Flint Production Research Articles

The Late Palaeolithic in Toruń Basin in the light of the latest research in Brzoza, Site 50

Abstract This paper The data from the article was presented by the author during 16th SKAM Lithic Workshop (“Fossil Directeur”. A Phenomenon over Time and Space), 21–23 October 2019, Nitra, Slovak Republic, presentation: The Late Palaeolithic in Toruń Basin in the light of the latest research in Brzoza, site 50 (poster session). presents the preliminary findings related to the excavations in Brzoza site 50, commune Wielka Nieszawka, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland). The Late Palaeolithic site complex in Brzoza – until the end of 1990s known as Toruń-Rudak – is located it Toruń Basin (Poland), in the grounds of a military shooting range on the left bank of Vistula south of the city. According to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Monuments Conservator the whole complex was defined as one, site no. 50. Rescue excavations in Brzoza in years 2015–2018 were conducted by the District Museum in Toruń. In total 276 m2 were excavated, resulting in documentation of over 11 000 flint products. The research was funded from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivode budget via the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Monuments Conservator and the District Museum in Toruń. The research consisted of archaeological exploration at the remains of the dune embankment, to locate and document undisturbed (in situ) cultural features (flint concentrations). In order to capture the stratigraphic situation in the vicinity of the planned research excavations and to locate the cultural layer with the flint materials linked to the Late Palaeolithic surveys were conducted by means of drillings. The following specialist examinations and consultations were carried out: geological and geomorphological documentation; analyzes of the geographical environment and pedostratigraphy of the research area; from selected profiles soil samples were taken for TL and OSL method analyses. Against the background of other well-known sites with tanged points in northern Poland, the area under study stands out both in terms of the number of flint products obtained and the documented flint concentrations. It must be emphasized that the context of new flint concentrations discovered in Brzoza in the years 2015–2018 is different than that of earlier investigations. Flint products were discovered in a preserved planigraphic and stratigraphic layout; not on a secondary deposit, as was the case, among others in the 1970s. New concentrations discovered in 2015–2018 are related to the Late Palaeolithic technocomplex with tanged points. Amongst flint tools there are elements typologically characteristic to Ahrensburg and Swiderian culture, and individual finds that can be associated with Bromme assemblages. At the present stage of research the acquired flint materials can be linked to the Late Palaeolithic communities present in the area presumably in the younger Dryas. Brzoza site complex occupies an important place in the research of the Late Palaeolithic of northern Poland.

Верхнепалеолитическое поселение Анетовка II: некоторые вопросы планиграфии культурного слоя

The Upper Palaeolithic settlement of Anetovka II was discovered in 1978. Since then, an area ca. 2000 square meters have been uncovered. The collection includes about 2 million flint items and 0.5 million fragments of animal bones. V. N. Stanko identified three structurally and functionally different complexes within the excavated area: a) a macrocluster of flint and fauna (up to 500 square meters) with buffalo skulls painted with ocher found in its southeastern part; b) a group of 40 individual microclusters, consisting of animal bones and flints interpreted as butchering areas; c) a complex of microclusters presumably associated with the manufacture of flint artifacts. According to V. N. Stanko, these complexes form either a single ritual center associated with ceremonial and theatrical festivities of buffalo hunters or a joint production and ritual center used by all hunting communities that co-inhabited the region. According to alternative views the settlement should be considered a sanctuary (T. I. Shcherbakova) or a waste dump (I. V. Sapozhnikov). In fact, the production area considered to have been associated with flint production only, includes two types of clusters of archaeological material: small ones, with flint inventory, stone anvils, hammersstones and retouchers, and larger ones, containing numerous animal bones. The available evidence allows reconstructing the process of the macrocluster formation and suggests that Anetovka II was a place for the production of flint items and utilization of hunting prey, which included a small cult center.

