint processing is only one kind of evidence among many, but analyses of the exploitation of this raw material may provide particularly valuable information (Balcer 1988: 49–51). The flint economy provides unique insights into the processes of the division of labour and emergence of distinct groups of producers of specific kinds of tools. In this paper we discuss methods of identification and study of the individual elements of extraction and processing of banded flint and of the distribution of artefacts in two successive Neolithic cultures, the Funnel Beaker (FBC), lasting from 3900 to 3100 BC (Kowalczyk 1970: 144–77; Kruk & Milisauskas 1990: 195-228), and the Globular Amphorae (GAC), which existed from 3200 to 2700 BC (Wiślański 1970: 178-231; Czerniak & Szmyt 1990: 78).