Olde Holt Wolde

OLDEHOLTWOLDE

Oldeholtwolde A Hamburgian family encampment around a hearth

LYKKE JOHANSEN DICK STAPERT with a preface by

Professor H.T. Waterbolk

A.A. BALKEMA PUBLISHERS LISSE / ABINGDON / EXTON (PA) / TOKYO

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Copyright © 2004 Swets & Zeitlinger B.V., Lisse, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior permission from the publishers. Although all care is taken to ensure the integrity and quality of this publication and the information herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the author for any damage to property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein. Published by A.A. Balkema Publishers, a member of Swets & Zeitlinger Publishers www.balkema.nl and www.szp.swets.nl ISBN 0-203-97124-8 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 90 5809 549 5

FOR HEDDA

Contents Preface

ix

1. The ANALITHIC project

1

2. The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Geography and stratigraphy 2.3. Radiocarbon dates 2.4. The hearth and other features 2.5. Materials 2.6. The use-wear analysis 2.7. Ring and sector analysis

3 3 4 6 8 12 22 24

3. The flint material from Oldeholtwolde 3.1. Introduction 3.2. The tools 3.3. Burin spalls 3.4. ‘Barbs’ 3.5. Non-tools 3.6. Burnt flint artefacts

27 27 28 86 88 93 105

4. Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde 4.1. Introduction and overview 4.2. Refits of broken artefacts 4.3. Refitted sequences involving tools 4.4. Refitted sequences without tools

111 111 114 116 157

5. Towards dynamic reconstructions 5.1. Flint technology and the chaîne opératoire 5.2. Dense flint scatters: knapping locations or dumps? 5.3. The three flint knappers 5.4. Tools: import versus on-the-site production 5.5. Moving around the hearth 5.6. Some distinctive raw materials 5.7. Types of refit 5.8. Refit lines: different length classes 5.9. ‘Refitting clusters’ 5.10. Summary

171 171 172 177 180 182 187 197 207 210 217

Acknowledgements

219

References

221

Index

225

Preface About 13,000 years ago, a family of reindeer hunters set up camp in the open air at the foot of a sandy ridge with sparse plant cover on the bank of a brook valley draining a low plateau, somewhere in the immense tundra plain between the mountains of Scandinavia and the German–Belgian uplands. They stayed for a few weeks only. The family consisted of at least a man, a woman, an elder boy and a younger boy. They made a fireplace of flat sandstones on which they roasted fish and meat, they worked hides and they made tools of flint, bone, antler and perhaps wood. The members of the family had fixed places around the fire but moved over when the wind changed. Flints and other stones had to be collected at a morainic outcrop about two kilometres away, willow firewood was to be found in the nearby valley bottom. The stream was rich in fish and will have attracted plenty of wildlife. They had brought along a collection of ready-made flint tools to be used at the spot, as well as a few prepared cores and many unretouched blades. In the production of new tools three people were involved. The man was highly experienced, the elder boy did quite well, but the younger boy was only a beginner. The flint toolkit consisted of points, scrapers, burins, combination tools, truncated blades, Zinken, borers and notched blades. Two flint tools were used for making fire by striking a pyrite nodule. When the family left the site they took with them quite a few flint tools, blades and prepared cores, to be used at the next camp. The discarded remains of bone and antler soon decayed, but at least 10,000 pieces of flint, 46 kilos of mostly broken stones from the fireplace, many small pieces of charcoal, and one rubbed piece of red ochre remained on the site. Shortly after the people left, these remains were gently covered by a 30 to 50 cm layer of wind-blown sand which protected them against erosion and other natural destructive forces. More than half a millennium later, another layer of driftsand was deposited over the site and much later still a raised bog filled the valley and overgrew much of its slopes. The temporary presence of this small group of people would have remained totally unnoticed, had not an agricultural reallotment scheme in 1980 brought machinery to the site for a levelling operation and a keen archaeological assistant to find the first flints and to stop the digger. This happened near the village of Oldeholtwolde in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. The adjacent brook valley is that of the Tjonger, well known for the occurrence of the classical sites of the Tjongerian, which is now regarded as part of the Federmesser culture. The present site, however, belongs to the Havelte phase of the preceding Hamburgian and dates to the Dryas 2 period, just before the onset of the Allerød Interstadial. At the moment of discovery it was largely untouched. There are more Havelte-phase sites in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, but most of them have been discovered in recent sand-dune areas (like the type site at Havelte) or cultivated fields. Oldeholtwolde is without doubt the most important Hamburgian site of the Netherlands. Apart from a small disturbance at the moment of discovery, everything was lying undisturbed in situ, the only post-depositional damage having been the splitting of stones by frost in the Dryas 3 stadial. The above detailed picture of life at the site—to which many more details could be added—is the combined result of a study of the stratigraphy and geology; of radiocarbon dating of the charcoal; of a meticulous excavation that involved sifting all soil and noting coordinates of every minute object; of a detailed description of all tools and non-tools; of a study of the use-wear of the tools and blades (by Dr. Emily Moss); of the application of the ring-and-sector method to the spatial analysis of the finds, developed by the second author; and of a highly successful refitting analysis of the flint material by the first author. The latter is herself an experienced flint knapper and is able to recognize individual knapping skills. In this book the authors summarize earlier work on the site and present in great detail their analysis of the spatial patterns revealed by the ring-and-sector method and by the refitting analysis. The book is well illustrated with clear diagrams and beautiful drawings of the artefacts and refit groups (by the first author). It constitutes a major advance in the study of the Upper Palaeolithic and will set a standard for the excavation, presentation and analysis of sites of this period for many years to come. Prof. H.T. Waterbolk, Emeritus professor of archaeology, and former director of the Biological–Archaeological Institute of Groningen University

CHAPTER 1

The ANALITHIC project

In 1995, the ‘ANALITHIC’ project was started. It was meant to be a joint venture of the Archaeological Institutes of the universities at Copenhagen and Groningen, and a software company in Groningen: Akili Software B.V. The project was subsidized by ARCHON, Groninger Universiteits Fonds, Gratama-Stichting, Stichting Nederlands Museum voor Anthropologie en Praehistorie, and the university of Copenhagen. Within the framework of this project, three large refitting operations were carried out in the course of several years. The most important one dealt with the material from the Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde, and is the subject of this publication. The flint material from two Ahrensburgian sites in the Netherlands was also analysed (see Johansen & Stapert, 2000). The ANALITHIC project had three major aims: 1. Creating an integrated computer package for spatial analysis. The then already existing program ‘RINGS & SECTORS’, incorporating modules for cartography, ring and sector analysis, and density analysis, would have to be rewritten under Windows, and extended with modules for refitting analysis and use-wear analysis. This work was done by Akili Software B.V., in concert with the authors. After completion, the package was renamed ANALITHIC. It has become a powerful tool for the analysis of Stone Age sites, allowing the integration of various specialist studies of artefacts. 2. Performing a complete refitting analysis of the flint artefacts from the Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde, Friesland, the Netherlands. This important site was excavated by the second author for the former Biological–Archaeological Institute of Groningen University, in 1980 and 1981. It is one of the very few undisturbed Hamburgian sites with a constructed hearth. The site has a well-defined stratigraphy, and several radiocarbon dates are available. A first refitting analysis of the flint material was performed by Jan S. Krist in the eighties. From 1996 on, the refitting was extended considerably by the first author (then a staff member of Copenhagen University), as part of her Ph.D. research. This new analysis took several years to complete, and resulted in a large chapter in her thesis (Johansen, 2000b). 3. Building a complete automated data file for the Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde. Apart from many artefact attributes, and the results of the refitting operation, the idea was to also include use-wear data. Oldeholtwolde is one of the very few Hamburgian sites for which an exhaustive use-wear study has been performed. This was done by Dr. Emily Moss (now at Belmont, USA; see Moss, 1988). The use-wear data of Moss will be discussed in more detail in another publication. Significant progress towards these aims has been achieved. An operational refitting module now exists. The results of the new refitting analysis are recorded in an automated data file, and have been analysed. A complete artefact file of the site for all types of material has been completed, including also all the tiny chips of flint (pieces smaller than 1.5 cm). A module for use-wear data is available, and a file containing most of the use-wear data of Oldeholtwolde has been built. Chapter 2, by Stapert, offers a brief introduction to the site, providing the necessary background for the detailed analyses of the flint material that follow. Chapter 3, by Johansen and Stapert, describes the flint material in detail, with new drawings of all the tools. Chapter 4, by Johansen, is an extensive report on the refitting analysis of the flint artefacts from Oldeholtwolde. Finally, chapter 5, by Johansen and Stapert, discusses several issues in more detail, based on the results of the refitting analysis. The aim of this last chapter is especially to create dynamic models of the site’s occupation.

CHAPTER 2

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde DICK STAPERT

2.1. INTRODUCTION Oldeholtwolde, located near Heerenveen in the province of Friesland (fig. 1), is the most important Hamburgian site in the Netherlands. It was well preserved and could be excavated almost completely. After its discovery by the late Mr Jan Klaas Boschker, the site was excavated in 1980/81 by the then Biological-Archaeological Institute of Groningen University; a series of publications are available (e.g. Moss, 1988; Stapert, 1984; Stapert et al., 1986; Stapert & Krist, 1990; Stapert, 2000). A total of 133 square metres were excavated. The locations of as many artefacts as possible were measured in three dimensions. The excavated soil was sifted by square metres, topsoil and undisturbed sand below it being treated separately. Clearly outside the Hamburgian find concentration, an isolated hearth dating from the Mesolithic was discovered, without any flint artefacts associated with it. The finds were embedded in coversand (wind-blown sand), forming a low dune along the main Lateglacial stream in the valley of the river Tjonger. The dominating feature of the site is a hearth, in the middle of the artefact scatter which had a diameter of some 6 m. Much wood charcoal was present; other organic remains, such as bone, had not been preserved. The site can be ascribed to the Havelte Group on the basis of point typology (see chapter 3). The Havelte Group is a late phase of the Hamburgian, probably beginning sometime in the second half of the Bølling Interstadial. Oldeholtwolde appears to be one of the latest sites of the Hamburgian: the site can be dated in the last part of Dryas 2, just before the beginning of the Allerød, on the basis of stratigraphy. The available radiocarbon dates also indicate a fairly late dating for the site. It is very probable that the Hamburgian site was occupied only once, for a relatively brief period, by a small group of people (probably a family; see chapter 4).

0

50 km

Fig. 1. Map of the Netherlands, showing the location of the site at Oldeholtwolde (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

4

Geography and stratigraphy

2.2. GEOGRAPHY AND STRATIGRAPHY The site is situated on the southeastern slope of a coversand dune in the valley of the river Tjonger which is about 3 km wide here. In the valley, Lateglacial coversands are covered by Holocene peat, except where they occurred in the form of dunes. A sand-depth map (fig. 2; after Makken & Rutten, 1971) reveals two larger stream channels, of which the southern was the main Lateglacial course of the river Tjonger. Immediately to the east of the site, a smaller side-channel was present. The site is located almost at the foot of a coversand dune, close to the Lateglacial river bank (see Stapert, 1984). The Hamburgians selected one of the relatively rare spots where the slope from a coversand dune to the bank was relatively steep, without a wide valley-floor zone. One of the reasons for this choice may have been that they were occupied, among other things, with fishing. Apart from charcoal, no organic remains were preserved at Oldeholtwolde. However, Emily Moss (1988) found use-wear traces from processing fish on several flint artefacts (a few examples will be mentioned in chapters 3 and 4). In the immediate vicinity of the site, no boulderclay (northern moraine deposits, containing flints and stones of other types) is present. The flint artefacts recovered at Oldeholtwolde together weigh ca 4 kilos. The stones of other kinds (especially sandstone slabs used in the hearth) amount to ca 46 kilos. The site’s occupants must have transported more than 50 kilos of rock over a distance of at least 0.5 km, probably more. At a spot about 2 km northeast of the site, boulderclay occurs practically at the surface (see map of boulderclay occurrences in Stapert, 1984: 62). At the site, the so-called ‘Usselo Horizon’ is present within the coversand, a weak palaeosoil containing many charcoal particles dating from the Allerød; it separates Younger Coversands I and II, dating from Dryas 2 and

0

1 km

MILDAM

al na rka

ge

n Tjo

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Fig. 2. Sand-depth map of the area around the site at Oldeholtwolde (based on Makken & Rutten, 1971). Key: (1) sand at the surface (coversand dunes); (2) top of sand at 15–40 cm below the surface (above the sand there is peat); (3) sand at 40–80 cm; (4) sand at 80–120 cm; (5) sand at 120–200 cm; (6) sand at greater depth than 2 m; (7) not mapped; (8) the site (fig. D. Stapert/J.M. Smit).

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

5

Dryas 3, respectively (e.g. De Groot et al., 1987). Younger Coversand II is only thin here, up to 0.5 m in thickness. The dune consists mainly of Younger Coversand I, about 2 m in thickness at the site but becoming thicker towards the north. This sand is distinctly layered and contains thin ‘loamy bands’ (for more details on the local stratigraphy: Stapert, 1986). Below the coversand are brook deposits, dating from the Weichselian Pleniglacial. The find level occurred on average about 30 cm below the top of the Usselo Horizon, but locally up to 40 or 50 cm below it. The Hamburgians must therefore have lived here shortly before the beginning of the Allerød, in the last part of the brief Dryas 2 stadial. Immediately after they left, the site was sealed by coversand. It is certain that the embedding of the artefacts in coversand was a gentle process, without any erosion. Thousands of tiny ‘microchips’ of flint, often smaller than the grains of sand among which they occurred, could be collected during the excavation, clustered in several spots. It is important to note that the find level was not located in a soil or an erosion level in the sand. Habitation took place during a period with stadial conditions, and the sand dune cannot have been covered by any type of dense vegetation during occupation. Along the streams, however, there must have been some vegetation, including brushwood. All the charcoal in the hearth is from Salix brushwood. Several other sites of the Havelte Group in the northern Netherlands also occurred in Younger Coversand I, and therefore date most probably from Dryas 2; examples are Texel, Luttenberg (Stapert, 1986) and Sassenhein. Maybe the Havelte Group started as early as the last part of the Bølling (see Clausen, 1997), but in the Netherlands most if not all sites of this Group seem to date from Dryas 2. In the stream channel to the south of the site, a brown peat layer dating from the Allerød is present. The peat contains wood remains from Salix and Betula. The peat merges laterally into the Usselo Horizon, just as at the classic site at Usselo. The peat layer was analysed palynologically by Bottema and Mook-Kamps (2000). Radiocarbon dates are available both for the Usselo Horizon and the Allerød peat (see below). Especially within the stream channel south of the site, but also higher up the slope, many frost fissures could be observed, up to c. 20 cm wide at the top, coming out of the uppermost coversand layer (Dryas 3) and penetrating down through the peat layer. Similar frost fissures dating from Dryas 3 are known from many other places in the Netherlands. Many stones and flint artefacts at the Hamburgian site became fragmented secondarily because of frostsplitting during Dryas 3. Figure 3 gives an overview of the stratigraphic situation at the site of Oldeholtwolde.

0

SE

NW

0

c. 25 m

Altitude in cm below NAP (Dutch ordnance level) c.15 m

50

50

c.100 m

IV

100

100

III 150

150 Findspot

200

200

II I (Brook deposits)

250

1

2

3

4

250

5

6

7

8

Fig. 3. Schematic overall profile (SE–NW) of the site and its surroundings. Key: (1) topsoil; (2) Holocene peat; (3) Younger Coversand II (Dryas 3); (4) frost fissures (Dryas 3); (5) ‘Usselo Horizon’ (Allerød); (6) brown peat (Allerød); (7) Younger Coversand I (Dryas 2); (8) schematic indication of the flat stones of the hearth at the site (fig. D. Stapert/J.M. Smit).

6

Radiocarbon dates

2.3. RADIOCARBON DATES

GrN-13182

GrN-12280

OxA-2560

GrN-11264

OxA-2559

GrN-10274

GrN-13083

OxA-2561

BP 9,000

OxA-2558

During the excavation, all charcoal particles larger than about 3 mm were retrieved, and their locations were individually recorded (see section 2.5.3). Most charcoal occurred in or very close to the hearth in the middle of the artefact scatter. The first radiocarbon sample from the hearth consisted of pulverized charcoal collected from beneath the stones in the central pit of the hearth (for details see Stapert, 1984). This sample location was considered well protected from contamination by, for example, natural charcoal from the Usselo Horizon, which lay about 40 cm above it. The result was: GrN-10274, 11,540
270 BP. The dating turned out to be younger than expected. Therefore, a second sample from the hearth was submitted to the Groningen Laboratory, together with a sample of natural charcoal from the Usselo Horizon. However, either the samples or the results must have been accidentally interchanged. The ‘hearth sample’ gave the following result: GrN-12280, 11,080
280 BP, which is obviously not correct. The ‘Usselo Horizon sample’ gave a date similar to the first date for the hearth: GrN-13083, 11,600
250 BP. To end all confusion, three individual charcoal particles from the hearth (all consisting of Salix, as identified by Dr W.A. Casparie) were submitted to the Accelerator Unit of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, at Oxford. Dr R.A. Housley of this laboratory provided the following results: OxA-2558, 11,810
110 BP; OxA-2559, 11,470
110 BP; OxA-2561, 11,680
120 BP. Dr Housley also calculated the combined date, and this is the best estimate of the radiocarbon age of the hearth at Oldeholtwolde: 11,650
65 BP. The first Groningen date was therefore confirmed, and it now seems clear that GrN-13083 also dates the hearth. A second charcoal sample from the Usselo Horizon was also dated at Oxford: OxA-2560, 11,300
110 BP. Though somewhat older than GrN-12280, both are ‘normal’ dates for the Usselo Horizon.

Oldeholtwolde radiocarbon dates 10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

Hamburgian hearth

Allerød peat

Usselo Horizon

Mesolithic hearth

Fig. 4. The radiocarbon dates for Oldeholtwolde; two standard deviations are indicated. There are four certain dates for the Hamburgian hearth, and a fifth date (GrN-13083)—left white—which also probably dates the hearth; all these datings are of Salix charcoal. The date for the Allerød peat close to the site (and stratigraphically above the find level) relates to the lowermost 1 cm of the peat. One certain and one probable date (the latter left white in the drawing) are available for natural charcoal from the Usselo Horizon (occurring about 30 to 40 cm above the find level). Finally, Pinus charcoal from an isolated Mesolithic hearth was dated. The best estimate of the radiocarbon age of the Hamburgian hearth is the combined date of the three Oxford dates: 11,650 ± 65 BP (fig. D. Stapert).