TRYPILLIAN SETTLEMENT MAKARIVKA IN BUKOVYNA

The information about archaeological sites located near the village of Makarivka, Dnistrovskyi district, Chernivtsi region is collected and generalized in the article. Special attention is paid to the materials of the Trypillia culture. The results of the archaeological research conducted by the Dnister expedition of Lviv department of the Institute of Social Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR led by O. Chernysh near this village are considered. Namely, it is a small collection of finds from different periods, consisting mainly of flint products and preserved in the storage of the Department of Archeology. Based on the researcher's report, two locations were identified where archaeological material was found. The first – Pomirky tract, where ceramic sherds from the Slavic period were collected. The second – Schovb tract. Trypllian, Scythian, Slavic, and Paleolithic finds came from this place. An overview of information about the site from the scientific literature was made. The results of the archaeological research conducted by the author near the Makarivka village on a large cape, formed by the Dnister river, are presented. Special attention is paid to the surveys of the plateau in the central part of the cape. Probably, it is the place where Trypllian materials were found in 1950. Among the locals, the name of this tract has not been preserved, so we do not know its exact location. Most of the finds were discovered on the slopes, on the plateau sherds of modern ceramics, natural stones, and flint without traces of knapping were mainly found. According to the results of the archaeological surveys conducted near the Makarivka village in 2022, it was established that there are three locations of different times on the territory of the cape: the location of the Mesolithic Age (core and three flint flakes) and the Chernyakhiv culture (two pottery sherds), located on the northern slope of the plateau. It is noted that flint products and a fragment of the wall of a ceramic vessel with a handle are quite typical for various stages of Trypillia culture, starting from Trypillia BI, so a more detailed definition of the relative chronology of the site based on them is impossible. The materials collected during archaeological surveys have been processed and published. It was found that in scientific literature the name «Makarivka» was also related to another Trypillian site – Luka-Vrublivetska II. It was revealed that T. Passek used the new name, and then N. Vynogradova. The latter also attributed the settlement to the Zalischyky group of Trypillia culture. From the description of the ceramic complex of the site, and also taking into account the fragments published by N. Vynogradova, conclusions were drawn that agree with the definition of the relative chronology of Luka-Vrublivetska II, which was proposed by S. Bibikov, and it was assigned not to the Zalischyky group of the stage Trypillia BI– BII, but to the sites of the final of Trypillia BI. It was noted that the Luka-Vrublivetska II site is located on the high plateau of the left bank of the Dnister river 3–3.5 km northwest of the Luka-Vrublivetska village almost opposite the right-bank Makarivka khutir. It has been suggested that this very circumstance probably contributed to the fact that T. Passek, and later N. Vynogradova, renamed this site from Luka-Vrublivetska II to Makarivka. This change of the primary name of Luka-Vrublivetska II to Makarivka is uncaused and has created confusion in the literature. It is proposed to use the name assigned to the site by its discoverer S. Bibikov – Luka-Vrublivetsika II. Since Makarivka Trypillian settlement exists, located near the village of the same name, discovered by M. Rudynskyi i S. Bibikov O. Chernysh in 1950 and examined in 2022. In addition, the sites are situated not only on opposite banks of the Dnister river, but also in different regions of the country: Makarivka in Chernivtsi, and Luka-Vrublivetska II – in Khmelnytskyi. Keywords: Eneolithic Age, ceramics, painted ornament, Makarivka, Luka-Vrublivetska II, relative chronology

Flint products from a Globular Amphora culture grave in Stefankowice-Kolonia, Hrubieszów District, site 33 in the light of the latest considerations

The aim of this article is to present considerations on the technological and functional aspects of flint tools produced by the community of the Globular Amphora culture. These reflections are based on discoveries made in a box grave from site No. 33 in Stefankowice-Kolonia (southeastern Poland). During the exploration of the funerary feature, a skeleton was found. It belonged to a man in the Maturus age. The body was accompanied by an abundant set of flint products composed of five blades and three axes (including one half-product). These artefacts were subjected to a technological analysis aimed at determining the techniques employed in the production of the blades and core tools.
 The analysis was complemented with microscopic examination performed in order to determine the functions of the discovered products. As a result, it was stated that the grave had been furnished with a collection of blades and an axe half-product that probably had never been used. This was not the case for the other two axes. On one of them, there were patterns indicating that it had been used for a long time to process wood. The patterns found on the other one were the result of hafting only. This fact is interesting, since there are no traces of use damage on the cutting edge. It appears that this artefact was abraded (sharpened anew) before being deposited in the grave.

