The oldest osseous mining tools in Europe? New discoveries from the chocolate flint mine in Orońsko, site 2 (southern Poland)
Section snippets
Material and methods
The mine in Orońsko (51°19′N 20°59′E) is located in the north-western part of a deposits of chocolate flint covering a 90-kilometre-long area in the northern Mesozoic margin of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains in southern Poland (Fig. 1A). Flint can be found here in limestone strata, residual Karst clays and glacial deposits (Schild, 1971, 150; Budziszewski, 2008, pp. 49–50).
Studies on chocolate flint deposits were initiated in the 1920s by Polish prehistorian Stefan Krukowski together with
Technological and use-wear traces observed on the artefacts
The use-wear analyses were hindered by the considerable surface erosion, cracking and mineralisation of some of the artefacts. Moreover, obfuscations resulting from plant root growth (Fig. 5A) and calcium lime deposits (Fig. 5B) were observed, which in some locations covered a large area of the artefacts’ surface.
Technological traces visible on the first of the artefacts (Fig. 4A) are limited to traces of grinding applied on one of the sides (Fig. 5C). These traces were most likely preserved
Discussion
The data obtained based on radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples from the backfill and bedrock of shafts clearly indicate that the features were used at the end of the Alleröd and early Younger Dryas. The dating results obtained for one of the bone tools indicates an early Holocene (Preboreal) age, linked generally in Poland to the Early Mesolithic. The remains of Final Palaeolithic societies of Younger Tanged Point (Masovian/Świderian) dated to this period were also discovered in Poland (fe
Conclusions
In the light of the data presented here the bone artefacts from Orońsko are probably the oldest mining tools made of osseous raw materials presently known in Europe that were found ‘in situ’ in mining shafts and whose functions are confirmed by professional analyses. The collection of artefacts from Orońsko is undoubtedly unique for many reasons. Apart from chronology, the relatively good preservation of these objects and the exceptionally clear use-wear traces present on their surfaces should
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to Dr Justin Bradfield (University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg) for language correction of this article. We also would like to thank Profesors: Romuald Schild, Krzysztof Cyrek, Zofia Sulgostowska and Paweł Valde-Nowak for all suggestions and correction of the article and to Mr. Kamil Kaptur from Department of Archaeology in Archaeological Museum and Reserve „Krzemionki” in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski for a possibility to carry out the experimental works in the grounds
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