→

Fig. 6. Radiocarbon dates of Achterberg, plotted against depth, and placed in the provisional palynological zones as worked out by J. de Jong. As in fig. 5, the first Groningen date and the combined Oxford date for the Hamburgian hearth are indicated (fig. D. Stapert).

Combined Oxford date: 11,650 ⫾ 65 BP Palynology (v.d. Hammen)

Samples

Allerød

Usselo C14 (1988) (GrN-15580, 15592)

Bc I Bc II

Oldeholtwolde C14 (GrN-10274)

Bc III

Oldeholtwolde combined Oxford date (AMS)

(⫺)

Dryas 2

⫾1␴

Bb I

Bb II Bb III Bb IV Ba I Ba II

Bølling S.L.

Ba III Ba IV Ba V Ba VI 12,000

11,000

BP

11,540⫾270 BP (GrN-10,274)

Fig. 5. Radiocarbon dates of the Lateglacial type-section at Usselo, arranged in stratigraphical order and placed in the palynological zones as worked out by Van der Hammen (1952) and Van Geel et al. (1989). Also shown are the first Groningen date of the Hamburgian hearth, and the combined Oxford date (fig. D. Stapert).

10,000 100

10,500

11,000

11,500

12,000 (hiatus)

Palynology (de Jong)

12,500

Dryas 3?

Depth in cm below surface

150

Allerød? 200 (hiatus?)

Dryas 2? 250 Achterberg Oldeholtwolde GrN-10274

Bølling?

Oldeholtwolde combined Oxford date 300 10,000

10,500

11,000

11,500

12,000

12,500

BP

8

The hearth and other features

The Usselo Horizon laterally merges into brown peat in the valley. The lowermost 1 cm of this peat, sampled at a spot about 10 m to the east of the site, was dated in Groningen: GrN-11264, 11,340
100 BP. The peat was evidently formed during the second half of the Allerød Interstadial. The peat was analysed palynologically, with interesting results (Bottema & Mook-Kamps, 2000). Finally, Pinus charcoal from the isolated Mesolithic hearth at Oldeholtwolde was also dated: GrN-13182, 9,220
80 BP. All radiocarbon dates are indicated, with two standard deviations, in figure 4. It should be noted that there are 4 or 5 dates for the hearth at Oldeholtwolde, depending on whether one includes GrN-13083, and that these dates consistently fall around 11,650 BP; their variation may be purely accidental. Burdukiewicz (1999) included the two dates for natural charcoal from the Usselo Horizon in his list of Hamburgian radiocarbon dates; this is obviously a misunderstanding. He also writes (1999: 136) that I rejected the radiocarbon dates from Oldeholtwolde because the site should be of Bølling age. I have no idea why he should say such a thing: in my opinion the dates are good, and I furthermore believe that the site can be dated to the last part of Dryas 2 on the basis of stratigraphy. It is true, of course, that the combined Oxford date for Oldeholtwolde, 11,650 BP, seems rather young for a Dryas 2 event. The best explanation for this ‘anomaly’ is to assume the existence of fluctuations in the atmospheric 14C-content during the Lateglacial; for this there are good indications (Lanting & Van der Plicht, 1997). Radiocarbon samples from the type section at Usselo, spanning most of the Lateglacial, were dated in Groningen. When plotted in stratigraphical order, the dates display several wiggles (fig. 5). A large wiggle occurs around the transition from Dryas 2 to the Allerød. In this diagram two radiocarbon dates for Oldeholtwolde are indicated with one standard deviation: the first conventional date by the Groningen Laboratory (stippled), and the combined date from the three accelerator dates from Oxford (in black). As can be seen, the Usselo curve is crossed by the Oldeholtwolde datings in three or four places. We know the large wiggle at the transition from Dryas 2 to Allerød even better from a pollen-analysed section at Achterberg in the southern Netherlands (fig. 6). The dates rapidly move from about 12,000 to about 10,700, and then swing halfway back again during the first half of the Allerød. In view of this situation, it may well be risky to use radiocarbon dates for placing a series of sites in a roughly chronological order. Because of such uncertainties, careful stratigraphical research remains the most reliable method of dating Lateglacial sites. Another conclusion is that the datings of the hearth at Oldeholtwolde are not at all contradictory to the stratigraphical position of the artefacts in Younger Coversand I, which dates the site to the last part of Dryas 2.

2.4. THE HEARTH AND OTHER FEATURES In figure 7, all stones larger than about 2 cm are shown in black. Also indicated are the disturbances in the excavated area. Parts with cross-hatching had been deeply disturbed prior to excavation; the other hatched parts were disturbed only superficially. Most of the find concentration was undisturbed, except for the eastern sector. Here a mechanical digger destroyed part of the site, until it was stopped by Mr Boschker—less than 1 m from the hearth. In figure 7 the hearth is evident from a dense concentration of stones; it was located in the middle of the artefact scatter (for photos of the hearth, see Stapert, 1984). The stone-clad hearth may be described as a foyer à cuvette, similar to the Magdalenian ‘domestic hearths’ at for instance Pincevent (see e.g. Leroi-Gourhan & Brézillon, 1972). The central pit was at most about 50 cm in diameter, and about 10 cm deep; its sides and floor were paved with flat stones. Most of the hearth stones are slabs of sandstone about 2 cm thick. Especially underneath the stone slabs in the hearth pit, but also elsewhere, charcoal was present, clearly resulting from the burning of some type of brushwood: branches thinner than 1 cm could be observed when the surface just below the stones in the central pit was cleaned (illustrated in Stapert, 1984: 77, 78). The charcoal was analysed by Dr W.A. Casparie (then attached to the Biological–Archaeological Institute at Groningen), and found to consist entirely of Salix. A distribution map of charcoal particles with exact coordinates will be presented in section 2.5.3. All stones in the hearth are shown in black in figure 8; the central pit is indicated by a stippled line in this drawing. The hearth stones are shown also in figure 9; in this figure the direction in which the surfaces of the slabs sloped downward is indicated by arrows; it may be noted that the walls and bottom of the central pit were carefully paved. The central pit in the state in which we found it, not cleared out but with the pavement still in place, reflects the situation after the last instance of use of the hearth. At other sites, e.g. Pincevent, more or less empty central pits have large stones arranged around them, a situation that most probably shows hearth pits in

0 0

0

1m N

10 15

Fig. 7. Oldeholtwolde: the excavated area. All stones other than flints are shown in black. Cross-hatched: deeply disturbed (down to below the find level); normal or interrupted hatching: shallow disturbances, not or hardly reaching the find level. The deep disturbance east of the hearth was created by a mechanical digger, which led to the discovery of the site (fig. A.L. Zandbergen/D. Stapert). N

0.5 m

Fig. 8. The hearth at Oldeholtwolde. The central pit is indicated by a stippled line. Stones are shown in black; most of these are sandstone slabs (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

10

The hearth and other features 5111

8/5

7/5

6/5

5188

N

2789

5222 5187

5355 5221

5479

5481

4992

5482 5485

5486 5224 4993 5659

5470

2791

2790 2930

3679 3680

2932 2612

(3508)

3678 5666 5483 5532 3677 3676 3298 5664 3787 3672 5223 3673 3671 3786 3675 5473 3669 5475 5476 3782 3783 5648 5474 4023 5472 5650 3785 3784 5622

5466

5112

4721 3182 4595 3569 3535

5477

5478

5469

8/6

3533 3183 3184

5669

5665 5484

5095

5225

3186

2931 5480

5189

3185

2933

3681 2792

3342

3664

3684 3781

3341 3662

3665

3666 3670 3343 4022 3668 3661 3663 4021 3809 3667 4020 3339 3338 1142 5529 5465 929 1424 3340 1426 5530 809 811 4382 807 1317 1427 804 808 810 928 4383 787 1143 1064 1428 4521 1263 803 798 4384 802 1668 1592 801 1144

5647 5471 5531 5468 5467

5464

3503

4385

6/6

1591 789

4388 4386

4618

1425

4716

8/7

4387

6/7 7/7 1m

Oldeholtwolde

Fig. 9. All stones in the hearth area (with their identification numbers). Arrows indicate the directions in which the stone surfaces were sloping downwards somewhat. The location of a SW–NE cross-section of the hearth area, shown in fig. 10, is indicated by two arrows in the margins (fig. D. Stapert/J.M. Smit).

their cleared-out state. A schematic cross-section of the Oldeholtwolde hearth is shown in figure 10. Below the larger stones in the central pit, a few small fragments occurred that must have remained in the pit much longer than the other, larger stones: they were entirely stained black. They must have been split off by heat, and had not been cleared out for some time. Clearing out of the central pit must normally have happened on a regular basis, probably every day, resulting in a wide scattering of fragments of hearth stones over the site. Near the central pit, to the south of it, an empty area was present—without stones or charcoal; this was most probably a seating location for a person engaged in activities connected to the hearth. The slab-like stones in the hearth were probably heated (the charcoal occurred underneath them), so that for example meat could be roasted on top of them. Roasting fish is also a possibility: some use-wear resulting from preparing fish was noted on flints at Oldeholtwolde (Moss, 1988 and pers. comm.). Many hearth stones became fragmented by the heat and show traces of burning (black patches). However, around the hearth pit there were also several large stone slabs without any traces of burning. These could represent a stock of hearth stones; some of them may have been used as ‘table stones’, however. Even larger stones, which may be interpreted as ‘sitting stones’, do not occur at Oldeholtwolde (but one is known from the Hamburgian site at Luttenberg). Apart from the hearth-stones (slabs), there are many small fragments of cooking stones (quartz), and one more or less complete one (which was part of the ‘ring’ described below). Four other rounded stones

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

11

SW 5470

50

5471 5650

3684 3785

60

3781 3665 3784 4020 4022 4021

NE

3664

3660 Altitude in cm below NAP

50 60

70

70

80

80

90

90

100

100

110

110

120

120

1m x⫽8

Oldeholtwolde x⫽7

x⫽6

Fig. 10. Schematic cross-section through the hearth (for location see fig. 9). The flat stones in the central pit and outside it are shown, and the charcoal underneath the stones is indicated by vertical hatching (fig. D. Stapert/J.M. Smit).

N

1 2 3

20 cm

Fig. 11. The ring of stones, located about 1.5 m to the north of the central hearth pit (see also fig. 7). (1) Scattered charcoal; (2) quite a lot of charcoal; (3) stones. Some of these stones are not flat but roundish, and most have traces of burning (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

may have been used as hammerstones (weights: 649, 621, 513 and 174 gr); one of these, a sandstone, was also used as a ‘rubbing stone’; it has a clearly smoothed surface (see photo in Stapert et al., 1986: 206). Fragments of hearth stones are scattered all over the site (see fig. 7). There is no suggestion of a possible tent ring in the spatial arrangement of the stones. Moreover, application of the ring and sector method shows that the tools and blades of Oldeholtwolde have unimodal ring distributions (distances to the hearth centre), indicating that the hearth was most probably in the open air, not inside a dwelling structure (see section 2.6). At 1–1.5 m north of the hearth pit, there was a small ring of stones, with an inner diameter of only 10 to 15 cm; the diameter of the feature as a whole is about 30 cm (fig. 11). In the southern half of the ring larger stones occur than in the other half, and around the ring quite a lot of small charcoal particles were present (but not at all in a dense concentration, such as occurred in the hearth). Most stones in the ring have traces of burning; one of these is a rounded quartz that was most probably used as a cooking stone. In the ring and close to it, quite a few small fragments of rock (mostly quartz) were found: probably pieces of cooking stones fragmented by use (see section 2.5.2). No traces of a pit were noted during the excavation; this does not mean that no pit was ever present, given the fact that we are dealing with a diffuse find level in sand. Rings with similar diameters, associated with pits up to 25 cm deep, are known from many Upper Palaeolithic sites (e.g. at Gönnersdorf: Bosinski, 1979; Terberger, 1997). Several interpretations of such pits have been put forward. Some of these pits seem to have functioned as postholes (for example at Gönnersdorf I). In most cases, however, a use as cooking pits seems more plausible. Because of the presence of charcoal and fragments of probable cooking stones, the ring of stones at Oldeholtwolde probably was a cooking pit. If so, there seems to have been only one, which can be taken as an indication that the site was occupied by a small group for only a brief

12

Materials

period. In the immediate vicinity of the ring, a dense cluster of about 100 possible gastroliths were found, which suggests that perhaps one or two birds were cooked here (see section 2.5.2). A cluster of tools and blades occurred near the ring, more or less in the form of a small drop zone, to its northwest; among the tools especially notched blades are prominent. Therefore, it seems that not only cooking was carried out here, but also technical activities. As noted above, the distribution of stones over the site looks largely random (fig. 7). However, there are a few indications to suggest the existence of additional ‘structures’. To the south of the hearth, at a distance of 1 to 2.5 m from it, several larger stones seem to have been arranged in a half-circle with a diameter of almost 1.5 m. The shape and dimension of this possible arrangement are similar to configurations of stones used by the Nunamiut to keep hides on the ground for drying (e.g. Binford, 1983). Finally, to the northwest of the hearth, a number of stones seem to have been arranged in a row, the function of which (if it is a structure) remains an enigma. It is of interest to note, however, that several blades and tools were found under the largest stone in this row (which has no traces of burning).

2.5. MATERIALS 2.5.1. Flints More than 10,000 flint artefacts were excavated at Oldeholtwolde, but only some 1700 of these are larger than 1.5 cm. More than 3550 ‘microchips’ were collected; these are pieces smaller than 4 mm, often much smaller. They were not collected systematically, but it may be noted that most of them occurred NW and N of the hearth. Disregarding the microchips, the Oldeholtwolde file contains data on a total of 6884 flint artefacts. Of these, 133 are stray finds; most of the stray finds come from the deeply disturbed area in the eastern corner of the excavated area. In total, 3899 flint artefacts have exact coordinates. The flints will be described extensively in chapters 3 and 4. Here, only a map of the central part of the excavated area showing the flints with exact coordinates is included (fig. 12), for the purpose of comparison with other distribution maps presented in this chapter (only 33 flints with exact coordinates occurred outside the area covered by this map). 2.5.2. Stones of other kinds In total, 1128 stones of other kinds than flint are included in the file; many of these are small fragments. Only 12 pieces are stray finds. For 767 stones we have exact coordinates. As noted above, many stones became fragmented during use in the hearth, and these fragments of hearth stones were found scattered all over the site. A second mechanism of fragmenting occurred after deposition: by frostsplitting during Dryas 3 (this also affected many flints). Some 400 stones are larger than about 2.5 cm, and were analysed by geologist Prof. G.J. Boekschoten (Groningen and Amsterdam). About two thirds are sandstones (largely Dala sandstones). Some 20% of the stones consist of quartz. These are mostly small fragments; only one larger quartz pebble (with black spots from use in the hearth) was found. It is probable that the quartzes were used as cooking stones, and became heavily fragmented as a result. Furthermore, granites and gneisses occur in small numbers. All the stones excavated at Oldeholtwolde derive from the local northern moraines, boulderclay. The sandstones, which predominate, often occur in the form of slabs. The Hamburgians selected the sandstones because of their shape, for use in the hearth; in many cases they must have split the sandstones along natural bedding planes at the spot where they were collected, so as to obtain thin slabs with an average thickness of only 2 cm. The stone fragments were refitted as far as possible by A.L. Zandbergen. He was able to reconstruct 27 more or less complete sandstone slabs. The maximum diameter of the complete slabs ranges from 8 to 38 cm (for more details, see Stapert et al., 1986: 201). The largest reconstructed slab, 38 cm long, is illustrated in figure 13; this is one of the few cases where two slabs could be fitted on top of each other. The vertical hatching in the drawing indicates that the slab’s surface was almost totally blackened as a result of sooting in the hearth. Most of the fractures must have resulted from heat. Of the 41 fragments making up this slab, 39 have exact coordinates. These are mapped in figure 14 (numbers in cells of 50  50 cm); it can be seen that most of the (larger) fragments occurred in the hearth, but quite a few fragments (also larger fragments) ended up relatively far from the hearth. Three of the larger fragments are part of the semi-circle to the south of the hearth (for a map of this refitted group, see Stapert et al., 1986: 204).

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

13

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 12. All flint artefacts with exact coordinates in the central part of the site; N = 3866. ( ) Tools (including broken-off borer-tips); ( ) blades; ( ): cores; ( •) flakes, chips and burin spalls. The location of the hearth is indicated by a circle. The arrow points to the north (fig. D. Stapert).

Figure 14 is one of many density maps in this publication that were produced with the help of the ANALITHIC package. In creating such maps, several options are available, and it is useful to discuss these here briefly. It is possible, for example, to use three different systems of class division (see Cziesla, 1990): A. The linear class division, which simply divides the highest cell frequency by the number of classes. B. The peripheral class division, which emphasizes the lower frequencies; with higher cell frequencies, class intervals grow according to a square power function. C. The central class division, which emphasizes the higher frequencies; with higher cell frequencies, class intervals decrease according to a square root function. Cziesla (1990) advocates the linear option, and we find this system to be the most clear one as long as the highest cell frequency is relatively low (up to about 20). However, the visual effect of density maps depends on the surface areas of the circles drawn in the cells, not on their radius. Therefore, the peripheral option is theoretically the best, and we will use it whenever we are dealing with relatively high frequencies. In many cases, a number of six classes is satisfactory. However, the ANALITHIC programme also has the possibility of using no classes; each frequency then has its own circle diameter. The linear, peripheral and central options are also available when no classes are employed. In maps where no classes were used, the key shows the circles representing the minimum, middle and maximum cell frequencies. A very useful feature of ANALITHIC is the possibility of optimising density maps. In principle, when using finds having individual coordinates, the grid may be moved freely in all directions. The most straightforward optimising option is the so-called ‘richest cell option’: the grid is moved by the programme to the position with the highest-possible cell frequency in at least one cell. One could say that in this way a density map is

X

X

C

4993

X 3681

B X 2200D

3666 A

X

A 3678

5352

5:42

X

1424

A 3669

X 809 A

1909

X

C

B

3339 B 3344

810

5189

C

X

X 3660 1354

X 5531

X 5530

251 X

B

3186

A 5665

A 2407

B

A 3492

27

3299 A

B

D 809

B

14 3034

X

B 4388

X

3675

A

B

A

X

706

5 cm

0

5224

X

Fig. 13. The largest reconstructed slab of Dala sandstone, consisting of 41 fitting fragments. This is a rare example of two slabs fitting on top of each other (see the broken line in the cross-section). The slab is not complete; in the state as shown it weighs a little more than 2.5 kilos. The shading indicates varying intensities of blackening caused by sooting in the hearth. Broken lines in the drawing indicate secondary frost-fractures. Crosses indicate the upper surface of the fragments as found during the excavation. The line around the circumference of the drawing indicates where the edges of the slab are old. The maximum length of the reconstructed slab is c. 38 cm. See fig. 14 for the distribution of the fragments of this slab (fig. D. Stapert/J.M. Smit).