Pedantry in Palaeolithic? The story of two small Swiderian pits from Chełmno-Dobrzyń Lakeland

The article presents a multifaceted analysis of two collections of flint products from Late Palaeolithic pits discovered during the excavations of sites Ludowice 6 (Ryńsk comm.), and Paliwodzizna 29 (Golub-Dobrzyń comm.). Both sites are located in the Chełmno-Dobrzyń Lake District in central Poland. The research included raw material analysis, technological and morphological analysis, studies using the refitting method, and use-wear analysis. As a result of the conducted study, it was shown that both features are most likely a remnant of refuse pits in the type of waste heaps, but their detailed functional origins are different.

Micro-regional variants of the flint knapping traditions in the Late Neolithic from the perspective of Prokopiak's Mount

The distinctive sandy structure of Prokopiak’s Mount in Opatowice stands out from the surrounding black soils of the Kujawy Upland, and therefore attracted the interest among the Late Neolithic communities of the region. A program of comprehensive archaeological research was conducted here in 1985-1998, eleven sites were investigated and the materials obtained from five of them were published. These sites all produced rich flint assemblages.Three of these assemblages, being relatively homogeneous, (Opatowice 33, 36 and 42), were selected for research on the formation of local traditions of flint production in the Late Neolithic in Kujawy. The presented assemblages cover the entire chronological span from3650 BC to 2600 BC. And chronologically correspond to the classic Wiórek horizon (Opatowice 33), the Luboń-Radziejów horizon (Opatowice 42) and the classic GAC horizon (Opatowice 36).

A new aspect of post-depositional alterations of lithic artefacts: the case of Medzhibozh Lower Palaeolithic assemblages

Flint artefacts have been identified in the materials of the Lower Palaeolithic sites of Medzhibozh, which have experienced the effects of post-depositional alterations (PDA). We suggest a particular combination of anthropogenic and natural effects on lithic artefacts. In the vicinity of Medzhibozh in the Khmelnytskyi region in the West of Ukraine, several multilayered stratified Lower Palaeolithic sites are currently known. Artefacts and accompanying fauna have been identified in subaerial buried soils, initial hydromorphic soils, and alluvial deposits. The ages of the artefact-bearing sediments are preliminarily estimated to be between 1.2 and 0.4 Ma. The lithic assemblages of all horizons contain technologically and typologically archaic artefacts, the industry being referred to as Mode 1. Various types of rock were used as raw materials, including locally occurring flints in the form of pebbles and flattened nodules. Flint products from many assemblages are characterized by rounding and sheen due to their extended exposure to water-permeable horizons. Most of the flint artefacts belonging to a particular assemblage are of a similar type of preservation. The assemblages also contain artefacts with surfaces of different states of preservation, suggesting that they are of different ages. These could either be products of reutilisation or natural alterations. However, more recent surfaces tend to be isolated and do not form a removals system. Moreover, most of the individual PDA pieces show a technological and morphological consistency of differently preserved surfaces, indicating that a force initiating detachment was applied simultaneously. We, therefore, consider artefacts showing a variate state of scar preservation to be PDA products. We assume we are dealing with a new aspect of post-depositional alterations of lithic artefacts. Natural alteration had subjected artefacts, which received internal damage to the structure earlier when processed by man. The bipolar-on-anvil technique was actively used at Medzhibozh. Many artefacts show signs of multiple attempts of knapping, accompanied by a change in the position of the segmenting item. Such signs are impact pits, visible cracks, and Herzian cones disturbing the rock's texture. We believe that the internal cracks that appeared in the area of the not detached spall contribute to the accelerated natural alteration of the item in this area and, ultimately, to the detachment of the flake. The probability of spalling depends on the intensity of the internal distress, the structure of the rock, the climatic conditions, and the post-depositional environment. The most responsible factor for the effect of the “time-delayed spalling” seems to be repeated cycles of temperature changes. A comprehensive study of post-depositional modifications of lithic artefacts is essential in studies of Lower Palaeolithic sites, particularly the technological Mode 1 (Oldowan). This is due to the highly heterogeneous raw materials used, the bipolar-on-anvil knapping technique, and a long period of post-discard behaviour of artefacts. Key words: Lower Palaeolithic, Medzhibozh, stone artefacts, post-depositional alterations, time-delayed spalling, taphonomy.

