Archaeologia Polona (Jan 2018)
Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Treatment and Use of Non-flint Stone Raw Materials: Material Collection From Site 17 at Nowogród, Golub-Dobrzyń District, Poland
Abstract
The aim of the article is to present the results of a multifaceted analysis of a collection of non-flint stone artefacts obtained during excavations of the complex of Late Palaeolithic camps at site 17 in Nowogród, Golub-Dobrzyń district. It included an obsidian artefact and objects made of crystalline rocks (quartzite, quartzite sandstone, quartz, coarse sandstone and diorite), which were created as a result of knapping the raw material using techniques similar or identical to those used during the processing of flint. The results of petrographic analysis confirmed that these raw materials had come from natural resources located near the site. Most of the analysed artefacts are represented by large flakes. In addition, one chip and two tools, a multiple burin and a pebble tool, were distinguished. Use-wear analysis showed signs of use on two artefacts, including the pebble tool. The obsidian artefact is currently the northernmost Late Palaeolithic find of this type. In order to determine the geological source of the raw material, the artefact was subjected to PGAA and XRF analysis. PGAA analysis confirmed that the obsidian originated from a source in northern Slovakia (Carpathian 1 type), probably from the Cejkov or Kašov deposits, Trebišov district. The article also describes a rock crystal and a probable concretion of quartz of this type originating from site 6 in Ludowice, Wąbrzeźno district