3448

2933 1224 X X

X

618

1142

X 88

X 620

36

5188 X

14 Materials

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

15

0

NSub: 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 14. Density map of the 39 fragments with exact coordinates that make up the reconstructed slab shown in fig. 13. Numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated with the help of the ANALITHIC-programme (fig. D. Stapert). 0

NSub: 767 1–14 15–28 29–43 44–57 58–71 72–85

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 15. All stones other than flint with exact coordinates. N = 767. Numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position creating the richest possible cell. The richest cell contains 85 stones (mostly small quartz fragments); it occurs at the spot where the ‘ring of stones’ is located (see also figs 11 and 17) (fig. D. Stapert).

‘focused’, so that the sharpest picture is obtained. This procedure is possible not only with absolute frequencies, but also with proportions; in the latter case the grid position with the highest possible percentage in one or more cells of, for example, a specific tool type will be found. For more details on these issues, see Boekschoten and Stapert (1996). All stones with exact coordinates are mapped in figure 15: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position with the richest possible cell was calculated. The richest cell contains 85 stones (mostly small fragments) and coincides with the ‘ring of stones’ described above. It is interesting that so many small fragments occurred here tightly clustered; many of these are quartz fragments. As noted above, it is a reasonable proposition that a cooking pit was located here about 1.25 m from the hearth. Figure 16 is a map of all the stones with exact coordinates that have distinct traces of burning (black patches); again the grid position with the richest possible cell of 50  50 cm was calculated. In this case, the richest cell (containing 36 stones with black patches) is located in the central pit area of the hearth, as expected. A second cluster of stones with clear traces of burning is

16

Materials 0

NSub: 263 1–6 7–12 13–18 19–24 25–30 31–36

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 16. All non-flint stones with exact coordinates that have certain traces of contact with fire (clearly visible black patches from sooting). N = 263. Numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position creating the richest possible cell. The richest cell coincides with the central pit of the hearth (fig. D. Stapert).

present at the location of the ‘ring of stones’, north of the hearth. At Oldeholtwolde, there does not seem to be a dump of used hearth stones, at some distance of the hearth, as known at, for example, Pincevent. Again, this may be taken as an indication that the period of occupation was relatively brief. All stones with exact coordinates in the central part of the excavated area are mapped in figures 17–20, divided into four size-classes. The small fragments (15 mm) are shown in figure 17; note the dense cluster at the location of the ‘ring’. Many small fragments were cleared out of the hearth, and ended up all around it. There is a somewhat higher density north of the central pit, and it may also be noted that two areas close to the hearth, south and west of it, remained almost devoid of small stone fragments. These two more or less empty spots may have been seating locations. The map for the size-class larger than 10 cm (fig. 20) shows a clear concentration in the hearth; however, several large stones also occurred elsewhere, both south and west of the hearth, as noted above. Close to the ‘ring of stones’, and to the hearth, almost one hundred small (partly glossy) stones were found, mostly with diameters around 0.5 cm (the two largest have diameters of 1.4 and 2.7 cm). These are probably gastroliths: stomach-stones of one or two sizable birds (e.g. Bottema, 1975). The main argument for this interpretation is the fact that they occurred tightly clustered, as is evident from the map (fig. 21). 2.5.3. Charcoal In total, the locations of 1848 charcoal particles were recorded (fig. 22). Most charcoal occurred in the central pit of the hearth or in its immediate vicinity. According to the analysis by Dr W.A. Casparie, all analysed charcoal from the Hamburgian hearth consists of Salix. A Mesolithic hearth, without any flint artefacts in its vicinity, was found in the northeastern periphery of the excavated area, fortunately clearly outside the Hamburgian artefact concentration. The cluster of charcoal in this hearth is marked ‘M’ in figure 22; it consists of Pinus. In figure 23, all charcoal particles in the central part of the excavated area are mapped; N  1821. In a general sense, the spatial association with the hearth is very clear. However, a few details are of interest. First, we see two almost empty spots, with diameters of a little over 0.5 m, close to the central pit of the hearth: to its south and west. We saw the same empty spots in the distribution of the small stone fragments (see fig. 17). These spots probably reflect seating positions. Secondly, it is striking that the bulk of the charcoal occurred to the north and east of the central pit, just outside it. This can be illustrated by a sector graph (fig. 24), in which numbers of charcoal particles are counted in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre; the asymmetry is very clear. (On the use of sector graphs, and the options available in ANALITHIC, see Boekschoten & Stapert, 1996.)

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

17

2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 373

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 17. All non-flint stones with exact coordinates and with a maximum length of less than 15 mm. Central part of the excavated area. Note the concentration of small fragments at the location of the ‘ring of stones’ (see fig. 11); many of these are fragments of quartz pebbles (probably cooking stones) (fig. D. Stapert). 2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 233

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 18. All non-flint stones with exact coordinates that have a maximum length of at least 15 mm but less than 50 mm (fig. D. Stapert).

18

Materials 2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 104

7

8

9

10

10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 19. All non-flint stones with exact coordinates that have a maximum length of at least 50 mm but less than 100 mm (fig. D. Stapert). 2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 49

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 20. All non-flint stones with exact coordinates and a maximum length of at least 100 mm (fig. D. Stapert).

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

19

2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 96

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 21. Possible gastroliths with exact coordinates. N = 96. Most of these occurred tightly clustered at about 1 m to the north of the hearth, in the vicinity of the ‘ring of stones’ (see fig. 11) (fig. D. Stapert).

0

NSub: 1848 1–7 8–29 30–65 66–115 116–179 180–258

1 2 3 4 5 M

6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 22. All charcoal particles. N = 1848. Numbers of particles larger than about 3 mm in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid positioned to create the richest possible cell; peripheral class division (the intervals get larger as cell frequencies become higher). The little cluster of charcoal in the far NE part, marked with an ‘M’, occurred in a Mesolithic hearth; this charcoal consisted of Pinus. The charcoal associated with the Hamburgian hearth consists of Salix. See also figs 23 and 24 (fig. D. Stapert).

20

Materials 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 23. All charcoal particles with exact coordinates in the central part of the excavated area. N = 1821 (fig. D. Stapert).

NSub: 1823 Mean: 227.9 D ⬍ 400 cm

Fig. 24. All charcoal particles with exact coordinates in eight sectors within a distance (D) of 4 m from the hearth centre. In sector graphs such as this, the centre of the wheel has the value zero; the circle represents the mean number per sector: 227.9. Sectors with a higher frequency than the mean number per sector have filled bars outwards; sectors with a lower frequency than the mean have white bars inwards (fig. D. Stapert).

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

21

One hypothesis might be that some charcoal was blown out of the hearth by the wind. It can indeed be argued that the wind mostly came from the west during the period of occupation (see section 4.5.5), since most tools were found on the western side of the hearth (as will be shown in chapter 3): the opposite pattern to that of the charcoal. Though the wind may have played a role in the creation of the observed charcoal distribution, it is more probable that it resulted from the way people were wont to clean out the hearth. The wind cannot have been very strong during the Hamburgian occupation anyhow, because thousands of tiny microchips remained in place, in clusters. It seems that the occupants when clearing the pit scooped out the ashes in a northerly or easterly direction, ‘with the wind’, so as to keep their central domestic area, west and northwest of the hearth, as clean as possible. An elongated area to the east of the central pit, almost 1 m long and some 15 cm wide, remained devoid of charcoal. Maybe some object was present here, preventing the deposition of charcoal. 2.5.4. Ochre During the excavation, several yellowish or reddish spots in the soil were observed, which may or may not have been caused by disintegrated pieces of ochre. In the find level in the coversand at Oldeholtwolde, many yellowish and brownish colourations occurred, mainly connected to the overlying Holocene podsol soil. Only one compact piece of red ochre was found, not much more than 1.5 cm in length (fig. 25). Scratches are present on all its surfaces, clearly resulting from it having been rubbed to make a powder—probably on a sandstone. Several sandstone slabs possess small specks of red colouration that might be residues of ochre. The red ochre piece was found almost 2 m to the east of the hearth (fig. 26).

1 cm

Fig. 25. Three views of the piece of red ochre, showing scratches from rubbing. See fig. 26 for location (fig. D. Stapert). 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 26. The location of the piece of red ochre shown in fig. 25 (fig. D. Stapert).

22

The use-wear analysis

2.6. THE USE-WEAR ANALYSIS Emily Moss performed a use-wear analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde (see Moss, 1988). This is still the only extensive use-wear analysis for a Hamburgian site, according to the principles outlined by Keeley in his pioneering study (Keeley, 1980). Moss made the results of her work available to us in the form of a coded table, and most of her data are now included in the automated data file of Oldeholtwolde under the ANALITHIC-format. A detailed and systematic report on her work is in preparation. In the following chapters, many results of the use-wear analysis will be already mentioned, however, because this information is of great value, and it is rewarding to integrate as much as possible the results of the various analytical approaches in the study of flint artefacts. The results of Moss’ analyses will be discussed here only in a very general manner. In the tables, maps and diagrams below, all fragments are considered separately and counted as individual items, irrespective of whether or not fragments could be refitted together. This is done because fitting fragments not only were often found in very different spots within the site, but in many cases also had quite different types of use-wear. In total, Moss investigated 408 artefacts, 231 of which were tools or tool fragments (including broken-off borertips): more than half of the total. The investigated artefacts can be subdivided into three groups: certainly used, having ambiguous traces, and not used; see table 1. More detailed information of the same kind, for separate tool types and other groups of flints, can be found in table 2. In total, there are 198 flint artefacts with exact coordinates that possess certain traces of use. These are mapped in figure 27: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm (grid position with the richest possible cell). All certainly used flints with exact coordinates in the central part of the excavated area are presented in figure 28. Though they occurred all around the hearth, it can be seen that most used flint artefacts were located to the west of the hearth (see also section 2.7). Table 1. Flint artefacts analysed by E.H. Moss: used, ambiguous and not used.

Used Ambiguous traces Not used Total

Stray finds

Sieved per m2

Exact coordinates

Total

13 4 2 19

34 12 15 61

198 23 107 328

245 39 124 408

Table 2. Numbers of artefacts with use-wear, ambiguous traces, or without use-wear, for groups of tools and non-tools.

Tools Points Borers Borer-tips Notches Combi’s Scrapers Ret. blades Truncations Burins Ret. flakes Subtotal Non-tools Cores Blades Flakes Burin spalls Subtotal Total

Used

Perc.

Ambiguous

Perc.

17 28 4 41 28 18 17 6 6 0 165

73.9 70.0 50.0 63.1 90.3 85.7 85.0 85.7 40.0 0 71.4

0 6 1 3 1 0 2 0 3 0 16

0 15.0 12.5 4.6 3.2 0 10.0 0 20.0 0 6.9

0 72 6 2 80

0 50.7 26.1 20.0 45.2

0 20 2 1 23

245

60.0

39

Not used

Perc.

Total

6 6 3 21 2 3 1 1 6 1 50

26.1 15.0 37.5 32.3 6.5 14.3 5.0 14.3 40.0 100.0 21.6

23 40 8 65 31 21 20 7 15 1 231

0 14.1 8.7 10.0 13.0

2 50 15 7 74

100.0 35.2 65.2 70.0 41.8

2 142 23 10 177

9.6

124

30.4

408

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

23

0

NSub: 198 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 27. Artefacts with certain use-wear traces and exact coordinates: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position creating the richest possible cell. Based on analyses by E.H. Moss (fig. D. Stapert). 2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 189

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 28. Artefacts with certain use-wear traces and exact coordinates in the central part of the excavated area. ( ) Tools (including broken-off borer-tips); ( ) blades; (•) flakes or burin spalls. Based on data of E.H. Moss (fig. D. Stapert).

24

Ring and sector analysis Used

Ambiguous

Not Used

100 90

Percentage of total per type

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Combi

Scrap

Trunc Ret. bl

Point Types

Borer

Notch

Burin

Ret. fl

Fig. 29. Graph showing the proportions of used tools, tools with ambiguous traces and unused tools, per type group. Percentages based on the total of analysed implements per group (see table 2 for numbers per group). Based on data of E.H. Moss (fig. D. Stapert).

The proportions of used tools, tools with ambiguous traces and unused tools, for each tool type separately, are presented in a bar graph in figure 29. It may be noted that relatively many burins are without certain traces of use, and that none of the ‘retouched flakes’ showed any evidence of having been used. It is not possible to present detailed lists and maps here, but some general information should be given (see Moss, 1988, for a discussion of methods and results; after publication of this paper she analysed more artefacts). Apart from use-wear associated with ‘projectiles’ (points and barbs), and categories such as ‘curation traces’ and traces of hafting, Moss distinguished a series of ‘contact materials’. These are not necessarily materials that were worked or shaped by the used flint implements; they could also have been materials from which hafts were made into which the flint tools were fixed, among other possibilities. Moreover, in many cases traces of several contact materials are present on one and the same implement. As a general result it is of interest that hide-working seems to have been the most important activity at the site. If we only consider identifications of which Moss was certain, hide is dominant (69 use-wear units; note that there may be more than one use-wear unit on any flint tool). However, it seems clear that ‘technical tasks’ involving hard materials were also abundantly carried out at the site. Use-wear from contact with bone or antler (45 units) is common (though this may in many cases indicate hafts), and the same is true of so-called ‘notch traces’ resulting from working cylindrical objects of relatively hard materials: wood, bone or antler (41 units). Wood and plant are relatively well-represented contact materials (17 and 7 units, respectively). Surprisingly rare are distinct traces of butchering (only 5 certain units) and meat-processing (4). Of special interest is the existence of clear traces of processing fish (4; there are also several possible traces of this kind). Finally, a few flints show traces of contact with ‘stone’; at least two of these seem to have functioned as strike-a-lights, in combination with pyrite or marcasite (see Stapert & Johansen, 1999).

2.7. RING AND SECTOR ANALYSIS The ring and sector method was developed as a relatively simple tool for spatial analysis of Stone Age sites where a hearth is the focus of a settlement. Much has already been published about this method and its applications (e.g. Boekschoten & Stapert, 1993, 1996; Stapert, 1990, 1991, 1992; Stapert & Johansen, 1997; Stapert & Street, 1997); therefore, a brief introduction must suffice here. A system of rings and sectors is positioned around the hearth centre, and the frequencies of the artefacts in the rings and sectors are counted per type. The

The Hamburgian site at Oldeholtwolde

25

N 60 53 50 44 40 30

NSub: 190 Mean: 191 cm Median: 196 cm St. dev.: 75 cm

26

25

22

20 9

10

8

3 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 30. All artefacts with certain use-wear traces and exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide within 4 m from the centre of the hearth. Zero on the X-axis is the hearth centre. Note that most used artefacts occurred between 1.5 and 2.5 m from the hearth centre; their mean distance is 1.9 m (fig. D. Stapert).

idea behind the method is that the hearth was a ‘centre of gravity’ in the daily life of small groups of people; the hearth attracted many activities, as well as playing an important role in social life. The method is closely related to the ‘hearth model’ of Binford (1983), based on ethnoarchaeological research in Alaska. Binford described a characteristic pattern of ‘drop and toss zones’ around outdoor hearths. The drop zone was located in the site half where people sat and worked most of the time, to windward of the hearth. The presence or absence of toss zones can be investigated relatively easily with the ring and sector method. For example, the ‘centrifugal effect’, the tendency of larger artefacts to end up farther from the hearth than small items, can be demonstrated by comparing the ring diagrams of small artefacts with those of large ones. One of the most important applications of the ring and sector method relates to the question whether a hearth was located inside a dwelling or in the open. The ring diagrams (showing the distributions of distances between flint artefacts and the hearth centres) obtained for a number of analysed Stone Age sites in Europe were found to be of two different types: unimodal and multimodal (single-peak histograms or histograms with two or three peaks). Bi- or trimodal diagrams are indicative of hearths inside dwellings; such diagrams were produced for e.g. the Magdalenian sites at Gönnersdorf, Etiolles and Verberie. The first peak reflects the drop zone near the hearth. The second one is caused by the ‘barrier effect’ and roughly coincides with the walls. At sites which were occupied for a longer time, a third peak, reflecting the door dump outside the entrance, may be present. Unimodal ring distributions are associated with hearths in the open air. Pincevent, Niederbieber and also Oldeholtwolde are among the sites which produced unimodal ring distributions (see fig. 30). The method was recently tested, by applying it to a Palaeo-Eskimo site in Greenland (Stapert & Johansen, 1997); in this paper also several methodological improvements of and additions to the ring and sector method were presented and discussed. The ANALITHIC programme allows the use of optimising options in the application of ring and sector analysis, as is the case with density analysis. For example, it is possible to have the programme calculate the grid position with the richest possible cell, or the position of the sector wheel with the richest possible sector. Moreover, density maps can be transformed into ‘proportion maps’, in which the percentages of a specific artefact type, with respect to a larger group, are indicated per cell. The same can be done for ring and sector diagrams. Both in density analysis and sector analysis, one can search for the position with the highest possible percentage in one of the cells or sectors. These optimising techniques help to bring into focus as clearly as possible any spatial patterns that may be hidden in the data. Moreover, the programme also helps to find the optimum level of resolution, by making it easy to go through the whole scale of measurement. For example, in applying the ring method it is of importance to choose appropriate class intervals (on these and related questions, see Stapert & Johansen, 1997; Stapert & Street, 1997). In the chapters that follow, ring and sector diagrams for various artefact groups, for example tool types, will be systematically presented, in order to reveal any inherent spatial patterns. However, more detailed analyses

26

Ring and sector analysis

NSub: 190 Mean : 23.8 D ⬍ 400 cm

Fig. 31. All artefacts with certain use-wear traces and exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The position of the sector-wheel was calculated so as to create the richest possible sector (NW) (fig. D. Stapert).

with the help of this method will be published elsewhere. Here two diagrams are shown, presenting some results of the use-wear analysis discussed above. Figure 30 is a ring diagram in which all artefacts with distinct traces of use are counted in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre, up to 4 m away from it; only artefacts with exact coordinates are included here. The distribution is unimodal, and it can be seen that most of the used artefacts occurred between 1.5 and 2.5 m from the hearth centre. Many activities were evidently carried out at a little distance from the hearth; the mean distance is 1.9 m. However, some artefacts with use-wear, especially points, were located close to the hearth (see chapter 3 for details). In figure 31, the same artefacts are counted in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The position of the sector wheel with the richest possible sector was calculated by the ANALITHIC programme; this sector is located to the northwest of the hearth. An additional, smaller peak is present to its south. It is assumed that people sat and worked to the west and northwest of the hearth most of the time during the occupation at Oldeholtwolde, which implies that the prevailing wind came from the west (as it does nowadays). However, the situation was probably more complex in reality, as will be discussed in section 5.5.

