Mining stone tools from Gargano flint mines (South-Eastern Italy): techno-typological study and raw material characterization (2024)

The Gargano Promontory Flint Mining Practices and Archaeometric Characterisation (with G. Eramo, A. Monno, I. M. Muntoni)

Is the Macroscopic Classification of Flint useful? A Petroarchaeological Analysis and Characterization of Flint Raw Materials from the Iberian Neolithic Mine of Casa Montero. 2009

Archaeometric study of some functional tools from the Sąspów and Wierzbica ‘Zele’ flint mines sites

Archaeologia Polona, 2016

In the present work, an archaeometric approach was used to investigate sample of the functional tools collected from the Sąspów, Cracow district, and Wierzbica ‘Zele’, Radom district, flint mines sites. The investigated collection was completed on four non-use-worn specimens. The presence of areas enriched in iron (Fe) compounds has been noticed on the surfaces of all the specimens. They were analyzed by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray analysis system (EDS). Data sets were statistically evaluated using similarity analysis (DA, CA, MDS). The results indicated the variables that best discriminate the investigated flint artifacts collection in terms of either anthropoghenic or non-anthropoghenic nature of the residues preserved on their surfaces.

Mining and Quarrying. Geological Characterisation, Knapping Processes and Distribution Networks during Pre- and Protohistoric Times Commission on Flint Mining in Pre-and Protohistoric Times

2017

Is the Macroscopic Classification of Flint Useful? A Petroachaeological Analysis and Characterization of Flint Raw Materials from the Iberian Neolithic Mine of Casa Montero

Archaeometry, 2009

Casa Montero is a mining complex located outside Madrid (Spain), dated from the Early Neolithic (c. 5400–5000 cal bc). An area of some 4 ha has been investigated and some 4000 shafts recorded, of which 324 have been excavated. The characterization of its raw flint materials and the establishment of its diagnostic features are indispensable in the reconstruction of the distribution of the mine's products beyond the immediate site. This work reports the geological study of the mine's Miocene flint layers and their petrological characterization. Archaeological samples from the mine's shafts were classified according to macroscopic features and petrological characteristics.

Geophysical surveys on Gargano prehistoric flint mines

IS THE MACROSCOPIC CLASSIFICATION OF FLINT USEFUL? A PETROARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FLINT RAW MATERIALS FROM THE IBERIAN NEOLITHIC MINE OF CASA MONTERO

Archaeometry, 2009

Lithic Raw Material Resources and Procurement in Pre- and Protohistoric Times, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and protohistoric Times (Paris, 10-11 September 2012)

BAR International Series 2656 , 2014

The Union Internationale des Sciences Pré- et Protohistoriques (UISPP) commission on “Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times” was created at the 12th meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (Cracow, Poland, 19th-24th September 2006). The aim was to perpetuate the tradition of organizing international symposia on flint, established by the Limburg Branch of the Dutch Geological Society in 1969 at Maastricht. The commission intends to maintain cooperation in archaeological research on siliceous rock mining (flint, chert, hornstone, radiolarite, jasper and obsidian), by presenting and discussing methods and results. Major fields of interest include the different stages of chaînes opératoires of manufacture, specialisation of labour and circulation of raw materials, as well as the study of flint mining sites in relation to pre- and protohistoric settlement patterns. The objective of the commission is to promote these lines of research into flint mining and its methods, thus enabling a better understanding of the various phenomena and processes taking place in pre- and protohistoric times. Five conferences have been organised since 2007: Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Florianopolis and Paris. The Madrid conference was published in 2011 (Capote M., Consegrua S., Diaz del-Rio P., Terradas X. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining inPre- and Protohistoric Times, BAR International Series 2260). The fifth conference was held at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne university, on 10th-11th September 2012. The conference brought together thirty-three members of the Commission from eleven different countries. This volume contains the papers of the Paris conference, together with some additional papers presented at Vienna 2010 and Florianópolis 2011. A first set of contributions concerns the main topic of the conference, which was lithothèques and reference collections. Katalin Biro presents the Lithotheca of the Hungarian National Museum at Budapest. This contains samples collected from Hungary since 1986, as well as materials from central Europe. It was built up through systematic survey and sampling and is now published online (www.ace.hu/litot). This well known reference collection has become one of the most consulted collections of the Hungarian National Museum and is regularly updated and completed. The Catalonian Siliceous Rock Lithotheque provides another example of reference collection documentation, management and access (Ortega & Terradas) It is relatively recent (2008) and aims to build up an exhaustive reference collection for this province. The methodology and management of the Lithotheque were particularly well designed. A French example of a lithothèque is illustrated by the Soissons reference collection in the Oise/Aisne area in the Paris basin (Lietar et al.). This regional collection, created in the 1980s, has been updated and integrated within a database. It includes samples from the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Tertiary (Eocene and Palaeocene), in flint, chert, sandstone, limestone and other materials. It has been used for a number of regional case studies involving pre- and protohistoric archaeology. The last contribution looks in a new way at the history of geological contexts in southern France, with particular reference to alteration processes (Fernandes et al.). Materials from primary and secondary deposits can thus be identified. Combined with geomorphological information, these data can be used to find outcrops. A further group of papers concerns the second conference theme: workshops, from excavation to chaînes opératoires reconstruction. The research team investigating the flint mine of Spiennes describes the new excavation carried out prior to building of a new museum (Collet et al.). Its construction is an outcome of the site obtaining Unesco World Heritage status in 2005. An area with a well preserved chipping floor was excavated and part of this will be displayed in the museum. The results of the excavation are presented and the manufacturing process for flint products is analysed and reconstructed. An overview of flint axe production and distribution in the Loir valley in France is proposed by H. Lethrosne and M. Lecoeuvre. Several flint axe production workshops and mines have been documented here since the 19th century. The chaîne opératoire is reconstructed, using a representative sample from different sites. This enables a broad picture to be drawn of axe production and diffusion in the area. Two papers deal with radiolarite in the Carpathian part of Slovakia. The first, by M. Olivia, clearly outlines use of white Carpathian radiolarite from Palaeolithic to Eneolithic times. Blade technology was used during the Neolithic along the river Vlára, with evidence for workshops. This material had previously been attributed to the Palaeolithic. Then I. & M. Cheben describe the extraction pits they excavated near Horná lysá in the Chmelová Hill area of Slovakia. The radiolarite was mined by means of fire during the Neolithic. K. Nowak investigates the middle Neolithic procurement system in the lower Rhine valley. Her work is based on previously published material. The application of factor analysis to this data set reveals two different models: intraregional exchange and extraregional procurement. Intraregional exchange involves producer-distributor settlements with higher production rates. The last papers are miscellanea. M. Brand and G. Trnka describe a present-day rock crystal mine in Brazil, exploited by individual, independent miners with the permission of the land owners. It provides an interesting analogy for the extraction conditions and social context of flint mining in Neolithic Europe.

The area distribution of the artefacts in the flint workshop of the San Bartolomeo Rock-shelter (Abruzzo, Central-Italy)

2005

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times (Madrid, 14-17 October 2009)

2011

The volume includes 27 original papers presented at the Conference. Considering the variety of topics, the editors decided to organize them following a geographical criterion. All in all, the volume represents the tireless activity of a reasonably large group of researchers that consider the social and economic context of fl int mining as a key source for understanding prehistoric and protohistoric societies.