Manufacturing Relations of the Tripolye Settlement-Workshop Bodaki (based on the materials of the Cucuteni–Tripolye Bugo-Prut interfluve memory)

The manufacturing relations of the Tripolye settlement-workshop Bodaki, which specialized in the production of macro-blades from the high-quality Volhynian flint are researched by the authors of the paper. Thanks to the result of an analysis of the archaeological context, a technical and morphological study of flint and stone artefacts, as well as data from the geological and mineralogical sciences, a circle of sites of the developed period of the Cucuteni-Tripolye culture in the Bugo-Prut interfluve, which consumed flint products from the settlement-workshop Bodaki, was outlined. This is indicated by the absence of traces of processing of the Volhynian flint in their materials, the absolute similarity of the forms of the tools with the tools found in the Bodaki. Located in the upper reaches of the Prut, the Middle Dniester and the Middle Bug, they were quite far from the center of high-quality flint processing of the Volhynian flint. Despite this, the basis of their production complexes were sets of tools made from this raw material, while local breeds were used to a lesser extent. These data indicate a high level of organization of stone-processing production, the presence of well-established links between the Tripolye sites of the time of the BII, which made it possible to provide their economy with high-quality production equipment.

L’outillage en quartz spécialisé utilisé en percussion lancée en contexte discoïde à Pointe pseudo-Levallois : l’exemple de Champs de Bossuet

The quartz component of the Champs de Bossuet (CdB) industry has been the subject of technological and techno-functional analyses focused on the ergonomic characterization of percussive tools related to their morphologies, their dimensions and masses but especially on their Active Percussion Zone (APZ) (morphology, extent, location). After assessing the position held by the percussive tools in the quartz component, they will be described on the basis of a subdivision into two large families correlated to their function and mode of operation: sharp percussion tools and blunt percussion tools (Viallet et al. 2022). Among this last group, constituting the panoply of percutors (of sensu lato size), ergonomic specificities could be highlighted in a correlation with a specialization of the lithic flint production mode for which they were used: discoid debitage with pseudo-Levallois point and its ramifications (Bourguignon et al. 2000; Lenoble et al. 2000 ; Bourguignon & Turq 2003). Each of the characteristics (weights, size and morphology) and their grouping by categories will be described and quantified and their function evaluated. Finally, we will propose, for classes of hammerstones with very specific size and ergonomic characteristics, a terminology derived from the current technical vocabulary describing the «striking tools» and in particular hammers for purposes of differentiation in the rich panoply of percussive tools and comparisons in other archaeological records.