CHAPTER 3

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde LYKKE JOHANSEN and DICK STAPERT

3.1. INTRODUCTION In total, the automated artefact file of Oldeholtwolde contains 6884 flint artefacts. Not included in the file are ‘micro-chips’: chips smaller than 0.4 cm (the mesh of the sieves used at Oldeholtwolde). At least 3550 microchips were collected during the excavation; in many cases these tiny chips are even smaller than the sand grains among which they occurred. Their spatial distribution will not be discussed, because they were not collected in a systematic way. It may be noted, however, that their presence implies that the embedding of the artefacts in coversand must have happened gently, without strong winds resulting in erosion. Apart from the micro-chips, the flint material consists of: Tools or tool fragments: Broken-off borer-tips: Burin spalls: Cores or core fragments: Blades of all types: Flakes: Blocks and nodules: Chips of all types (0.4–1.5 cm): Total:

387 38 33 15 545 693 15 5158 6884

Of the total of 6884, 133 are stray finds; most of these were collected prior to the excavation by the discoverer of the site, Mr. Jan Klaas Boschker. The majority of the stray finds came from the disturbed area east of the hearth. All 6751 flints for which we have at least sq m data, are mapped in figure 32. In total, 3899 artefacts have exact coordinates; these are mapped in figure 33, in which grid cells of 50  50 cm were used (employing 0

NSub: 6751

1

1–13

2

14–51

3

52–114

4

115–204

5

205–318

6

319–458

7

459–623

8

624–814

9 10

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 32. All flints, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre. N  6751. The division into eight classes was done according to the peripheral option (the higher the cell frequencies the broader the classes). Open circle: hearth. Arrow indicates north. Areas in the west and east corners were not excavated (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

28

The tools 0

NSub: 3899 1–14 15–56 57–126 127–224 225–349 350–503

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 33. All flints with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. N  3899. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated by the ANALITHIC programme. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

the grid position with the richest possible cell). Several dense clusters are clearly visible, in a wide circle around the hearth. These also show up in a map in which all flints with exact coordinates are presented by a dot (fig. 34). These dense clusters can be interpreted as flint-knapping locations (see chapter 5). In this connection, it has to be realized that the pattern shown by figures 33 and 34 is dominated by chips. Of the 3899 artefacts with exact coordinates, 2583 are chips (66.2%). A very different picture is presented by the distribution of the tools (fig. 37 below). A good many chips, and also some larger artefacts, were collected by sifting the soil per square metre. Of the 2838 artefacts collected by sifting, 2366 derive from undisturbed sand below the topsoil (83.4%); of these, 2166 (91.5%) are chips. The remainder, 472 flint artefacts, were sifted from the topsoil; of these, 350 are chips. A further 13 artefacts were collected by sifting the soil after cleaning sections for photography and drawing. Finally, sifting the fill of a large treefall produced only one flint artefact. Below, first the tools will be described in detail; the other artefact classes will then be discussed briefly. Finally, the spatial distribution of burnt artefacts will be described. The results of the refitting operation will be described and discussed extensively in chapters 4 and 5.

3.2. THE TOOLS 3.2.1. Overview of the tools and their distribution Documentation Apart from the broken-off borer-tips that could not be refitted to tools, all tools have been drawn. In the drawings the tools are shown in their state after the refitting of breaks as far as possible, and numbered (1-…) per tool type. Before the refitting of breaks, there were a total of 387 tools or tool fragments. For 29 of these, we have no spatial data (finds collected before the excavation, and stray finds from the site). Of the 358 tools for which we possess spatial data, 284 have exact coordinates. Of the remaining 74 tools, 72 come from the sieve; 30 were recovered from the ploughed topsoil sifted per square metre, 42 were sifted per square metre from undisturbed sand below the topsoil. One tool was sifted from the loose sediment in an ancient treefall, and another came from loose sediment resulting from cleaning a section. Each flint from Oldeholtwolde (excepting chips) was given a number in ink, starting with ‘12-’ (12 is Stapert’s excavation code for Oldeholtwolde). After this, an individual number follows. If the tool has exact coordinates, only one number follows after the 12. If a tool has no exact coordinates, two numbers follow the

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

29

2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 3866

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 34. A map of the central part of the excavated area, showing all flints with exact coordinates. N  3866. Clearly visible are a number of dense concentrations of flints in a wide circle around the hearth; these are most probably flintknapping locations (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

12, separated by ‘-’. The first of these codes the way in which the tool was recovered, in nine categories (1–9 in the automated data file; on the flints in many cases letters were used for these categories; see below). The third number is an individual number for each flint (starting with 1 for every category). These nine categories are: 0 (no code): tools with exact coordinates; 1 ( A): collected by Jan Boschker, the discoverer of the site, c. two weeks prior to the excavation; most of these finds were collected in the disturbed southeastern part of the site; 2 ( B): collected by Jan Boschker and the staff of the BAI, c. one week prior to the excavation; most of these finds derive from the southeastern part of the site; 3 ( C): tools sifted from loose soil, moved by a mechanical digger prior to the excavation; most of these finds come from the disturbed southeastern part of the site; 4 ( D): stray finds from the whole terrain; 5 ( L): sifted per square metre from the ploughed topsoil. In the original file these finds were located in the middle of the square metres from which they derive. In the automated file their locations within the square metres have been randomized, in order to make refit-maps more readable; 6 ( V): sifted per square metre from undisturbed sand below the topsoil. In the original file these were placed in the middle of the square metres from which they derive, but in the automated data file

30

The tools Burin Truncation Burin spall Combination tool Scraper Point Notched tool Retouched flake Fine borer/Zinken Alternating borer/Zinken Borer/Zinken Retouched blade Tip of borer or Zinken Core Blade Decortication blade Core preparation blade Flake, chip, block

Fig. 35. Symbols for artefact types, used in the distribution maps in this chapter (fig. L. Johansen).

7 ( P): 8: 9 ( Z):

their locations have been randomized within the square metres. (Note: three stray finds were incorrectly given ‘6’-codes; this has been corrected in the distribution and density maps;) sifted from the sand removed during the preparation of sections. These are placed in the middle of the sections; sifted by other surface area units than 1 square metre. These are placed in the middle of the areas from which they derive; sifted from disturbed soil within a large treefall to the west of the concentration. Placed in the middle of the treefall.

In some cases, individual artefact numbers are followed by letters: a, b, c, … This indicates fragments that were found very close together during excavation, and where secondary fragmentation was thought to have been caused by frostsplitting (during Dryas 3); these refits were not considered in the refitting analysis of chapter 4. Such fragments all have the same coordinates in the file. In a few cases, refitting has shown the excavator’s interpretation to be false, and then these fragments were treated individually. All flint artefacts were first classified before the refitting operation. Of course, some classifications changed as a result of the refitting of breaks. In the automated data file, classifications from before and after such refitting are coded separately. The classifications used in this text are those made after the breaks were refitted. The symbols used for the various tool types are given in figure 35. During the excavation in 1980/81, an effort was made to record the coordinates (with a precision of 1 cm) of as many artefacts as possible, including the many chips. All the topsoil and the undisturbed sand dug away during excavation was sifted separately, in both cases per square metre. Nevertheless, for a number of tools or tool fragments we have no data concerning their original location within the site (29: about 7.5%). Below, for most type groups, density maps are presented in two ways: first, numbers per square metre (including the finds from the sieve); and secondly, in cells of 50  50 cm. In the latter case, only tools with exact coordinates are represented, and the grid position producing the richest possible cell was established by the ANALITHIC programme, in order to bring out the ‘centre of gravity’ for each type. Tool types In table 3 the numbers of tools per type, as classified after the refitting operation, are presented in two ways: first, where all complete tools and tool fragments are counted as one, and secondly, where tools consisting of several fitting fragments are counted as one. In total, 387 tools or tool fragments were excavated, classified under nine different tool types. After the refitting of breaks, the total number of tools drops to 300. Both in table 3 and table 4, multiple tools of one type (for example tools with two or three burin ends, or tools with six notches) were always counted as one. The proportions per type before and after the refitting of breaks, as given in table 3, do not differ in any significant way. A chi-square test was performed: p (two-tailed)  0.99 (2  0.923, df  8). It may be argued that the category of ‘combination tools’ is not a very useful one, though it is interesting to know how many there are. In order to gain a complete overview of the proportions in which the several individual tool types are represented, it would be necessary to count each combination tool twice, once for each

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

31

Table 3. Tool types: numbers before and after the refitting of breaks. Tool types

Points Scrapers Burins Combinations* Truncations Zinken/borers Notched tools Retouched blades Retouched flakes Total

Complete tools and fragments counted as individual items

Number after the refitting of breaks

n

perc.

n

perc.

46 26 21 38 18 58 115 53 12 387

11.9 6.7 5.4 9.8 4.7 15.0 29.7 13.7 3.1 100.0

32 19 16 29 16 48 85 44 11 300

10.7 6.3 5.3 9.7 5.3 16.0 28.3 14.7 3.7 100.0

* Two of the combination tools combine a rounded end (probably used as strike-a-light) with a tool end of another type.

Table 4. Tool types (combination tools counted twice; rounded ends omitted): numbers and percentages after the refitting of breaks. Tool types

Number

Percentage

Points Scrapers Burins Truncations Zinken/borers Notched tools Retouched blades Retouched flakes Total

32 23 29 23 62 103 44 11 327

9.8 7.0 8.9 7.0 19.0 31.5 13.5 3.4 100.1

of the two types it combines. This has been done in table 4, from which the ‘rounded ends’ were omitted because these do not constitute a formal tool type. Spatial distributions Figure 36 is a density map for all 358 tools of which we possess spatial data: numbers per square metre. Tools occurred all around the hearth, but higher densities were found especially to the west of the hearth. All 284 tools or tool fragments with exact coordinates are shown in figure 37. Figure 38 is a density map of these: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm; the grid position producing the richest possible cell was calculated. Denser clusters of tools can be seen to the northwest/north and to the southeast of the hearth. This pattern is confirmed by the two sector graphs presented in figure 39. The first (a) is a sector graph employing eight sectors; the position of the sector-wheel producing the richest possible sector was calculated (as will also be done for each type group separately). Two adjoining rich sectors occur to the northwest of the hearth; in addition there is a much poorer cluster to its southeast. The second sector graph (b) uses 16 sectors. It can now been seen that there are in fact two separate clusters of tools in the northwestern half: one to the west and another to the north; a less dense cluster to the southeast of the hearth is also visible. In figure 40, numbers of tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre are given. For each type group, the percentages in the eight sectors with respect to all tools with exact coordinates in the respective sector will be illustrated below, using the same standard position of the sector wheel as shown in figure 40. The ring diagram for all tools with exact coordinates is shown in figure 41: numbers in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre. This is a quite regular unimodal frequency distribution; the mean distance to the hearth centre is 1.73 m. On the basis of this and other evidence, the second author has concluded that the artefact concentration around the hearth at Oldeholtwolde was most probably created in the open air—not inside a tent or hut (Stapert, 1992).

32

The tools 0

NSub: 358

1

1–3

2

4–6

3

7–9

4

10–12

5

13–15

6

16–18

7

19–21

8

22–24

9

25–27

10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 36. All tools and tool fragments, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre. N  358 (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 5

NSub: 284

6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 37. All tools and tool fragments with exact coordinates. N  284 (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

3.2.2. Points In total, 46 artefacts were classified as points or (probable) point fragments. Of these, 30 have exact coordinates. For 14 we have only square metre data; 12 of these were sifted from undisturbed sand beneath the topsoil, two from the topsoil. Two points are stray finds. All points with at least sq m data are represented in figure 42 (finds from the sieve have open symbols). Twelve specimens are burnt; six of these are parts of one point consisting of 7 fitting fragments (No. 8 in figure 50: the tip is the only part that remained unburnt). Three other burnt fragments fit together to one, still incomplete point. Furthermore, one near-complete tanged point is burnt, and also two probable point fragments. All points or point fragments with exact coordinates are mapped in figure 43, in which burnt specimens have filled symbols. (The spatial distribution of burnt flint artefacts in general is discussed in section 3.6) None of the points could be refitted in sequences (ventral/dorsal refits). The refittings of points only relate to breaks, quite a few of which occurred as a result of heat. In total, 24 point fragments could be fitted together, resulting in five near-complete points and three incomplete points (one of the incomplete points, No. 12, consists

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

33

0 1 NSub: 284 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 38. All tools and tool fragments with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. N  284. The position of the grid was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 39. Two sector graphs. In such graphs, the centre of the ‘wheel’ is placed in the centre of the hearth, and has the value zero. The circle indicates the mean number of artefacts per sector. Sectors with higher frequencies than the mean have filled bars outwards; sectors with lower frequencies have white bars inwards. (a) All tools and tool fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors, within 4 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector. Arrow: north. N 276; mean number per sector: 34.5. (b) All tools and tool fragments with exact coordinates in 16 sectors, standard position of sector wheel. N 276; mean number per sector: 17.2 (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

of three fragments, all collected as stray finds; these fragments were all given the same identification number (with a, b and c suffixed)). After the refitting of breaks, a total of 13 more or less complete points resulted: see figure 50. Two of these are somewhat problematical: one specimen is a burin that may have been used as a point first (No. 3); another specimen is very small and atypical (No. 13). In addition, there are 19 incomplete points or point fragments (fig. 51), which cannot be classified as to type; in fact, some of these may best be regarded as possible point fragments. The 13 more or less complete points of Oldeholtwolde in figure 50 are not easy to classify according to traditional typological schemes; we will therefore describe them briefly one by one (the numbers in brackets are their individual identification numbers). 1 (4959, 2520). A long point consisting of two fitting fragments (both have exact coordinates; they were located about 1.5 m apart). One of the sides of the basal fragment, near the break, became partly retouched after the break occurred; this retouch is bifacial and irregular and therefore probably not intentional. Apart from this

34

The tools

53 19.2%

52 18.8%

7

6

32 11.6%

24 8.7% 8

5

1

4

28 10.1%

21 7.6%

2

3

35 12.7%

31 11.2%

Fig. 40. All tools and tool fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre, standard position of sector wheel (the sectors are labelled 1–8). N  276; mean number per sector: 34.5 (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). N 80 70 60 50

NSub: 276 Mean: 173 cm Median: 167 cm St. dev.: 75 cm

40 30 20 10 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 41. All tools and tool fragments with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre. The frequency distribution over the rings is unimodal (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 44 NRefits: 14

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 42. Points and point fragments. Filled symbols: finds with exact coordinates. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (the locations of these have been randomized within the square metres from which they derive). Refit lines between fitting fragments are drawn (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

35

3

4

5 NSub: 30 6

7

8 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 43. Points and point fragments with exact coordinates. Filled symbols: burnt artefacts (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 3

4

NSub: 15 NRefits: 8

5

6

7 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 44. Tapered and tanged points. Refit lines connect fitting fragments. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

retouch, the basal part was shaped by dorsal retouch on the left and ventral retouch on the right. The result was a tapering basal part. There are several other specimens at Oldeholtwolde with a tapering base. These points cannot be described as tanged points, because in that case both retouched sides at the base would have to be concavely shaped. We propose a separate name for this type: tapered point, in order to distinguish it from the classical tanged points (following Moss, 1988: 402, who had already used the name ‘tapered point’ for several points from Oldeholtwolde). The top part of this point consists of one quite long truncation, on the left when the tip faces upwards. The tip of this point occurs at the proximal end of the blank. The point is rather straight in side-view. Some edge damage, splintering, can be seen ventrally near the base, possibly caused by hafting. Moss found hafting traces on the basal fragment, and possible hafting traces on the tip fragment. In addition, the basal fragment showed microscopic linear impact traces (hereafter called MLITs), parallel to the longitudinal axis of the point, indicating use as a projectile point.

36

The tools 3

4

NSub: 5 NRefits: 2

5

G 6

7 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 45. Two shouldered points (one consists of three fitting fragments), and one Gravette point (‘G’). Open symbol: find from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0

NSub: 44

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 46. All points and point fragments, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

2 (5206, 5641). This point, consisting of two fragments that were located close together, can also be described as a tapered point; again one of the sides at the base is retouched ventrally and the other dorsally. One of the retouched sides of the tapering base is retouched over a much longer distance than the other; this asymmetry can be seen on most of the tapered points from Oldeholtwolde. The truncation at the top is on the right, and the tip occurs at the proximal end of the blank. A tiny fragment of the tip is missing, presumably as a result of use. Quite an amount of edge damage is present, both in the top part (ventrally along the non-retouched side) and in the basal part. On both fragments, Moss observed traces of hafting and longitudinal MLITs, indicating use as a projectile point.

→

Fig. 49. Points and point fragments with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 47. Points and point fragments with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 48. (a) ‘Normal sector graph’: numbers of points or point fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. Position of the sector wheel creating the richest possible sector. N  30, mean number per sector (indicated by the circle of the sector graph): 3.8. (b) ‘Proportional sector graph’: points or point fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentage of all tools with exact coordinates per sector. Standard position of sector wheel (compare with fig. 40). N points  30; N all tools  276; proportion of points in the area within 4 m from the hearth centre (indicated by the circle of the proportional sector graph) is 10.9% (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). N 10 8 NSub: 30 Mean: 117 cm Median: 111 cm St. dev.: 60 cm

6 4 2 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

1

2

4

3

5

6

2 cm

7

10

8

11

9

12

13

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

14

39

15

18

16

19

24

20

25

21

27

2 cm

29

31

23

22

26

28

30

17

32

Fig. 51. Probable point fragments (fig. L. Johansen).

