Fitz Jenő (szerk.): Die aktuellen Fragen der Bandkeramik - István Király Múzeum közelményei. A. sorozat 18. A Pannon konferenciák aktái 1. (Székesfehérvár, 1972)
R. Tringham: Bylany (Csehország) pattitott kőeszközeinek formái, technolgóiai és funkcionális vizsgálata
as those produced by cutting soft material but with rounder edges of the facets ; gradually, however, the scars are obliterated by abrasion*10* or deposition of silica or opal(U> in the form of a very high gloss within which a pattern of scratches and pits parallel to the cutting edge is visible. Evidence of hafting blades comes from scratches and abrasion on the spine of the blade, and a blunted battered edge opposite the cutting edge. Thus no one type of trace can be indicative of the function of a particular blade by itself. All the different forms of traces of wear should be considered together in order make a more accurate identification of the function. So far the results of experimental observations and microscopic analysis in the identification of the function of chipped stone implements have been applied only very infrequently to the analysis of assemblages from prehistoric sites. The pioneer of a systematic quantitative analysis of this type is Korobkova, Semeonov’s assistant, in her analysis of the neolithic assemblages of central Asia.<12) Markeyeviö has attempted a similar analysis of the early neolithic material of Moldavia SSR.<13) V e n c 1 began a similar study of the central European neolithic assemblages but without any quantitative details.(14) In my own research I am attempting to apply the methods as used by Korobkova in C. Asia to a quantitative analysis of the chipped stone industries of early neolithic assemblages of central and south-east Europe. With this in view an attribute system has been devised to bring out the various factors responsible for the shape of the implements. These include raw material, the production of cores, preparation of roughouts, general size of blades produced, proportion of blades to flakes etc. in order to show the limits set by the raw material and the level of technological skill. Functional aspects include selection of roughouts of a particular thickness for specific tasks and attributes of wear marks by which it is possible to identify the actual function ; in order to do this as objectively as possible a blade is divided into dorsal and ventral surfaces; each surface is divided into eight parts. The traces of wear include the character of cutting edge, and the distribution and character of scars, scratches and polish. The cultural factor is indicated in particular by the modifications made to the shape of the blade by deliberate retouch and by flattening or cutting of the bulb of percussion. The attribute 10 11 12 13 14 (10) S. A. SEMEONOV, o. c. 113- 122. (11) J. WITTHOFT, Glazed polish on flint tools. American Antiquity 32/3, 1967, 383 — 388. (12) G. F. KOROBKOVA, Orudiya trudn i Ichozaistvo neolitiöeskikh piemen Srednei Azii. Mat. i. Issledovaniya po Arkheologii SSSR 158, 1969. (13) V. I. MARKEYEVIC, o. c.; ID. Neolit Moldavii. Avtoreferat Diss. Kami. 1st. Nauki. Moskva 1968. (14) S. VENOL, Kamenné nastroje prvnich Zemëdëlkû ve Stfedni Evropë. Sbornik Narodniho Muzea v Praze 14, 1960, 1 - 91. system has been devised to be used for the chipped stone industries of early neolithic assemblages of central and south-east Europe. It is based especially on analysis of the industry at Bylany, Czechoslovakia, but it is already being applied also to material from Yugoslavia including Divostin and Lepenski Vir and Photolivos in Greece and it is hoped to use it in an analysis of chipped stone industries of other Linear Pottery settlements and early neolithic settlements in other parts of south-east Europe. It would also be interesting to use it in an examination of chipped stone blades made of obsidian from this area in order to see the varying proportions of used implements to unworked chips, and retouched to unretouched blades etc. as indicators of trade mechanisms.1151 The potential value of such an analysis may perhaps be seen in the results of the analysis of the first part of the chipped stone industry of the excavations at Bylany. Of a total number of 346 chipped stone objects, 12 were cores and their fragments, 110 were unused waste chips and flakes, and 195 were used implements. 70% of the chipped stone artefacts were made of flint which comprised two varieties. The first, by far the most common, was a brown transparent flint, in which there occur a high proportion of the cores and chips indicating that this material was probably worked locally. Secondly there was a high quality chalcedonic opaque grey flint in which there was only one core fragment and very few chips. This material was frequently used for blades which were modified by deliberate retouch, in particular small truncated blades used as end-scrapers on hard material such as wood or bone. From the care with which it was worked and the little evidence of wastage it would seem that this material was more highly valued and less available. The second material was light grey opaque chert, a material of rather lower quality as far as sharpness and durability were concerned. Because of its rather less pronounced conchoidal fracture it is more inclined to produce flakes rather than narrow blades and was used especially in the manufacture of scrapers for soft materials. One or two possibly worked chips of limestone and quartzite occur, but with more suitable raw materials for chipped stone artefacts available it was clearly unnecessary to exploit the local quartzite. As mentioned above, the number of cores and unused roughouts at Bylany is very small. Clearly every available cutting edge was used and cores were exploited until they were exhausted, until they could no longer be rejuvenated or produce usable roughouts. From those blades whose striking platform has been preserved it is possible to see that about half the blades had striking platforms which showed evidence of preparation before striking. The proportion of prepared platforms was rat(15) C. RENFREW-J. DIXON - J. CANN, Obsidian and early cultural contact in the Near East. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 32, 1966, 30—72. 14G