The Early Neolithic Cultural Transformation in the Targowisko Settlement Region, SE Poland

Abstract The aim of the article is to characterize the early Neolithic settlement region of Targowisko in SE Poland. It is located on the northern edge of the Western Carpathians, 30 km east of Krakow. It functioned during the development of the entire Linear Pottery culture (LBK) and the subsequent Malice culture (MC), in the period from 5300 to 4500 BC. The focus was on the cultural transformation at the turn of the 6th to the 5th millennium BC. Cases of decisive cultural change (e. g. forms and ornamentation of ceramics, dwellings construction, directions of the supply of stone materials, the organization of inhabited space) and cases of continuity (elements of ceramics technology and flint production, continuation of settlement processes and subsistence strategy) were recorded. Cultural change is best represented by the symbolic realm and continuity in the utilitarian realm. These processes were projected onto a reconstructed, dynamic picture of environmental changes recorded in the palynological and geochemical material. Impulses from various cultural environments contributed to the formation of the MC, which proves its heterogeneous character and the complicated course of its genesis.

Sites of Bronze age in the area of building of highway Krakovets–Lviv

The article presents the results of research conducted in 2004 on two sites of the Bronze Age that were discovered on the route of the projected concessional highway Krakovets–Lviv. The multilayered settlement of Dobrostany I is located on one of the southern spurs of Janivske Roztochchia cut through by the valley of the Vereschytsia River. In addition to the large, ground structures of the Early Iron Age, some finds of Neolithic and Early Middle Ages, several sites of Early Bronze Age with typical pottery of Mierzanowice Culture, and rare flint artifacts have been explored on the settlement. The site of Trzciniec Culture of Rulevo II is located within the Yavoriv basin, which is a part of the Upper San plain. It occupies one of the dunes covered by sod and is characterized by a small amount of pottery and flint products, with no trace of residential buildings and household constructions, except for a few hearths. This may indicate the livestock model of the economy related to the mobile grazing method. Materials from the researched settlements expand the source base for the study of Trzciniec Cultures in their eastern range. It seems that the specific Sub-Carpathian micro-region, located between the southern slopes of Roztochchia and Vyshnia River valley, is undoubtedly within the range of sites of these Bronze Age cultures. Key words: Dobrostany І, Rulevo ІІ, Roztochchia, Yavoriv basin, settlement of Mierzanowice and Trzciniec Cultures.

Васильевская Пустошь — специализированное энеолитическое поселение-мастерская в Северо-Западном Донбассе

The article addresses the problem of flint production in the Donbass during the Chalcolithic and contains the publication of materials from the Vasilyevskaya Pustosh’ site. The peculiarities of the geological history of the Donbass have determined the abundance of geological sources of Upper Cretaceous flint here. In the Chalcolithic, the Donbass evolved as a large European center for the extraction and processing of flint raw materials. At the Vasilyevskaya Pustosh’ site, various tools with double-sided processing were produced — arrowheads, adzes, axes. At the site (point 3), a significant number of bifacial tools of settlements types were noted — end-scrapers, points, blades with retouch, etc. The site may belong to the type of settlements specialized in the production of flint implements. Such specialized settlements are known in the Tripolye culture and as well as in the Chalcolithic of Bulgaria.

Petrographic and geochemical analyses of flint raw materials from Bulgaria: A reliable combination for provenance studies of archaeological flint

The Bulgarian prehistoric sequence is characterized by the use of particular raw materials in distinct ‘cultural’ contexts. The Karanovo I and II stages of the Early Neolithic (part of a supra-regional technocomplex in the Balkans) are recognisable by formal toolkits made of Balkan flint. The Chalcolithic period is famous for its superblades made of high-quality Ludogorie flint, which also attain a wider Balkan distribution. Despite a solid corpus of reliable data for northern Bulgaria from our previous field surveys and laboratory analyses, there are still questions that can only be resolved by further research.This paper presents the results of petrographic and chemical (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of a series of archaeological artefacts and raw material samples collected during a survey in Shumen District of northeast Bulgaria. These data allow us to i) distinguish two new types of flint (Shumen I and II) which are represented by both raw material outcrops and artefacts and previously referred to as ‘Moesian flint’; and ii) expand our analytical data for the Kriva Reka type of Ludogorie flint, confirming its substantial role in prehistoric flint production, distribution and use. These results suggest a more complex network of raw material sources and distribution routes in prehistory than previously assumed.