3 (1953, 1955). This point-like implement consists of two fragments which were found close to one another, at about 1.5 m to the east of the hearth. The tip is missing as a result of a burin-like break; we consider it probable that this happened as a result of use as a projectile. The basal part is a regular burin on truncation; a fitting burin spall was not found. The whole shape of the implement suggests that a (damaged) point was secondarily transformed into a burin. The basal part may well have been of the tapering type before the burin spall was removed; remnants of the retouch along the left side can just be seen. The damaged tip is located at the distal end of the blank. Moss observed no use-wear on the top fragment; however, she does mention that it has traces of use as a projectile (Moss, 1988: 403). The basal fragment was used to work antler in a planing motion. In the remainder of this text we shall call this tool a point/burin.

←

Fig. 50. Complete or near-complete points, after the refitting of breaks (refittings are indicated by somewhat thicker lines in all artefact drawings). A filled circle indicates the location of the point of percussion; an open circle the position of a no longer present point of percussion. An asterisk indicates that the tool is burnt (of No. 8 only the tip remained unburnt). 1, 2, 7, 8: tapered points; 3: point/burin, with burin facets at both ends; 4: shouldered point with additional retouch at the base; 5, 6, 9: tanged points; 10: Gravette point; 11: shouldered point; 12: notched point; 13: Tjonger point (fig. L. Johansen).

40

The tools

4 (2053). A complete point without noticeable damage. The tip is at the distal end of the blank, with the truncation on the right. This is a shouldered point, with an additional oblique truncation at the base. We might call this type shouldered point with truncated base. Moss found evidence for use as a projectile (MLITs). 5 (5575). This point is complete except for a tiny missing part of the tip, probably broken off during use as a projectile. The tip is located at the proximal end of the blank, with the truncation on the right. This is a tanged point. One of the sides of the tang was retouched ventrally, the other dorsally. The tang is asymmetrical, one side being retouched over a much longer distance than the other. Such alternately retouched and asymmetrical tangs are very well known from the Late Hamburgian sites in Denmark, such as Jels (Holm & Rieck, 1992) and Sølbjerg (Petersen & Johansen, 1996), where this type is the dominant one. Moss found traces of use as a projectile (MLITs). 6 (5-11). A small point, from which a small part of the tip is missing, presumably as a result of use as a projectile. The tip is located at the proximal end of the blank, with the truncation on the right. This might be called an atypical tanged point. A very clear ‘shoulder’ was retouched ventrally. The edge opposite the shoulder is also retouched, dorsally, but is barely concave. Moss observed traces of use as a projectile (MLITs), and also wear that possibly resulted from contact with fish. There are a few other artefacts with fish use-wear at Oldeholtwolde (including several notched tools), suggesting that fishing was one of the activities performed either at the site or prior to its occupation. 7 (3482). A complete and elegant tapered point; both sides of the tapering basal part are retouched ventrally, and one of the retouched edges is longer than the other. The tip occurs at the proximal end of the blank, with the truncation on the left. Along the non-retouched edge of the point, small-scale edge damage is present. Use as a projectile seems certain, as Moss observed MLITs. 8 (6-57, 1345, 6-448, 2815, 2775, 2572, 854). This point consists of seven fitting fragments, of which five have exact coordinates. Six of the fragments are burnt; only the tip (6–57) remained unburnt. This suggests that the tip broke off before retooling work involving this point started near the hearth. This tool is a tapered point, with both sides of the basal part retouched ventrally; again one of the edges was retouched over a longer distance than the other part. The tip is located distally, and the truncation is on the right. This point could not be investigated by Moss because of its burnt state. 9 (4925). A rather small tanged point; the tool is burnt. Possibly a small part of the tip is missing but we are not certain of this. Both sides of the tanged basal part are retouched ventrally, one of these over a longer distance than the other. The tip of the point occurs at the distal end of the blank, with the truncation on the right. Though the point is burnt, Moss did observe traces of use as a projectile (MLITs). 10 (3049). A complete point of the curved backed point group. The retouch along the left edge is continuous; this point may best be described as a Gravette point, though the basal part is slightly concave. The (only) tip is at the proximal end of the blank. There is some minor edge damage along the non-retouched edge. The point was used as a projectile, according to observations by Moss (MLITs). 11 (719, 6-34, 722). This point consists of three fitting fragments, two of which have exact coordinates. The specimen should be described as a shouldered point, but the shoulder is not very concave (therefore, this is almost a Creswell point). The tip is at the distal end of the blank, and the rather short truncation is on the left. There is some additional retouch along the side opposite the truncation. The point was used as a projectile, according to observations by Moss (MLITs). 12 (3-46a/b/c). This point consists of three fitting fragments and is still incomplete: the tip (located at the proximal end of the blank) is missing. All fragments are stray finds. The left side is continuously retouched; its basal half is concave, shaped as a shoulder. Opposite the backed side, two notches were retouched in the basal part, ventrally. We propose to call this a notched point. Notched points, having one or two notches in one of the sides at the base are also known from other Late Hamburgian sites, for example from Havelte-Holtingerzand and Luttenberg (Stapert, 2000), and Slotseng (Holm, 1996). It is reasonable to suppose that the notches were meant to facilitate hafting as a projectile. We do not know if the point was indeed used as a projectile tip, but after the point broke into at least four pieces, one of the resulting fragments (the middle one: 3–46b) was probably reused as a ‘barb’. This fragment, and also point No. 13, have transverse MLITs according to observations by Moss—not MLITs parallel to the longitudinal axis as on most points described above. Pieces with transverse MLITs may have been used as ‘barbs’. According to the analysis by Moss, quite a few other artefacts at Oldeholtwolde were presumably also used as barbs, most of which are unretouched bladelets (these are discussed and illustrated in section 3.4). 13 (6-3). A small tool that on the basis of its morphology must be called a Tjonger point, though it might alternatively be called a microlithic point. Most of the left edge is finely retouched; the pointed end is located

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

41

at the distal end of the blank. This implement was found a few metres outside the main concentration of points; it was retrieved by sieving. It comes from undisturbed sand below the ploughed topsoil, however, so we assume it is most probably part of the Hamburgian assemblage. This piece was used as a barb according to the analysis by Moss; it has transverse MLITs, like No. 12. The point inventory of Oldeholtwolde is quite varied (just as in the case of Luttenberg: Stapert, 2000). This is in contrast to, for example, the Danish sites at Jels and Sølbjerg, where the point assemblages are much more homogeneous (mostly tanged points, in addition to a few Tjonger/Gravette points). At Oldeholtwolde, there are 13 more or less complete points, but two of these are problematical: the burin/point, and the small Tjonger-point-like specimen. The remaining 11 can be summarizingly described as: tapered points: 4, tanged points: 3, shouldered points: 2 (one with a truncated base), Gravette point: 1, notched point: 1. (Originally, the burin/ point probably was a tapered point too.) The tapered points are similar to tanged points; there is for example not much difference between Nos 2 and 5, except that in the latter case the retouched sides at the base are concave. If the tapered points are regarded as a subtype of the Havelte tanged point group, we have 7 or 8 Havelte points in total, which makes them the dominating type. Moreover, the notched point might also be described as a subtype of the Havelte point group. Because tanged or tapered points are dominant, the site is placed in the Havelte Group. As at many other sites attributed to the Late Hamburgian ( Havelte Group), there are at Oldeholtwolde one or two points of the Tjonger/Gravette group (Federmesser), one of which is quite small (and used as a barb—not as a tip). The mean length of the 13 more or less complete points is 5.1 cm (S.D. 1.3; the range is 2.7–7.1 cm). Since several points lack small parts (especially tips), in reality the mean length will have been somewhat greater, around 6 cm. The average maximum width is 1.2 cm (S.D. 0.2; the range is 0.7–1.5 cm), and the maximum thickness 0.5 cm (S.D. 0.1; the range is 0.3–0.6 cm). The artefacts classified by us as probable point fragments are illustrated in figure 51. After the refitting of breaks, there are 19. In most cases it is not possible to classify these typologically. However, it may be noted that among the basal fragments there are several that appear to be part of tapered points, for example Nos 29 and 31. Two point fragments were observed by Moss to have longitudinal MLITs, indicating their use as projectiles (Nos 14 and 16). Most of the points and possible point fragments occurred rather tightly clustered near the hearth. In figure 46, the general distribution is shown: numbers per square metre. In this map also the finds from the sieve are represented. Points and point fragments with exact coordinates are presented in a more detailed density map in figure 47. In this case, cells of 50  50 cm were used, and the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated by the ANALITHIC programme. (This will be done for all type groups, in order to bring out their ‘centres of gravity’.) A dense cluster of points can be seen especially to the north of the hearth; this picture is however largely created by the fact that one point was fractured by heat into seven fragments, many of which lay close together. A second, smaller cluster to the east of the hearth is noteworthy. If we look at the distribution of the 11 complete or near-complete points (the ones in figure 50 except the ‘point/burin’ and the small ‘Tjonger point’), we find that the tapered/tanged points occurred to the west and north of the hearth (fig. 44), and the shouldered points plus the Gravette point to its east (fig. 45; the Gravette point is indicated by a ‘G’). There seem to be two separate clusters of points, therefore, which are different in terms of typology. The numbers are rather small, however, so that we cannot attach too much importance to this. Figure 48a is a sector graph for all points and point fragments with exact coordinates within 4 m from the hearth centre. Eight sectors were employed, and the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. It can be seen that the richest sector occurs to the NNW of the hearth (for reasons we have already mentioned); additional areas with relatively high numbers of points occur both to the southwest and to the east of the hearth. The second sector graph in figure 48 (b) shows percentages of points with respect to all tools with exact coordinates, per sector (standard position of sector-wheel; compare with figure 40). Though the clusters to the west and north of the hearth are still visible, a sector to the east of the hearth now stands out; though there were only a few points in this area, the tools of other types were proportionally even rarer here. The ring distribution of all points and point fragments with exact coordinates is presented in figure 49. As noted above, the points occurred quite close to the hearth; the mean distance to the hearth centre is 1.17 m, and the modal class is 0.5–1 m. This phenomenon has also been noted at many other Upper/Late Palaeolithic sites in Europe (see e.g. Stapert, 1992). It can be explained by assuming that during the retooling of projectiles (Keeley, 1982) heat or fire was needed (see also Moss & Newcomer, 1982). As mentioned above, none of the recovered points can be refitted in dorsal/ventral sequences; evidently they were not manufactured on the site. However, it is probable that (other) points were produced on the site. One

42

The tools

indication for this is the presence of some 38 so-called ‘micro-burins of Krukowski type’, which often resulted from retouching work during point production (see under section 3.5). If points were indeed produced on the site, these must subsequently have been taken away from the site. The points discarded at the site were presumably all imported from elsewhere; most probably they were arrowheads brought along in a hafted state. Of the 46 points or point fragments, before the refitting of breaks, 23 were studied by Emily Moss ( 17 after the refitting of breaks), including all but one of the more or less complete points (the exception is the heavily burnt No. 8). Of the 23 studied specimens, 14 showed traces of hafting and one of possible hafting. Microscopic linear impact traces were present on 15 (and possibly on one more). In most cases the MLITs were parallel to the longitudinal axis of the points, but in two cases transverse MLITs were found (Nos 12 and 13). As may be expected, traces of many different ‘contact materials’ were observed, including bone, antler, meat, hide and soil, in addition to several traces whose origin could not be determined. Finally, the presence in one case of possible traces of contact with fish (No. 6) is interesting. 3.2.3. Scrapers In total, there are 26 scrapers or scraper fragments; after the refitting of breaks the number drops to 19, of which eight are complete (fig. 57). Two scrapers (one consisting of two fitting fragments) are stray finds. Of the remaining 23 specimens, 22 have exact coordinates. The 23 scrapers for which we have spatial data are mapped in figure 52, with refit lines connecting fitting fragments. Only two scrapers can be refitted into dorsal/ventral series (see section 4.5.4); this suggests that most scrapers were not made on the site but imported from elsewhere. Numbers per square metre (including finds from the sieve) are mapped in figure 53. Most scrapers occurred from southwest to north of the hearth. Figure 54 is a density map of the 22 specimens with exact coordinates, in cells of 50  50 cm. For this map the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated; it can be seen that scrapers clustered especially west and northwest of the hearth, though several specimens were present to its east. A sector graph for the scrapers with exact coordinates within 4 m from the hearth centre is shown in figure 55a; the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. It is clear to see that scrapers are most numerous to the northwest of the hearth. When percentages per sector are calculated (fig. 55b) the northwest cluster remains visible, but an additional area relatively rich in scrapers shows up northeast/east of the hearth. A ring diagram for the scrapers with exact coordinates, showing distances to the hearth centre in classes of 0.5 m, is shown in figure 56. The ring distribution is unimodal; the mean distance is 2.10 m. The scrapers were 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 23 NRefits: 6

5 6 7 8 9 10

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 52. Scrapers and scraper fragments; refit lines connecting fitting fragments are drawn. Filled symbols: artefacts with exact coordinates; open symbol: artefact from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

43

on average located at a much larger distance from the hearth than the points. This is a general picture at Upper Palaeolithic sites; it is assumed that for cleaning hides quite some working space was necessary (Stapert, 1992). All scrapers are made of blades or blade fragments. The eight complete scrapers (after the refitting of breaks; see figure 57) have lengths of 3.2–6.4 cm; one still incomplete scraper has a length of 6.9 cm. Almost all scrapers have one or two retouched sides, mostly two. Only one scraper, made of a cortex blade (No. 16), is without side-retouch. In most cases both sides are retouched quite heavily all the way. Apart from intentional retouch also finer retouch is present on some specimens, presumably resulting from either use or hafting. Some scraper ends are asymmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the blades; the clearly oblique ends all slope to the right when they point forward (Nos 8, 14, 18); there are no clear ‘left’ scrapers. This presumably means that the user or users of the scrapers were right-handed. A predominance of ‘right’ scrapers is also known from other Hamburgian sites (e.g. Vledder: Beuker & Niekus, 1996). Among the small scraper fragments there are a few scraper edges that possibly broke off during use; several of these remained unrefitted despite repeated attempts. 0

NSub: 23

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 53. Scrapers and scraper fragments, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen). 0

NSub: 22 1 2 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 54. Scrapers and scraper fragments with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm; the grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

44

The tools (a)

(b)

Fig. 55. (a) Scrapers and scraper fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre; the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  22; mean number per sector (indicated by the circle of the sector graph) is 2.8. (b) Scrapers and scraper fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentages of all tools with exact coordinates per sector. Standard position of sector wheel (see fig. 40). N scrapers  22; N all tools  276; proportion of scrapers in this area (indicated by the circle of the proportional sector graph) is 8.0% (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). N 10 8 NSub: 22 Mean: 210 cm Median: 192 cm St. dev.: 77 cm

6 4 2 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 56. Scrapers and scraper fragments with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the centre of the hearth (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

Of the 19 tools (after the refitting of breaks) presented in figure 57, 16 were studied by Moss. Traces of use on hide were found on 14 of these (Nos 1, 2, 4–13, 17, 18). Of the two remaining specimens, one has use-wear resulting from an unknown contact material (No. 3), and the other shows ‘notch traces’ in addition to wear of unknown origin (No. 16). Of the 16 studied tools, four have wear from contact with bone or antler (in addition to use-wear from hide), probably as a result from hafting (Nos 1, 4, 7, 17). In six cases, Moss found convincing hafting traces (Nos 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13), and in three others, possible hafting traces (Nos 8, 10, 18). It seems clear, therefore, that scrapers were generally used in a hafted state, and that the hafts were made of bone or, more probably, antler (it certainly was antler with Nos 7 and 17). Though hide-working evidently was the dominant function of the scrapers, a few other contact materials were also encountered, apart from bone/antler. It is of interest that two scrapers show use-wear resulting from plant-processing (Nos 5 and 9). According to Moss, use on plants was most probably secondary to hide-working (both scrapers also have hide wear). 3.2.4. Burins In total, 21 burins or burin fragments were excavated. Two are stray finds, and two others were retrieved by sifting soil per square metre (one comes from the topsoil and the other from undisturbed sand beneath the topsoil). Exact coordinates are known for 17 burins or burin fragments.

1

2

5

6

10

9

3

13

4

7

11

8

12

14

15

2 cm

16

17

18

Fig. 57. Scrapers and scraper fragments, after the refitting of breaks (fig. L. Johansen).

19

46

The tools

After the refitting of breaks, the number of burins and burin fragments drops to 16; drawings of these implements are presented in figures 64 and 65. Four of these are still only fragments. Seven among the 12 complete implements are double burins, with burin edges at both ends of the blank; five are single burins. Of one specimen the burin edge broke off, perhaps during its use, and could be refitted (No. 14). In four cases, burin spalls could be fitted to burins; one spall consists of two fitting fragments. Eight burins are involved in dorsal/ventral refits (50% of the 16 burins after the refitting of breaks). Four burin edges are of the dihedral type; among the remaining burin edges both angle and retouched-angle burin edges are found, with the latter type dominating (6 and 15 edges, respectively). It should be noted here that relatively many burin edges occur on combination tools (13 in total), which are discussed in section 3.2.5. Burin spalls are discussed in section 3.3. All 19 burins or burin fragments for which we possess spatial data are mapped in figure 58, with refit lines connecting fitting fragments. In figure 59, the same burins are shown, now with refit lines to fitting burin 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 19 NRefits: 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 58. Burins and burin fragments. Refit-lines connecting fitting fragments are drawn. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 19 NRefits: 6

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 59. Burins and burin fragments with refit-lines to fitting burin spalls (the arrows in the refitlines point to the burin spalls, which are not indicated by symbols). Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

47

spalls. Figure 60 is a density map of the 19 burins for which we have spatial data: numbers per square metre. The burins with exact coordinates are mapped in figure 61, in which numbers in cells of 50  50 cm are recorded; the grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell. It can be seen that a few burins were located to the north of the hearth, but the bulk occurred clustered to its south. This is also very evident from the sector graph of the burins with exact coordinates: figure 62a; the sectorwheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. There is only one very clear peak, south of the hearth, and in terms of a tendency to cluster within only one specific area in the space around the hearth, the burins are quite extreme. The main activity area involving the use of burins was located to the south of the hearth, and this is also shown by the proportional sector graph in figure 62b. Figure 63 shows the ring diagram of all burins and burin fragments with exact coordinates; it can be seen that most burins occurred at a relatively large distance from the hearth centre; the mean distance is 2.01 m. 0

NSub: 19

1

1

2

2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 60. Burins and burin fragments, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen). 0

NSub: 17 1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 61. Burins and burin fragments with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm; grid position creating the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

48

The tools (a)

(b)

Fig. 62. (a) Burins and burin fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position was calculated so as to create the richest possible sector. N  17; mean number per sector (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) is 2.1. (b) Burins and burin fragments with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentage of all tools with exact coordinates per sector. Standard position of sector wheel. N burins  17; N all tools  276; proportion of burins in this area (indicated by the circle in the proportional sector graph) is 6.2% (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). N 6 5 4 NSub: 17 Mean: 201 cm Median: 232 cm St. dev.: 68 cm

3 2 1 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 63. Burins and burin fragments with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

The analysis by Moss (ten burins, after the refitting of breaks) made it clear that most burin edges have no use-wear, and with the few that do, the use-wear may have resulted from hafting (Moss, 1988). Along the lateral edges of the burins, however, Moss observed use-wear in several cases; the contact materials are mostly bone/antler or antler (Nos 1, 3, 6, 15). One burin had been used on hide and an unknown material (No. 16). The very long specimen No. 2 proved to be without use traces; the same goes for Nos 5 and 9, and a few others have ambiguous traces only (Nos 13 and 14).

