Folia archeologica 47.
Csongrádiné Balogh Éva: Tipológiai és traszeológiai vizsgálatok rézkori és bronzkori pattintott kőeszközökön
PATTINTOTT KŐESZKÖZÖK VIZSGÁLATAI 37 was in fact found in the grave on the vertebral column of the dead person, near the abdominal cavity. 4 3 Brian Adams' notion seems t be a very plausible and interesting refer rather to tne last function of the tool. The dead person in this grave was a male, put on his right side in a contracted position. Besides other grave goods and the abovementioned chipped stone tool an arrowhead made of obsidian and another one made of flint and an obsidian blade were found in the grave. The grave No. 22. of the cemetery is remarkable from several viewpoints because some phenomena in it suggest that the person buried there was most probably a noted person. That is in the Tiszavalk-Kenderföld cemetery there is only five graves which wild-boar mandibles were put into. Grave No. 22. belongs into this group of graves. In this grave also the bones of several domesticated animals (cattle, goat) were fonud. Moreover the arrowheads found in the cemetery were made usually of obsidian and flint arrowheads were found only in two cases. One of the two flint arrowheads was found in grave No. 22. In the graves chipped stone tools were put at several places related to the body of the dead person (below the skull, in the right hand, among the knuckles, behind the leg, behind the back, in front of the body, in front of the belly, beside the arm, below the cubit, beside the right leg and the two shins, put in front of a vessel, etc.) 4 4 In the No. 1 grave of the Hajdúszoboszló cemetery one of the large unretouched stone blades was below the skull, directly at the nape. Its base was beside the occiput, while its tip was at the calvaria. The other stone tool was found behind the vertebral column, near the middle part of it, on its flat side. 4 5 I suppose that this data do not allow us to draw significant consequences regarding the function of the tool. When he studied the Konyár cemetery belonging to the Bodrogkeresztúr culture, János Sőregi mentioned that according to him in prehistoric times flint knives were not ordinary cutting tools but they were used as ritual tools (sacrificial knife, tool used for circumcision, incising, ileshing tools) even during the metal ages. 4 6 Viola T. Dobosi argues the ritual significance and function of flint knives during all the prehistoric times. 4 7 According to my opinion the use wear studies made on the tools do not corroborate an "exclusively" ritual use of them, though, the absence of use wear on the majority of unretouched blades may cause us to reflect upon the problem. Among those Copper Age chipped stone tools which bear traces of use the majority was used to cut dry hide. Among the investigated tools retouched blades proved to be the most suitable for this work, followed by lateral and middle burins made on retouched and unretouched blades and by Dorers made on retouched blade and by uretouched blades. As for burins and borers the primary function of the tools was the activity made by the retouched and unretouched blades and were used for other work only secondarily or, since in our samples there are no traces of other use, they were not used further. Dry hide scraping was made by several types of scrapers (end scrapers, double scrapers). Butchering tools (working on meat) fresh hide also retouched blades or lateral burins made on retouched blades were used in the studied material. Bone was cut by retouched blades while cutting of plant parts was made by end scrapers made on retouched blades (Fig. 1-2). As a general statement we may say that the overwhelming part of the rather few Copper Age stone tools studied belongs typologically to the group of 4 3 Patay 1968, 17. 4 4 Patay 1961, 3; 1968, 15; Hillebrand 1929 4 5 Patay 1961, 26. 4 6 Sőregi 1933, 73-118. 4 7 T. Dobosi 1968, 271-285.
