Neolithic axe production in Central Germany : A first approach on technological aspects and lithic raw materials
Meinecke Schiele, Simone (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geologia)
Risch, Robert (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Culí i Verdaguer, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geologia)
Martínez i Fernández, Francesc Josep, 1947- (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geologia)
Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag (16th : 2023 : Halle an der Saale, Germany)

Date:	2024
Description:	31 pàg.
Abstract:	Stone axes and adzes made from various types of greenstones have been used in Central Europe since the Mesolithic. These rocks - often incorrectly labelled as amphibolite - were processed into tools for woodworking and butchering and into weapons, and they probably also served as exchange values. While their typology is more or less well defined, their provenance and manufacturing processes still lack comprehensive studies. A collaborative interdisciplinary research project between the State Office for Heritage Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona aims to bring new insights into the field of lithic raw material sources in Central Europe. The investigation of over 350 axe manufacturing remnants from Central Germany included archaeometrical, morphological, and technological studies, as well as petrographic and geochemical analysis. As a result, a large number of Early Neolithic axe production workshops could be identified in Central Germany, where a specific type of green schist was processed. In petrographic terms, this rock strongly resembles the well-known metabasite quarried during the Early Neolithic in Jizera, Northern Bohemia (Czech Republic). However, the technique of sawing, used during the early stages of the manufacturing process of many of the Central German axeheads, was uncommon in the workshops on the Czech quarry site, where flaking appears to have been the dominant technique. The abundance of rock slabs with sawing traces, axe blanks, and manufacturing remnants in the settlements and hoards of Central Germany as well as the technological differences in the axe production techniques used in the workshops call into question whether the metabasite quarries in Jizera were the only raw material source for Central Europe during the Neolithic; the evidence points towards the existence of additional regional raw material production centres. The present study also confirms the decreasing importance of actinolite-hornblende-schist during the Middle and, probably, Late Neolithic, when other types of local rocks started to be obtained from secondary clast deposits.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Series:	Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle ; 31
Document:	Capítol de llibre ; recerca ; Comunicació de congrés ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Der soziale Wert prähistorischer Beile: neue archäologische und archäometrische Ansätze /The social value of prehistoric axes -new archaeological and archaeometric approaches, (2024) , p. 137-167, ISBN 978-3-96929-367-6
Related work:	Risch, Roberto, Pernicka, Ernst und Meller, Harald (Hrsg.): Der soziale Wert prähistorischer Beile: neue archäologische und archäometrische Ansätze /The social value of prehistoric axes -new archaeological and archaeometric approaches: 16. Mitteldeutscher Archäologentagvom 5. bis 7. Oktober 2023 in Halle (Saale) / 16th Archaeological Conference of Central German October 5-7, 2023 in Halle (Saale), Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2025 (Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle, Band 31) https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1474

31 p, 37.7 MB

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