3.2.5. Combination tools Combination tools are quite common in the Hamburgian. They present us with a complex classification problem: this ‘type’ is very heterogeneous. The combination tools from Oldeholtwolde can be subdivided as in table 5 (classifications after completion of the refitting operation).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

49

2 cm

1

4

8

2

3

5

6

7

9

Fig. 64. Burins and burin fragments after the refitting of breaks (fig. L. Johansen).

10

50

The tools

12

11

2 cm

13

14

15

16

Fig. 65. Burins and burin fragments (fig. L. Johansen). Table 5. Types of combination tool; numbers before and after the refitting of breaks. Combinations

Complete tools and fragments all counted as 1

Tools after the refitting of breaks

Scraper/burin Zinken/notch(es) Zinken/truncation Zinken/scraper Burin/notch(es) Zinken or borer/burin Scraper/truncation Firemaker (rounded end)/burin Truncation/notch(es) Firemaker (rounded end)/truncation Total

2 10 2 1 9 4 2 1 4 3 38

2 8 2 1 7 3 1 1 3 1 29

Two combinations with rounded ends (probably firemakers) are also included in this list. Strictly speaking, however, these rounded ends are a use-wear category; the ‘retouch’ that can often be observed at or near the rounded ends is probably not intentional but splintering produced during use. In addition to rounding, splintering and gloss, it is especially the presence of dense sets of subparallel scratches within the rounded part that is characteristic. We have hypothesized that these rounded ends resulted from repeatedly producing fire, in combination with pyrite or marcasite (Stapert & Johansen, 1999). One other tool from Oldeholtwolde has two rounded ends (fig. 81: No. 1), but we do not feel convinced that it was used in the same way. Of the 38 combination tools, only one is a stray find; three come from the sieve, and the remaining 34 have exact coordinates. After the refitting of breaks, the number of combination tools drops to 29 (see figs 74–76). Nos 1 and 2 are burin/scraper combinations; both have a fitting (fragment of a) burin spall. Both tools have largely retouched side-edges; in the case of No. 2 one edge was retouched ventrally. Because they cannot be refitted into sequences, both tools were probably imported to the site as scrapers; Moss states that No. 1 shows

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

51

possible traces of curation. The burin spalls were removed on the site. The burin edges do not show use-wear; both scraper ends had been used on hide. Combinations of a Zinken with one or several notches are quite numerous (Nos 3–10 in fig. 74). Only one of these 8 tools could be refitted into a production sequence (No. 3: part of the large refit group 170, discussed in chapter 4). Seven specimens were investigated by Moss. Four possess use-wear resulting from working hide (Nos 3, 4, 5, 7), in one case combined with an unknown contact material (No. 5), and in another with traces of contact with wood (No. 3). The last-mentioned tool has definite traces of hafting, and Moss believes the haft could have been of wood. No. 8 has ‘notch-traces’ (see section 2.6), and Nos 9 and 10 were used on bone or antler (No. 9) and on antler (No. 10). Two Zinken are combined with oblique truncations (Nos 11 and 12); they could both be refitted into sequences. No. 11 was analysed by Moss; it has traces of contact with wood and an unknown other material. A combination of a Zinken with a scraper (No. 13) according to Moss was used on hide; it was probably imported to the site. Combinations of burins with notches are the second most numerous group (Nos 14–20). Only one of these seven tools fits into a sequence (No. 18). Five specimens were examined for use-wear. No. 15 had been used on hide, and in addition has traces of contact with an unknown contact material; No. 16 has traces of contact with antler and hide; No. 17 also has traces of contact with antler and hide, in addition to ‘notch traces’; No. 18 was used on antler; No. 20 has traces of contact with wood and an unknown material. There are three combinations of borers or Zinken with burins (Nos 21–23); only No. 23 fits into a sequence. All three were investigated by Moss. No. 21 was used on hide. Though the burin end of No. 22 was hafted (apart from hafting wear there are traces of contact with an unknown material), the Zinken end shows no use wear at all. The fitting broken-off borer-tip of No. 23 also has no use-wear traces, and the remaining part of that tool has ambiguous traces. Moss also investigated the burin spall fitting to No. 23; it has no use traces. No. 24 is a combination of a scraper and an oblique truncation, with retouch along both side-edges; the break may be intentional. The tool was probably imported to the site, and according to Moss was used on hide; there are in addition definite traces of hafting. No. 25 is a combination of a burin and a rounded end; the rounded end shows quite a lot of ‘retouch’ (especially ventrally) that is probably not intentional but a result of splintering during use. A burin spall can be fitted to the tool. The implement must have been imported to the site because it is of a unique type of flint and does not refit with other artefacts (raw material 2; see section 5.6). According to Moss the burin end was not used, and she interpreted the traces on the rounded end as resulting from work on stone. As noted above, we are convinced that the tool was used to make fire. In the rounded part, Dr Boom using a SEM (scanning electron microscope) detected a small particle consisting of iron and sulphur; this may be a residue of pyrite or marcasite (Stapert & Johansen, 1999). The burin spall was also analysed by Moss; it has no use traces. Three tools combine an oblique truncation with one or several notches (Nos 26–28). None of these could be fitted into sequences. Two tools were analysed for use-wear. No. 26 was used on hide and also has ‘notch traces’, in addition to traces of contact with an unknown material. No. 27 consists of two fitting fragments, and Moss found traces of fish processing on both. No. 29 is a combination of a truncation (ventrally retouched) and a rounded end. It consists of three fitting fragments found very close together; the fragmenting may have been caused by frostsplitting. The tool cannot be fitted into a production sequence. The rounded end was probably used as a firemaker, just as No. 25. Moss did observe use traces but could not identify them as to contact material. It is of interest to compare the proportions of the various tool types as represented in combination tools with those of simple tools (single tools and double tools of the same type were all counted as one). The combination tools have to be counted twice for this purpose, resulting in 58 ‘tools’ (see table 6). As can be seen, there are some discrepancies between combination tools and simple tools in terms of the proportions of the various tool types. Among the combination tools, burins and truncations are over-represented compared to the simple tools, while scrapers and notches are under-represented. A chi-square test was performed; the result is: 0.004  p (two-tailed)  0.005 (2  16.79, df  5), which suggests that the difference is significant. In figure 66, the distribution of the 37 combination tools (or fragments) for which we possess spatial data is given, with refit lines connecting fitting fragments. It is not practical to include here distribution maps of all possible combinations. The most numerous subtypes are presented in figure 67 (Zinken/notches) and figure 68 (burin/notches). In figure 69 the two combination tools with rounded ends are mapped; they both occurred to the south of the hearth. A density map of the 37 combination tools (including finds from the sieve) is presented

52

The tools Table 6. Types occurring in combination tools and simple tools. Type

Scraper Burin Zinken/borer Notch(es) Truncation Rounded end (firemaker) Total

Combination tools

Non-combination tools

n

perc.

n

perc.

4 13 14 18 7 2 58

6.9 22.4 24.1 31.0 12.1 3.4 99.9

19 16 48 85 16 0 184

10.3 8.7 26.1 46.2 8.7 0 100.0

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 37 NRefits: 9

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 66. All combination tools; refit lines connecting fitting fragments are drawn (several cannot be seen because some fitting fragments were lying very close together). Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 10 NRefits: 2

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

Fig. 67. Combinations of Zinken and notch(es) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

3

2

1

0m

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

53

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 8 NRefits: 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 68. Combinations of burins and notch(es). Refit lines to fitting burin spalls are drawn (the burin spalls are not represented by symbols) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0 1 2 3 4 5

NSub: 4

6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 69. Two combination tools with a rounded end: possible strike-a-lights (one consists of three fragments lying very close together) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

in figure 70: numbers per square metre. It can be seen that these tools occur especially to the northwest and the southeast of the hearth. If only the tools with exact coordinates are considered, the cluster to the southeast of the hearth stands out clearly: see figure 71, in which numbers in cells of 50  50 cm are mapped, using the grid position creating the richest possible cell. This picture is also very clear from the sector graph (fig. 72a, sector-wheel position producing the richest possible sector); the highest peak to the southeast of the hearth represents 10 tools (32.3% of the total). The southeastern peak is also visible in the proportional sector graph (fig. 72b), showing the percentages of combination tools per sector, with the sector-wheel in the standard position.

54

The tools 0 NSub: 37 1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7 8 9 10

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 70. Combination tools, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0 1 NSub: 34

2

1 2

3

3 4

4

5 6

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 71. Combination tools with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The ring diagram of the combination tools with exact coordinates (fig. 73) shows a bimodal distribution; this is caused by the circumstance that the tools to the northwest/north of the hearth are on average located almost one metre farther from the hearth than the cluster to the southeast of the hearth. Of the 29 combination tools after the refitting of breaks, only six are part of refitted sequences. Most of the combination tools were probably imported, especially the ones discarded in the southern half of the site (which appears to have been occupied in the first phase of occupation: see chapters 4 and 5).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

55

(a)

(b)

Fig. 72. (a) Combination tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  31; mean number per sector (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) is 3.9. (b) Combination tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentages of all tools with exact coordinates per sector. Standard position of sector wheel. N combination tools  31; N all tools  276; proportion of combination tools in this area (indicated by the circle in the proportional sector graph) is 11.2% (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

N 14 12 10 NSub: 31 Mean: 178 cm Median: 184 cm St. dev.: 61 cm

8 6 4 2 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 73. Combination tools with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

3.2.6. Truncations In total, 18 tools may be described as truncations. After the refitting of breaks, this number reduces to 16, several of which are still fragmentary (fig. 81). Most truncations are oblique, only five or six are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blades. This is a somewhat heterogeneous group of tools, and some of these may be only preforms of, for instance, burins. A few of these tools have additional retouch along one or both of the sides. One specimen may have been a borer or Zinken, secondarily truncated after the tip broke off (No. 11). Two truncations (or fragments of truncated tools) are stray finds; of the remaining 16, 10 have exact coordinates. Three specimens were sifted from undisturbed sand beneath the topsoil, and three others from the

2

1

3

4

7

6

5

8

9

11

12

2 cm

10

13

Fig. 74. Combination tools after refitting breaks as far as possible. (1, 2) Combinations of scrapers and burins; (3–10) combinations of Zinken and notches; (11, 12) combinations of Zinken and oblique truncations; (13) combination of Zinken

14

15

16

18

17

19

20 21

2 cm

22

23

Fig. 75. Combination tools. (14–20) combinations of burins and notches; (21) combination of burin and ‘alternating borer’; (22, 23) combinations of burins and Zinken (fig. L. Johansen).

58

The tools

25 24

2 cm

26

27

28

29

Fig. 76. Combination tools. (24) Combination of scraper and oblique truncation; (25) combination of burin and rounded end (possible strike-a-light); (26–28) combinations of oblique truncations and notches; (29) combination of truncation and rounded end (possible strike-a-light) (fig. L. Johansen).

topsoil. The 16 specimens for which we have spatial data (including sieve finds) are mapped in figure 77. In figure 78, these tools are presented in a density map: numbers per square metre. As can be seen, most truncations were found to the south of the hearth, while a second group was located to its north. These two clusters are also evident from the distribution of the ten tools with exact coordinates over eight sectors (fig. 79a); the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. The southern cluster also stands out in the proportional sector graph (fig. 79b), in which percentages of truncations among all tools are shown,

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

59

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 16 NRefits: 1

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 77. Truncated tools. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0 NSub: 16 1

1

2

2

3

3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 78. Truncated tools, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

per sector. The ring diagram of the ten specimens with exact coordinates (fig. 80) shows that most truncations occurred relatively close to the hearth; their mean distance to the hearth centre is 1.85 m. One of the specimens (the distal part of No. 1) has two rounded corners (indicated by stippling in the drawing). We examined the tool under a stereomicroscope, but are not convinced that it had been used as a fire-maker though we cannot exclude this possibility; this tool was not investigated by Moss. The retouch on the distal end occurs both ventrally and dorsally, and the same is true for another specimen (No. 12). Seven truncated tools were analysed by Moss. One tool (No. 8) does not have use traces, and another (No. 5) has use wear of unknown origin. Three of the remaining tools were used on hide (Nos 3, 4, 11), and one on wood (No. 7). The last specimen studied by Moss (No. 10) shows transverse MLITs, and may therefore have

60

The tools (b)

(a)

Fig. 79. (a) Truncated tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors, within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  10; mean number per sector: 1.2 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph). (b) Truncated tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentage of all tools with exact coordinates per sector. Standard position of sector-wheel. N truncations 10; N all tools  276; proportion of truncations in this area: 3.6% (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

N 6 5 4 NSub: 10 Mean: 185 cm Median: 150 cm St. dev.: 86 cm

3 2 1 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 80. Truncated tools with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

been used as a barb. It has traces of contact with wood and soil, and also definite traces of hafting. The use-wear category of ‘barbs’ is discussed in section 3.4.

3.2.7. Zinken and borers In a few cases, Zinken and borers are difficult to distinguish from each other; there is a certain overlap. It is clear, however, that most tools of the borer/bec group at Oldeholtwolde are Zinken: sturdy and in most cases asymmetrical becs. We have divided the tools of the borer/bec group into three groups, but it should be remembered that this division is somewhat arbitrary. Nos 1–37 (figs 87–89) are Zinken, or at least becs (some are not very asymmetrical); there are five double tools among these. Nos 38–41 (fig. 90) are ‘alternating borers’: borers on which one of the sides of the borer-tip is retouched ventrally and the other dorsally. Finally, Nos 42–48 (fig. 91) are piercers, which have a comparatively fine and thin borer end (three of these are double tools).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

61

1

4

2

5

3

6

7 2 cm

8

12

9

10

13

14

11

15

16

Fig. 81. Truncated tools. One of the two fragments comprising no. 1 has two rounded ends; though this may be a result of use as a strike-a-light, such use is not certain. No. 11 may originally have been a Zinken, transformed into a truncation after the tip broke off (fig. L. Johansen).

62

The tools 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 51 NRefits: 5

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 82. Zinken and borers (all types), with refit lines connecting fitting fragments. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 51

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 83. Zinken and borers, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

In total there are 58 borers/becs, or recognizable fragments of such tools (not counting broken-off borer-tips; these are discussed in section 3.2.8). Seven are stray finds. After the refitting of breaks, the number of tools reduces to 48, of which 32 are complete. Many tools of this group are made of rather thick blades (e.g. crested blades), and not infrequently even on flakes (including a heavily plunging one: No. 6 in fig. 87). Several specimens have additional retouch or backing along one or both of the sides. After the refitting of breaks, eight tools are double Zinken or borers; as a result, there are 56 tips of Zinken/ borers. Of these, 17 are oriented to the left if the borer end faces upwards, and 29 to the right; 10 are more or less straight. Of the 48 borers/becs after the refitting of breaks, exactly half (24) are part of ventral/dorsal refits. In quite a few cases, refitting groups including borers or becs contain more than one such tool (up to 4; see chapters 4 and 5).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

63

0 1 NSub: 44 1 2 3 4 5

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 84. Zinken and borers with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 85. (a) Zinken and borers with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  42; mean number per sector: 5.2 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph). (b) Zinken and borers with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentage of all tools with exact coordinates per sector. Standard position of sector wheel. N Zinken and borers  42; N all tools  276; proportion of the Zinken and borers in this area is 15.2% (indicated by the circle in the proportional sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). N 12 10 8 NSub: 42 Mean: 174 cm Median: 153 cm St. dev.: 83 cm

6 4 2 0

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 86. Zinken and borers with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

64

The tools

1

2

3

4

5

2 cm

6

7

10

13

11

14

8

9

12

15

16

17

Fig. 87. Zinken and Zinken fragments, both symmetrical and asymmetrical. Note that a considerable number of these tools are made of crested blades, or of flakes; both are somewhat sturdier than regular blades (fig. L. Johansen).

→

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

18

65

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

2 cm

27

28

29

66

The tools

2 cm

34

35

36

37

Fig. 89. Zinken (fig. L. Johansen).

2 cm

40

38

39

41

Fig. 90. ‘Alternating borers’ (fig. L. Johansen).

