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

• Main Authors: Jolanta Małecka-Kukawka, Grażyna Szczepańska, Marta Rauchfleisz, Łukasz Kowalski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences 2016-01-01
• Series: Archaeologia Polona
• Subjects: use-wear analysis; residue analysis; SEM-EDS; archaeometry; flint mining
• Online Access: https://journals.iaepan.pl/apolona/article/view/435

In the present work, an archaeometric approach was used to investigate a 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.