Flint Sourcing

Paper presents the find of a fragment of a flint blade dagger with polish of the well known "Grand Pressigny" type, but made of Romigny-Lhéry or Bartonian flint supposedly at some outcrop - not yet located with precision - in the sourroundings of Reims. It may reasonably concluded, that at this workshop the whole typological series of Grand Pressigny dagger blades was produced, i.e. unpolished blades with flat retouch, blades with polish oder blades with "barre de chocolat"-retouch for which a few verified examples are given. This leads to the assumption, that quite a few dagger blades in Northwestern Europe hithero published as "Grand Pressigny" are actually products  of bartonian flint workshops.

This work introduces a comparative collection located in the Prehistory Laboratory at the University of León (Spain) specialised in knappable raw materials, mainly comprising radiolarite and black chert (micro-crypto crystalline quartz), from the western Cantabrian Mountains (north of Iberian Peninsula). A standardised protocol of sample collection and data organisation was developed, which includes the use of several methodologies. First, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for referencing lithic sources. Second, direct observation of the sample for the macroscopic characterization, both de visu and stereomicroscope. Third, petrographic microscopy for a description of main petrological, and palaeontological features, complemented with the identification of the different minerals that make up the samples by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Forth, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Thermogravimetry-Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TG-DSC) for geochemical and thermal features of the samples. Finally, the results of these analyses were entered in a database. All this information is contributing towards the creation of a physical reference collection specialised in local Palaeozoic formations (mostly from Devonian to Carboniferous) that outcrop in the western Cantabrian Mountains, a region whose potential resource base was previously not very well known. This collection would allow to compare archaeological lithic remains from different sites inside and outside the Cantabrian Mountains.

The lack of consensus surrounding the macroscopic determination of high-quality black flint discovered at the Aldenhoven Plateau sites (Rhineland, North-Western Germany) from the beginning of the Middle Neolithic has far-reaching consequences for the anthropological understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics involved in the neolithization of North-Western Europe. This flint has been assigned to Western Belgian 'Obourg' flint type and is used as a key indicator of strong links between populations from West Belgium (Mons Basin) and the German Rhineland at the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. Here, we present an integrated study of this flint using geochemical and lithic technological approaches. This work rules out attribution of the analysed flint artefacts to the Upper Cretaceous flint sources of the Mons Basin; however, the exact origin of the black flint used in the Rhineland remains unanswered. Our results do not support the hypothesis of intensive contact between populations from West Belgium and the German Rhineland and highlights the urgent need for further combined petrographic and geochemical analyses in the region, particularly on geological samples, in order to build up an extensive and reliable comparative reference collection.

For a while now, lithic raw material studies have been focused mainly on the geochemical and petrographic characterization of specimens from host‐rock deposits (primary geological position) and archaeological sites, and on identifying the supply source. For the Lower Danube Valley, chert occurrence and availability in alluvial deposits (secondary geological position) was assessed through field surveys and external morphology analysis of the collected samples. These investigations have shown that cherts are available in most of the gravel deposits from the Lower Danube Valley, in various forms, sizes and states of preservation. Those cherts were transported from the Bulgarian Tableland over short (Ciuperceni) to long (Ghizdaru) distances by the Balkan paleo‐rivers and deposited as alluvial fans in southern Romanian (Frăteşti Formation), and reworked and redeposited as terrace deposits by the Danube. The evidence also shows that the Upper Palaeolithic people living in the sites along the Lower Danube Valley used these allochthonous sources to extract chert clasts fitted for their needs of tool knapping.

Paper is one out of three preliminary reports on the Magdalénian open air site of Alsdorf. The industry recovered, points to a special purpose campsite as there are practically no blade scapers but a remarcable dominance of burins. Some Simpelveld flint - not yet defined at the time of excavation and publication -  has been worked at the site. A refitting campain with the neighbouring sites of Beek, Sweikhhuizen, Eyserheide, Mesch .... would be useful.

Paper is one out of three preliminary reports on the Magdalénian open air site of Alsdorf. The industry recovered, points to a special purpose campsite as there are practically no blade scapers but a remarcable dominance of burins. Some Simpelveld flint - not yet defined at the time of excavation and publication -  has been worked at the site. A refitting campain with the neighbouring sites of Beek, Sweikhhuizen, Eyserheide, Mesch .... would be useful.