Of the 37 tools of the Zinken group (after the refitting of breaks), 27 have been studied by Moss (see also Moss, 1988). Eight of these show ‘notch traces’, sometimes in combination with other kinds of use. In most of these cases, the concave part of the working end of these Zinken was used in a similar way as notched tools were: on cylindrical objects of some type of hard material: wood, bone or antler (probably antler in the case of tool No. 20). In addition, use wear of the following types of contact material was noticed: hide (7), bone or antler (6 or 7), wood (3 or 4), plant (1), and possibly fish (1); Moss mentions that the bone/antler traces may in some cases have been caused by hafts. Because there is so much variation, the use-wear observations by Moss are briefly (and crudely) summarized here for the individual tools. No. 1: wood; No. 3: ‘notch traces’ (both on the tool and on the broken-off tip); No. 4: wood; No. 7: bone or antler; No. 9: hide and wood (proximal part), ambiguous (fish? distal part); No. 10: ambiguous; No. 11: plant; No. 12: ‘notch traces’ (the tip has no use wear though it broke off); No. 13: bone; No. 14: no use traces; No. 15: antler (this piece has hafting traces, the haft may have been of antler;

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

42

67

43

44

45

2 cm 46

47

48

Fig. 91. ‘Fine borers’, some double (fig. L. Johansen).

moreover, there is perhaps a residue of resin, on the tip—as if the tip part was in the haft!); No. 18: bone/ antler and unknown (the broken-off tip has no use traces); No. 20: bone/antler and ‘notch traces’ (the ‘notch traces’ were probably caused by antler; the tool also has possible traces of curation); No. 21: no use traces; No. 22: ‘notch traces’; No. 24: hide; No. 25: antler (borer tip; the rest of the tool has no use wear); No. 26: hide (proximal part; the rest of the tool only has ambiguous traces); No. 27: ‘notch traces’; No. 28: hide; No. 30: hide and ‘notch traces’; No. 31: antler or wood, and hide (both on the tip; the rest of the tool has no use traces); No. 32: no use wear; No. 33: ‘notch traces’ and traces of contact with an unknown material; No. 35: hide and ‘notch traces’ (proximal part), ‘notch traces’ (distal part); No. 36: used, but traces unknown; No. 37: ambiguous traces. Of the borers with alternating retouch, three were studied by Moss. No. 38: hide? (in addition, there are possible traces of curation); No. 39: used, but traces are unknown; No. 40: ambiguous use traces, but clear traces of hafting. Finally, of the fine borers, Moss analysed five tools. No. 42: used, but the traces are unknown; No. 43: bone or antler; No. 44: bone or antler, hide, and stone (!); No. 45: used, but traces are unknown; No. 47: ‘notch traces’. For mapping the spatial distribution, all Zinken and borers were taken together as one group. The 51 specimens (before the refitting of breaks) having spatial data are mapped in figure 82 (including sieve finds). The same tools are presented in a density map in figure 83: numbers per square metre. Zinken/borers seem to have occurred in two clusters: a rather scattered group to the north of the hearth and a more tight cluster to its southeast. The distribution of the 44 specimens with exact coordinates shows the same pattern (fig. 84); in this case it concerns numbers in cells of 50  50 cm, shown in a grid positioned to create the richest possible cell. As expected, the sector graph for the tools with exact coordinates (fig. 85a) shows two peaks: one to the north of the hearth and a larger one to its southeast; the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. Both peaks remain visible in the proportional sector graph (fig. 85b). The ring diagram of the tools with exact coordinates (fig. 86) shows that these tools are quite variable in terms of their distance to the hearth; they occur in fair numbers at any distance between 0.5 and 2.5 m from its centre; the mean distance is 1.74 m.

68

The tools 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 33 NRefits: 11

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 92. Broken-off tips of Zinken or borers. In the cases where these fit to the tools from which they derive (N  11), refit lines are drawn (the tools to which they fit are not shown by a symbol). Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0 NSub: 33 1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 93. Broken-off tips of Zinken or borers, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen).

3.2.8. Broken-off tips of Zinken or borers A total of 33 broken-off tips of borers or Zinken were found. None of these is a stray find, though only 17 have exact coordinates. The remaining 16 were sifted from the topsoil (2) and from undisturbed sand beneath the topsoil (14). Of the 33 tips, only 11 could be fitted to either borers/becs or combination tools (one of these is now missing: the one fitting to Zinken No. 9). It is far from clear why so many (22) cannot be fitted to tools, because it seems improbable that the damaged tools were taken away from the site after the breaks occurred. In the cases where tips can be fitted to tools, the evidence suggests that the break occurred during use. All but one of the 11 fitting tips fit to borers/becs. The remaining one fits to a combination tool, and according to Moss has no use wear. Of the other ten fitting tips, seven were studied by Moss. Two show traces of use on antler or

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

69

0

NSub: 17 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 94. Broken-off tips of Zinken or borers with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

Fig. 95. Broken-off tips of Zinken or borers with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  17; mean number per sector is 2.1 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

bone, one has ‘notch traces’, one has use wear from antler and hide and possibly wood; the remaining three examined tips have no visible use-wear traces. The 33 broken-off borer tips are mapped in figure 92; 11 refit lines to damaged tools are shown (but no symbols for the tools). All broken-off tips, including finds from the sieve, are represented in the density map of figure 93: numbers per square metre. It can be seen that most occurred to the north of the hearth, and relatively few to its south. The 17 specimens with exact coordinates are presented in a density map with cells of 50  50 cm (fig. 94); the grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell. The tendency to cluster to the north of the hearth is evident, and this is also clearly shown in the sector graph of the tips with exact coordinates: fig. 95; about 53% of all these tips occurred in one of the eight sectors: north of the hearth (mean number per sector is 2.1). This picture is rather different from that of the Zinken and borers, most of which occurred south of the hearth, though there was a second cluster to its north. We have no explanation for this unexpected difference, except the conjecture that in tasks performed north of the hearth more force may have been applied in using the tools.

70

The tools N 10

8

6

NSub: 17 Mean: 149 cm Median: 156 cm St. dev.: 40 cm

4

2

0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 96. Broken-off tips of Zinken or borers with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 106 NRefits: 24

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 97. Notched tools; refit lines connecting fitting fragments are shown. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The ring diagram for the broken-off tips with exact coordinates is shown in figure 96. As in the case of burin spalls, broken-off tips of Zinken or borers occurred closer to the hearth than the tools from which they derived. Their mean distance to the hearth centre is 1.49 m. In this case it may be assumed that Zinken or borers, after their tips broke off, were subject to centrifugal effects, for example as a result of tossing. The small tips will have remained more or less at the place where they broke off. The ring diagram of the broken-off tips probably gives a more realistic picture of the distance to the hearth at which borers or becs played a functional role than that of these tools themselves; the activities in question took place mainly between 1 and 2 m from the hearth centre.

3.2.9. Notched tools Notched tools are the most numerous tool group at Oldeholtwolde. In all, 115 tools, complete or fragmented, were placed in this group. Of these, nine are stray finds, and 25 were sifted from the soil; the remaining 81 have exact coordinates. After the refitting of breaks, the number of notched tools reduces to 85, of which still quite a lot are incomplete: see figs 102–106.

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

71

0

NSub: 106

1

1–2

2

3–4

3

5–6

4

7

5

8–9

6

10–11

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 98. Notched tools (and fragments), including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen). 0 1 NSub: 81

2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 99. Notched tools with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

Many notches were clearly produced by retouching, but quite a few show such fine retouch that it is in fact more likely that the notches originated as a result of use. Because it is difficult in practice to draw a clear distinction between these two variants, all notches are treated here as one group. The notch-retouch may occur both ventrally and dorsally, and often both types occur on one and the same piece. With small fragments especially, the classification as a notched piece has to be regarded as arbitrary; some fragments may in fact have been part of points (e.g. Nos 31–34) or of borers. Some may have been caused by the excavation work, though recent excavation damage could mostly be easily identified. The number of notches per implement varies from one to nine (the tool with nine notches is No. 26). Most notches have a width between 0.5 and 1 cm. Notches occur both along sturdy edges and along fine and thin edges. Of the 85 specimens remaining after the refitting of breaks, 45 were studied by Emily Moss. Ten of these did not possess clear use traces, and four others had traces that could not be identified. The use wear present on the

72

The tools (a)

(b)

Fig. 100. (a) Notched tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The position of the sector wheel creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  79; mean number per sector: 9.9 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph). (b) Notched tools with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentages of all tools with exact coordinates, per sector. Standard position of sector wheel. N notched tools  79; N all tools  276; proportion of notched tools in this area is 28.6% (indicated by the circle in the proportional sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

N 30 25 20

NSub: 79 Mean: 188 cm Median: 184 cm St. dev.: 69 cm

15 10 5 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 101. Notched tools with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

remaining 31 specimens is quite varied, but the majority of the use wear, on 20 tools, was described as ‘notch traces’: produced by shaping cylindrical objects with a scraping movement; the contact material could in most cases not be established more precisely than ‘bone, antler or wood’, though in a few cases Moss was inclined to believe it was wood (Nos 23, 45). One possibility, therefore, is that at least a number of notched tools were used to smoothen wooden arrowshafts. Apart from ‘notch traces’, contact materials identified by Moss include: antler or wood (1), bone or antler (5), antler (1), wood (1), butchering traces (2, one certain, one possible), hide (2), and fish (2, one certain, one possible). Here follow brief summaries of Moss’s observations. No. 1: fish?; No. 8: ‘notch traces’ and unknown traces; No. 10: antler or wood; No. 11: bone or antler; No. 12: antler; No. 14: no use traces; No. 15: no use traces; No. 16: butchering  hide  ‘notch traces’; No. 17: no use traces; No. 18: unknown use traces; No. 19: bone or antler, and unknown traces; No. 20: ‘notch traces’; No. 21: no use traces; No. 22: ‘notch traces’; No. 23: ‘notch traces’ (maybe from wood); No. 25: no use traces; No. 26: ‘notch traces’; No. 30: ambiguous traces; No. 34: ‘notch traces’; No. 35: ‘notch traces’; No. 36: unknown use traces; No. 38: bone or antler, and unknown traces; No. 39: no use traces; No. 40: no use traces; No. 41: ‘notch traces’; No. 42: hide and ‘notch traces’; No. 43:

Fig. 102. Notched tools (fig. L. Johansen).

→

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

73

1

2

4

3

5

8

6

7

9

10 2 cm

11

12

13

14

15

2 cm

16

17

18

20

19

22

25

21

24

23

26

Fig. 103. Notched tools (fig. L. Johansen).

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

2 cm

38

42

39

43

40

44

41

45

46

49

48

50

51

52 53

47

54

Fig. 104. Notched tools (fig. L. Johansen).

55

56

57

58

59

60

62

61

63

64

2 cm

65

66

69

73

67

70

74

Fig. 105. Notched tools (fig. L. Johansen).

68

71

72

75

76

77

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

77

78

79

2 cm

80

81

82

83

84

85

Fig. 106. Notched tools (fig. L. Johansen).

‘notch traces’; No. 45: ‘notch traces’ (maybe from wood); No. 47: fish and unknown traces (maybe butchering); No. 48: ‘notch traces’; No. 50: bone or antler; No. 52: ‘notch traces’; No. 59: unknown use traces; No. 60: wood (probably haft) and ‘notch traces’; No. 63: ‘notch traces’; No. 64: no use traces; No. 66: ‘notch traces’; No. 68: ‘notch traces’; No. 69: unknown use traces; No. 70: ‘notch traces’; No. 73: no use traces; No. 78: ‘notch traces’; No. 80: ‘notch traces’; No. 82: bone or antler (2 ; this piece looks like a point, but there are no MLITs); No. 84: ‘notch traces’ and unknown traces. The many notched tools had a wide spatial distribution, and occurred virtually everywhere around the hearth. There is a marked concentration, however, to its northwest. The 106 notched tools with spatial data are mapped in figure 97, with refit lines connecting fitting fragments (open symbols: sieve finds). The same tools

78

The tools

are shown in figure 98: numbers per square metre. The 81 specimens with exact coordinates are mapped in figure 99: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm; the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. The richest cell, containing seven notched tools, is present to the northwest of the hearth, at a distance of c. 2 m. The distinct cluster of notched tools northwest of the hearth is spatially associated with the small ring of stones, which may be interpreted as a cooking pit. We have no explanation for this association, unless the cylindrical objects to be worked with notched implements had to be boiled first. In figure 100a, the sector graph for the notched tools with exact coordinates is shown; the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. The cluster to the north/northwest of the hearth is clearly visible; a second, much less conspicuous cluster occurs to the south of the hearth. The same picture is presented by the proportional sector graph (fig. 100b). The ring diagram of the notched tools with exact coordinates is shown in figure 101; this is a clearly unimodal distribution; the mean distance to the hearth centre is 1.88 m.

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 51 NRefits: 8

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 107. Retouched blades; refit lines connect fitting fragments. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/ L. Johansen). 0

NSub: 51

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 108. Retouched blades, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

79

0 1 NSub: 40

2

1 2 3

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 109. Retouched blades with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 110. (a) Retouched blades with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  39; mean number per sector: 4.9 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph). (b) Retouched blades with exact coordinates in eight sectors, shown as percentages of all tools with exact coordinates, per sector. Standard position of sector wheel. N retouched blades  39; N all tools  276; proportion of retouched blades in this area is 14.1% (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

N 12 10 8 NSub: 39 Mean: 150 cm Median: 152 cm St. dev.: 65 cm

6 4 2 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 111. Retouched blades with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

2 cm

1

2

5

9

14

3

6

10

7

8

12

11

15

4

16

13

17

Fig. 112. Retouched blades, including some fragments. No. 2 is the only artefact made of white flint (raw material 7) and shows ‘curation’ wear according to the use-wear analysis of E.H. Moss (fig. L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

18

81

19

20

21 2 cm

22

23

27

24

28

33

39

29

34

30

35

40

25

41

26

31

36

32

37

42

38

43

44

Fig. 113. Retouched blades, fragments. Some of these tools may have been part of tools such as scrapers (top row) or points (fig. L. Johansen).

3.2.10. Retouched blades The category of ‘retouched blades’ is not a homogeneous tool group. Many of these are fragments; only six were complete before refitting, and many are still fragmentary after the refitting of breaks. Fragments of blades with retouched sides may in fact derive from scrapers, points and tools of other types. Some blade fragments with retouch have indeed been classified as point fragments, if both authors believed this to be the most probable attribution. Of the 53 retouched blades (or fragments), two are stray finds. Among the remaining 51, 40 have exact coordinates. After the refitting of breaks, the number of retouched blades reduces to 44 (figs 112 and 113). Many of these tools have only a little retouch; those with extensive retouch (e.g. Nos 18, 20 and 21) are probably fragments of scrapers. Some of the smaller fragments may well be parts of points. As may be expected with this type group, the results of the use-wear analysis by Moss vary widely. In total, 15 tools (after the refitting of breaks) were investigated, two of which have ambiguous traces (one of these is No. 24, which in addition has traces of curation). Moss observed traces of the following contact materials: hide (8), wood (2), plant (1), bone (2), butchering (1), and ‘notch traces’ (1).

82

The tools

Brief summaries of Moss’s conclusions are as follows. No. 1: wood and hide (distal), hide and unknown traces (proximal); No. 2: hide (this blade is of a unique kind of white flint, and has traces of curation); No. 4: hide and plant (in that order); No. 5: hide; No. 6: bone; No. 8: hide; No. 9: hide; No. 10: butchering; No. 12: ambiguous traces; No. 17: hide; No. 18: bone (distal), possible bone or antler traces (perhaps from haft), and distinct hafting traces (proximal); No. 20: wood; No. 21: hide; No. 22: ‘notch traces’; No. 24: ambiguous traces, and traces of curation. No. 2 is a somewhat special case; it was manufactured from a beautiful white flint of which we have no other artefacts (raw material No. 7; see also chapter 5). The artefact was ‘curated’: Moss found many traces resulting from transport together with other artefacts (probably of different materials); much of the retouch was probably not intentional but the result of this. Retouched blades occurred all around the hearth, but there is a cluster to the west/southwest of the hearth: see figure 107, in which all tools, including sieve finds, are mapped (with refit lines between fitting fragments). The same tools are presented in a density map in figure 108: numbers per square metre. The 40 tools with exact coordinates are presented in figure 109: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm; the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. The sector graph of the tools with exact coordinates (sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector) of figure 110a makes it clear that most of the retouched blades indeed occurred to the west and southwest of the hearth; this peak remains visible in the proportional sector graph of figure 110b, in which a second, smaller peak is also visible, to the north of the hearth. The ring diagram of the tools with exact coordinates (fig. 111) shows that these tools occurred both close to the hearth and relatively far away—again reflecting the heterogeneous character of this group.

3.2.11. Retouched flakes There are 12 flakes with retouch; after the refitting of breaks this number reduces to 11 (fig. 118). Of the 12 artefacts, one is a stray find; six have exact coordinates. In most cases the retouch is quite limited, and in several cases it is difficult to accept it as intentional. One retouched flake was investigated by Moss (No. 2); it does not possess any traces of use. The 11 flakes with retouch for which we have spatial data are mapped in figure 114, and figure 115 is a density map: numbers per square metre. It can be seen that most occurred to the south of the hearth, as is also evident from the sector graph for the specimens with exact coordinates (fig. 116). The ring diagram for these tools is presented in figure 117.

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 11 NRefits: 1

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 114. Retouched flakes. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

83

0

NSub: 11

1

1

2

2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 115. Retouched flakes, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

Fig. 116. Retouched flakes with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  6; mean number per sector: 0.8 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

N 3

2

NSub: 6 Mean: 144 cm Median: 141 cm St. dev.: 52 cm

1

0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 117. Retouched flakes with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

84

The tools

1

2

6

3

7

4

5

8

2 cm 9

10

11

Fig. 118. Retouched flakes. Note: in some cases the retouch may not be intentional (fig. L. Johansen).

3.2.12. A last look at tool distributions For all tool groups, distribution maps and density maps were presented above. It is of interest to also consider a few so-called proportional density maps. In such maps, the percentage of a specific tool type with respect to all tools is shown, in the cells of a grid. In this way, areas within the site where any type is proportionally strongly represented show up clearly. The ANALITHIC package has the ability to create such maps, but several choices have to be made. Cells with only one or a few tools produce misleading percentages (often 0 or 100%), so these have to be avoided. It was decided to represent only cells with at least five tools in the maps shown here. Many cells of 50  50 cm would fail to cross this threshold; therefore, it was decided to use a grid with cells of 1  1 m. It is of interest to use the maximizing possibilities of ANALITHIC in this case: the programme can calculate the grid position with the highest possible proportion of a specific tool type in (at least) one cell. In this way, the clearest possible picture for each type is obtained. This means, however, that only tools having exact coordinates can be included. It was decided to produce proportional maps according to the principles outlined above for six tool groups: points, scrapers, burins, borers/Zinken, notched tools and combination tools (fig. 119). In these maps, the hearth was shaded for more clarity. Cells with a proportion below that of the tool type over the whole area have open circles; cells with a higher proportion than the overall proportion have filled circles. The overall proportion is mentioned in the key (‘Prop.’). Six classes are employed, using the linear option for class division. In several cases, these maps offer additional insights. For example, the points to the northeast of the hearth now stand out clearly as a local cluster, in addition to the one to the southwest of the hearth. The scrapers show several spots with high proportion, but one to the northwest of the hearth is especially clear. One square metre in this area has 62.5% scrapers; the overall proportion of scrapers is only 7.6%. In the map for the burins the cluster to the south of the hearth shows up clearly again; a smaller one to its north is also visible. The borers/ Zinken show, somewhat surprisingly, a distinct cluster to the northeast of the hearth, in addition to one to its southeast (but note that, in absolute numbers, not many borers are present in the northeast). The notches show high proportions especially to the northwest of the hearth, as noted before; a small second cluster to its south is noteworthy. Finally, the combination tools are scattered rather widely, but a spot with a high proportion turns up to the east of the hearth; again, absolute numbers are low in this area.