Кременеобробний комплекс четвертого житла Межиріцького верхньопалеолітичного поселення

In order to determine the degree of relatedness of archaeological sites, it is important to study lithic assemblages originated from relatively closed archaeological objects and which can serve as a reference for a comparative analysis of several industries. This article analyses a separate archaeological object - a flint Workshop 1 - against the background of the overall structure of the lithic assemblage of the fourth household unit. The Workshop 1 was discovered during the excavations of the fourth dwelling of the Mezhyrich epigravettian site in 2018-2020. The history of the study of this dwelling and lithic assemblage of the fourth unit, the conditions of detection and the context of the Workshop 1 location, the typological-statistical and technological features of the flint artifacts, obtained as a result of the latest excavations of the fourth dwelling filling, are given. Analysis of the distribution of finds together with stratigraphic observations allow us to assert at least two living surfaces into the dwelling. Planigraphic features of the trench studied in dwelling demonstrate the functional specialization of different parts of the interior space. The study revealed two different areas on both sides of the central part with the remains of the hearth. Cultural remains in the south-western part testify to fur and leather processing operations here, while in the north-eastern part of the trench there is clear evidence of flint knapping operations and the manufacture of tools, which in turn related to leather processing. Data on the spatial distribution of flint products in other dwellings of the Mezhyrich settlement reveal common features in the organization of living space. Such peculiarities of the behaviour of the prehistoric inhabitants require the search for more distant analogies on the mezhyrichian industry sites and among the Upper Palaeolithic population of Eastern Europe in general. Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic, Epigravettian, household unit, workshop, lithic technology.

MATERIALS FROM RESEARCH OF O. G. SHAPOSHNIKOVA AND D. YA. TELEHIN IN THE STAROBILSK DISTRICT, LUHANSK REGION

MATERIALS FROM RESEARCH OF O. G. SHAPOSHNIKOVA AND D. YA. TELEHIN IN THE STAROBILSK DISTRICT, LUHANSK REGION

Dedicated core-on-anvil production of bladelet-like flakes in the Acheulean at Thomas Quarry I - L1 (Casablanca, Morocco)

The ability to produce large cutting tools (LCTs) is considered as the technological marker of the Acheulean and the indicator of a greater technological complexity compared to the previous Oldowan. Although Acheulean techno-complexes are also composed of a concurrent core-and-flake technology, the iconic handaxes have attracted more attention than any other lithic component. Consequently, little is known of the small and medium-sized flake productions (small flaking), especially starting from 1 Ma, when handaxe and cleaver manufacture becomes intensive and widespread across Africa, including the Atlantic coastal regions of Morocco. Research at Thomas Quarry I yielded a rich early Acheulean lithic assemblage, mainly composed of quartzite LCTs and small flaking, together with a small-sized flint production. Here, we report a particular aspect of this flint assemblage, i.e. a flint bladelet-like flake production. This process represents a discrete technical behaviour among those related to small flaking both in quartzite and flint: pebbles were flaked using the bipolar-on-anvil technique repeatedly employing a specific method to produce bladelet-like flakes. This production represents the oldest dated occurrence of bladelet-like technology in Africa and reveals technical competencies hitherto unknown for these periods, providing further elements for the techno-economic diversification of the African Acheulean.

For body or for spirit? Intriguing red recoloration and polish on flint tools from Rzucewo culture, Poland

Rzucewo culture is a unique Late Neolithic/Early Bronze phenomenon related to some extent to exploitation of marine resources. For years these people were called seal hunters due to numerous faunal remains found in their settlements located on the southern Baltic Sea coast. It is also known for intensive procurement and processing of amber. Rzucewo culture groups left numerous flint assemblages produced mainly of locally collected flint pebbles with the help of splintered technique. Technology of flint production was very simple and uniform from site to site.Eponymous Rzucewo site delivered several thousand lithics with tool group dominated by simple retouched flakes and scraping tools like end-scrapers, scrapers and side-scrapers along with groovers and perforators, notches and truncations. The inventory itself does not show differences as compared to other Rzucewo culture sites and certainly is rooted in the older Funnel Beaker culture lithic tradition. Additionally, two specific features distinguish Rzucewo culture inventory form other Neolithic industries. First is the presence of tools with re-colored red surfaces that were later polished. These were not only small axes or chisel-like tools but also pebbles of raw material, and variety of other tools. Second is a specific polish observed with bare eye along the working edges of scraping tools and very often also reddish-yellowish in color. Genesis of that polish is not clear but may be related with amber processing. What is obvious in both cases, red ochre seems to be an important factor, perhaps of symbolic nature.The paper discusses results of technological, typological and traceological considerations aiming to shed light on the genesis of above phenomenon. It also attempts to evaluate whether this polish was of any importance for the subsistence or reflects extra-utilitarian cultural behavior.

The earliest farming communities north of the Carpathians: The settlement at Gwoździec site 2.

The appearance of the Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) on Poland territory initiated the process of neolithization in the area. However, as we will see in this article, this colonization took place later than previously thought. The stage, which in Poland is called as the early phase, actually corresponds only to the Fomborn/Ačkovy stage of LBK, and the earliest dating currently indicates around 5350 BC. Due to the small number of sites from this phase excavated on a large scale in Poland, this stage of the culture’s development is poorly known. The Gwoździec Project is focused on the earliest stage of LBK settlement in south-eastern Poland. Excavation at the site was finished in 2018. Therefore, the article presents preliminary results of interdisciplinary analyzes, such as research on ceramics, flint production and use, and botanical remains. They point to various aspects of the economy of these early agricultural communities and significantly enrich the knowledge of this period in Central Europe. They also expose the chronological development of the oldest LBK development stage in Poland.

Interest of Jan Kowalczyk in the Mining of Flint Raw Materials

Jan Kowalczyk exhibited great interest in the issues related to the prehistoric acquisition of flint raw materials and their working. He was involved in research and conservation issues at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s in the Neolithic and Early Bronze mines of banded flint in Krzemionki Opatowskie, exploited by communities of the Funnel Beaker, Globular Amphorae and Mierzanowice cultures. In 1967 and 1970 he was an inspirer and co-participant of Bogdan Balcer’s research within the Świeciechów-type flint deposits in Świeciechów, near Annopol. The raw material was mined here using open-pit methods, constituting the oldest form of mining. The mines were at the same time centres of mass flint production. Świeciechów flint was used from the Paleolithic period throughout the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.

Traditions of Ceramic Production in the Central and Eastern Europe Eneolithic: Tripolye, Late Malice and Lublin-Volhynian Cultures

In the area of Podolsk Upland and Upper Dniester in the second half of the V and in the first half of IV millennia BC periodically co-existed the communities of three Eneolithic cultures, significantly different in terms of cultural inventories and economic systems: Tripolye (stages BII, CI), Malice (late phase) and Lublin-Volhynian (classical phase). For these cultures the indicated area was a peripheral zone of ranges, on which a various mutual relations, manifested in ceramic and flint production, took place. The most explicit evidences of intercultural relations are manifested in the pottery production, when the technical and stylistic traditions are diffused among culturally different communities, living on the same or closely adjacent territories. In the contact zone occurs not only a syncretistic cultural units, such as the Ostrog-Zeman cemetery, but also ceramics of mixed traditions, with elements of Tripolye, Malice and Lublin-Volhynian cultures, such as the Bodaki settlement. In order to identify the directions and nature of the relationship between these cultures, analysis of selected ceramic collections was carried out, taking into account a successive stages of production: selection of raw material, preparation of ceramic mass, forming vessels along with surface treatment, decorating and firing. In addition to archaeological methods, the petrographic and spectral analyzes (chromatography-mass spectrometry) were used to determine the organic components of the ceramic painting of the Tripolye and Lublin-Volhynian cultures.