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde 2

85 NSub: 30 NMain: 276 Prop.: 10.9% Threshold: 4

(a)

3

2

NSub: 21 NMain: 276 Prop.: 7.6% Threshold: 4

(b)

3

0.0–10.4%

0.0–14.3% 4

4 14.4–28.6%

5

10.5–20.8% 5 20.9–31.2%

28.7–42.9% 6

6 31.4–.41.7%

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7 57.2–71.4%

8 71.5–85.7%

9 10

41.8–52.1% 8 52.2–62.5% 9 10

11 2

10

9

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6

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3m

11

NSub: 17 NMain: 276 Prop.: 6.2% Threshold: 4 0.0–10.0%

(c)

3 4

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8

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4

3m NSub: 43 NMain: 276 Prop.: 15.6% Threshold: 4

(d)

3

0.0–11.1% 4

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11.2–22.2%

5 20.1–30.0%

6

22.3–33.3% 6 33.4–44.4%

30.1–40.0% 7

7 44.5–55.6%

40.1–50.0% 8

8

55.7–66.7%

50.1–60.0% 9

9

10

10 11

2

10

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NSub: 79 NMain: 276 Prop.: 28.6% Threshold: 4

(e)

3

10

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8

7

6

5

4

3m NSub: 31 NMain: 276 Prop.: 11.2% Threshold: 4

2 (f) 3

0.0–13.3%

0.0–10.0%

4

4 13.4–26.7%

10.1–20.0% 5

5 26.8–40.0%

20.1–30.0%

6

6 40.1–53.3% 7

30.1–40.0% 7

53.4–66.7%

40.1–50.0% 8

8 66.8–80.0% 9

50.1–60.0% 9 10

10 11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3m

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3m

Fig. 119. Maps showing percentages of several tool groups in cells of 1  1 m. Only tools with exact coordinates. For each map, the grid position was calculated so as to create the highest possible proportion of the tool group in (at least) one of the cells. Only cells with at least five tools in total are represented. Cells with a higher proportion than the overall percentage of the respective tool groups have filled circles, cells with a lower proportion have white circles. Tool groups: (a) points, (b) scrapers, (c) burins, (d) Zinken/borers, (e) notched tools, (f) combination tools. The hearth is shaded (fig. D. Stapert).

86

Burin spalls

3.3. BURIN SPALLS In total, 38 burin spalls (or probable burin spalls) were found, four of which are fragmentary. Twelve were retrieved by soil sifting per square metre; the remaining 26 have exact coordinates (fig. 120). Four fragments of burin spalls can be fitted together, resulting in two burin spalls (in one case, the two fragments were located very close together). Of the 36 burin spalls after the refitting of breaks, ten can be fitted to burins (4) or to combination tools (6). Figure 121 shows the burins spalls, with 13 refit lines between tools and burin spalls 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 38 NRefits: 2

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 cm

Fig. 120. Burin spalls; refit lines connecting fitting fragments are shown. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

3

4

5

NSub: 23 NRefits: 16

6

7

8

9 10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3m

Fig. 121. All refits between burins, or combination tools with a burin component (indicated by crosses), and burin spalls. These refit lines have arrows pointing towards the burin spall. Refit lines between fitting fragments are also shown, by broken lines. In total, six combination tools and four burins (of which one consists of two fitting fragments) are involved. Two burin spalls consist of two fitting fragments (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

87

(because of the circumstance that both the burin spalls and the tools to which they fit may consist of several fitting fragments, there is not a simple relationship between the number of artefacts and the number of refit lines). The longest refit line connects a burin spall close to the hearth (east of it) with a combination tool (burin/ scraper) located about 4 m to its north. In most cases, however, the refit lines are quite short, indicating that in general the burin spalls were removed in the area where the burins (or combination tools) were to be used. It is of interest to note that there are no contacts between the area south of the hearth and the one to the north of it. Moreover, the refits in the northern half involve only combination tools, while in the area to the south of the hearth both burins and combination tools are involved. Though several spalls occurred to the west and north of the hearth, the majority of the burin spalls were located to the south of the hearth (just like the burins). The numbers per square metre are mapped in figure 122, including specimens from the sieve. In figure 123, the 26 burin spalls with exact coordinates are presented in 0

NSub: 38

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

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9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 122. Burin spalls, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0 1 NSub: 26 2

1 2 3 4 5

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 123. Burin spalls with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

88

‘Barbs’

Fig. 124. Burin spalls with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position was calculated so as to create the richest possible sector. N  26; mean number per sector: 3.2 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). N 10

8 NSub: 26 Mean: 151 cm Median: 134 cm St. dev.: 64 cm

6

4

2

0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 125. Burin spalls with exact coordinates in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

a density map with cells of 50  50 cm; the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. The richest cell contains five burin spalls and is located close to the hearth, south of it; an additional, smaller cluster to the northeast of the hearth can also be seen. A sector graph for the burin spalls with exact coordinates is shown in figure 124; the sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. Again, the cluster in the south stands out. Figure 125 shows the ring diagram for the burin spalls with exact coordinates; the mean distance to the hearth centre is 1.51 m (that of the burins is 2.01 m). Though burins and burin spalls on the whole show a similar spatial distribution (with the densest cluster to the south of the hearth in both cases), burin spalls are on average located closer to the hearth than burins; this difference is most probably caused by the centrifugal effect (see e.g. Stapert, 1992). Moss examined ten burin spalls. Eight do not possess any use traces; one has ambiguous traces. Only one spall shows use wear; it has traces from contact with antler (the spall fitting to burin No. 3). There is also wear from bone or antler on the burin, and the traces on the spall probably date from before its removal. 3.4. ‘BARBS’ We will here discuss an artefact group that is defined purely on the basis of the functional research by Emily Moss (1988 and pers. comm.). It does not concern tools in any formal sense (though three of these artefacts are

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

89

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 20 NRefits: 1

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 126. Artefacts with definite transverse MLITs (microscopic linear impact traces), interpreted as ‘barbs’. A refit line connects two fitting fragments. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 127. Artefacts with possible transverse MLITs (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

‘tools’), but artefacts identified as ‘barbs’ (see also, on Pincevent: Moss, 1983a). Most of the points described above show MLITs (microscopic linear impact traces) parallel to the longitudinal axis of the implements, indicating their use as tips of projectiles (most probably as arrowheads). However, Moss also encountered 21 implements with MLITs perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, which she interpreted as barbs (Moss, 1988: 403–404); these are illustrated in figure 133. Of these 21 artefacts, one is a stray find. Of the remaining 20, ten have exact coordinates, while the other ten come from the sieve, provenanced per square metre (three from the topsoil, seven from undisturbed sand below the topsoil); these are mapped in figure 126. In addition, four other artefacts show possible transverse MLITs (fig. 127); finally, one artefact investigated by Moss has possible transverse and longitudinal MLITs. These five artefacts will not be considered here further. The ‘barbs’ with definite transverse MLITs, illustrated in figure 133, are mostly small blades or blade fragments, but three are tools: a small ‘Tjonger point’, the middle fragment of a ‘notched point’, and a small truncated blade (Nos 1–3). The length of the ‘barbs’ ranges from 1.6 to 4.4 cm.

90

‘Barbs’ 0

1

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3 NSub: 20 NRefits: 14

4

5

6

7

8 13

12

11

10

9

8

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Fig. 128. Artefacts with definite transverse MLITs, and all their refit lines (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

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6

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4

3

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Fig. 129. All artefacts with definite transverse MLITs, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

Five specimens among the 21 certain ‘barbs’ are part of refitting groups (fig. 128). One fits in the ventral/ dorsal way with a retouched blade; probably both were imported to the site. The remaining four are all part of the largest refitting group at the site (group 170), which was certainly knapped on the site (see chapter 4). Two of these are fragments fitting together to one still incomplete blade c. 4 cm long, so that the number of barbs from this refitting group reduces to three. All the longer refit lines are part of refitting group 170. One of the barbs fitted to the core of this group, which was located at quite a distance, to the southwest of the hearth (it was tossed there when it was used up; see section 3.5.1). One barb of this group was transported to a spot

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

91

2

NSub: 10 1 2

3

3 4

5

6

7 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 130. All artefacts with definite transverse MLITs and having exact coordinates, in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

NSub: 10 Mean: 1.2 D ⬍ 400 cm

Fig. 131. All artefacts with definite transverse MLITs with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 4 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  10; mean number per sector: 1.2 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

near the hearth (to its south), and fits in the ventral/dorsal way to an artefact located close to the ring of heated stones north of the hearth. Only three barbs out of 21 fit into sequences; this is a low proportion and the conclusion is that most ‘barbs’ were imported to the site (in a hafted state), just like the points. Nevertheless, it is of interest to note that at least three were made on the site, used in hunting activities, and then brought back to the site to be finally discarded there. For the points we have no examples of this at all. The 20 ‘barbs’ for which we have spatial data are mapped in figure 129: numbers per square metre. Most of them occurred in a zone west of the hearth, but a few were located to its northeast. The ten ‘barbs’ with exact coordinates are presented in figure 130; this is a density map with cells of 50  50 cm, using the grid position creating the richest possible cell. It is of interest to compare this distribution with that of the points (e.g. fig. 47); the main difference is that the points were located much closer to the hearth than the ‘barbs’. The sector graph of the ‘barbs’ with exact coordinates is shown in figure 131. The ring diagram for these specimens (fig. 132) shows a peak in the 2–2.5 m class. This is in contrast to the ring diagram of the points (fig. 49), which shows a peak in the 0.5–1 m class. The mean distance to the hearth centre for the points is 1.17 m, for the barbs this is 2.37 m: more than one metre farther away. The difference is difficult to explain if it is assumed that points and barbs were hafted in the same way. Maybe barbs were not fixed with resin that had

N 5

4 3

NSub: 10 Mean: 237 cm Median: 233 cm St. dev.: 41 cm

2 1 0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400 cm

Fig. 132. All artefacts with definite transverse MLITs and exact coordinates, in rings 0.5 m wide around the hearth centre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

1

2

3

4

5

2 cm

6

7

12

13

17

18

8

14

9

15

19

10

11

16

20

A

B

Fig. 133. Artefacts with definite transverse MLITs, interpreted by Emily Moss as ‘barbs’. (1) Notched point; the middle fragment shows MLITs; (2) small ‘Tjonger point’; (3) blade with transverse truncation; (4–20) blades or blade fragments; (A , B) possible reconstructions of the hafting of ‘barbs’, after Moss (1988: 426). (A) Both a point and a barb hafted to an arrow; (B) only a barb hafted to an arrow, as a transverse arrowhead (fig. L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

93

to be heated in the fire, so that people could sit at some distance from the hearth during retooling work involving barbs. In figure 133, two ways of hafting these ‘barbs’ are illustrated: together with a point or separately, after Moss (1988; resp. fig. 2b/c and d). In the latter case the ‘barb’ in fact was not used as a barb but as a transverse arrowhead. One can also imagine a barb, or several barbs, fixed to the shaft at some distance from the tip, in cases where the tips of the shafts were just pointed—without an arrowhead. Moss (1988: 404) notes that the barbs may not have been hafted to the same projectiles as the points. Given the fact that their ring distribution especially is quite different from that of the points, this seems to be a realistic possibility. However this may be, Moss’s observations are interesting; we do not know of similar results from other Hamburgian sites. 3.5. NON-TOOLS 3.5.1. Cores There are 15 cores or core fragments in total; they are mapped in figure 134. In two cases, two fragments can be fitted together, so that 13 cores remain. Four cores were located very close to the hearth, but all the others were tossed away to the periphery of the site when they were exhausted. The little collection of cores close to the hearth is interesting, and there are some reasons to believe that they were collected there by a youngster, who also attempted to do some knapping in that spot (see chapters 4 and 5). All cores are involved in refitting sequences, and therefore they will be described in detail in the next chapter. Here mainly their spatial distribution will be briefly described. In figure 135, a density map is presented for the cores with exact coordinates. The little cluster near the hearth stands out. A sector graph for these cores is illustrated in figure 136; it can be seen that most cores ended up in the area to the south of the hearth—though several of them were exploited in the northern half. Figure 137 is the ring diagram of the cores with exact coordinates. Apart from the little cluster near the hearth, most of the cores occurred quite far away from the hearth, up to almost 6.5 m. Most cores were tossed away to the periphery when their functional career was over. This can be illustrated by mapping all refit lines connected to the cores (fig. 138). These are mostly sequence refits to the artefacts that were struck from the cores just before the latter were discarded; most of these final artefacts were left behind in the knapping locations. The map therefore clearly shows the tossing of the cores away from the spots where they had been knapped. In the map, all chips with exact coordinates are also indicated; knapping locations are evident from dense clusters in their distribution. Moss inspected two cores for use wear, but in vain.

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 15 NRefits: 2

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 134. Map of the cores and core fragments, with refit lines connecting fitting fragments. Open symbols: finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

94

Non-tools 0

NSub: 13

1

1 2

2

3

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

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12

11

10

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8

7

6

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4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 135. Cores with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm; the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

NSub: 11 Mean: 1.4 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 136. Cores with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated. N  11; mean number per sector: 1.4 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

N 5

4

NSub: 13 Mean: 295 cm Median: 324 cm St. dev.: 174 cm

3

2

1

0 0

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 cm

Fig. 137. Ring-diagram (classes of 0.5 m) of the cores with exact coordinates (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

1

2

3

4 NSub: 2597 NRefits: 31

5

6

7

8

9

10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 138. Map of the cores with their refit lines. Apart from two break refits, these are all sequence refits, to the final artefacts removed from the cores. There can be several refit lines for one core if several artefacts fit to the core without touching each other. These refit lines illustrate quite clearly the centrifugal effect; most used-up cores were tossed away to the periphery of the site. The dots are all the chips with exact coordinates; several dense clusters of these indicate the locations of flint-knapping activities (fig. D. Stapert).

Apart from the cores, two unworked nodules of relatively good-quality Senonian flint were also left on the site. The dimensions of these nodules were 7.6  5.2  5.1 cm (find No. 5-86, sifted from the topsoil) and 8.8  5.2  2.3 cm (find No. 5699). 3.5.2. Blades A total of 545 blades or blade fragments are present, 29 of which are stray finds. A density map of the 516 blades for which we have spatial data (including finds from the sieve collected per square metre) is presented in figure 139. In this map the peripheral option for class division is used, which somewhat stresses lower frequencies (in peripheral density maps, intervals grow with higher frequencies). Offering more detail, figure 140 maps blades with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. Again a peripheral class division is employed; moreover, the grid position creating the richest possible cell is used. In both figures, the blade-richest spot on the site occurs at 1.5–2 m to the southwest of the hearth. This was a flint-knapping location (see chapters 4 and 5); also the other blade-rich cells in figure 140 coincide with flint-knapping locations. Evidently, quite a lot of the produced blades were considered useless and therefore were discarded at the knapping spot, for example because they turned out too small, hinged, or broke during manufacture. The use-wear analysis by Moss suggests that not more than half (perhaps less) of the produced blades were satisfactory. The blade-rich area to the southwest of the hearth also shows up clearly in the sector graph (fig. 141). Because there are so many blades, we can use relatively narrow distance classes in the ring diagram for the blades with exact coordinates (fig. 142). A clear peak is visible at about 2 m from the hearth centre, caused partly by the blade-rich spot to the southwest of the hearth. Emily Moss examined 141 blades or blade fragments (several of these fragments could be fitted together). About half of the blades (72) possess unambiguous traces of use. Figure 143 is a density map (cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option) of the blades with clear use traces that have exact coordinates (n  54). It is remarkable that the richer cells occur roughly at the spots that can be interpreted as flint-knapping locations;

96

Non-tools 0 NSub: 516 1

1–2

2

3–9

3

10–20

4

21–35

5

36–54

6

55–78

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 139. All blades, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 428 1–2 3–7 8–15 16–27 28–42 43–61

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 140. All blades with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

this is true especially for the richest cell, c. 2 m to the southwest of the hearth. Either some blades were used, for a variety of tasks, at the spot where they were produced, or they were dumped there later, having been used elsewhere. The results of the use-wear analysis by Moss will be described in detail elsewhere; here a few summarizing remarks must suffice. Of the 72 blades with distinct use traces, about 20 functioned as parts of projectiles. Most of these had transverse MLITs, suggesting use as ‘barbs’ (see section 3.4). Two bladelets, however, had MLITs parallel to their longitudinal axis, as found on most of the points. The remaining blades with use wear served a wide range of functions. In about 15 cases they had been used on contact materials that could not be identified. Among the contact materials that could, hide is dominant (13), followed by wood (at least 7). Other contact materials that Moss identified include: bone or antler,

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

97

NSub: 425 Mean: 53.1 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 141. All blades with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector. N  425; mean number per sector: 53.1 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

N 100

80

NSub: 425 Mean: 198 cm Median: 192 cm St. dev.: 70 cm

60

40

20

0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500 cm

Fig. 142. Ring diagram of all blades with exact coordinates; classes of 25 cm (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 54 1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 143. All blades with exact coordinates that possess clear use traces: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid positioned so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

98

Non-tools

plant and meat. Two had ‘notch traces’. Only one blade was clearly used in butchering work: much less than expected. In total, only five flint artefacts analysed by Moss have distinct traces resulting from butchering: one blade, two notched tools and two retouched blades; these artefacts occurred widely scattered in the southern half of the site. It is of interest to distinguish between ‘regular’ blades and blades that originated in the first stages of the cores’ exploitation. We will here briefly illustrate the spatial distributions of two categories of such blades: decortication blades and crested blades. Decortication blades are defined here as blades which are covered dorsally for more than 75% by natural surfaces (either cortex or old frost-split faces). In total, there are 26 at Oldeholtwolde, two of which were stray finds. Those with spatial data (including finds from the sieve) are mapped in figure 144: numbers per sq m. Those with exact coordinates are mapped in figure 145: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm (richest-cell option). 0

NSub: 24

1

1

2

2

3

3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 144. Decortication blades per square metre, including finds from the sieve (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 21

1

1 2

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

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12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 145. Decortication blades with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

99

They occurred especially in several flint-knapping spots to the west and north of the hearth; it is remarkable that they seem to be almost absent in the otherwise blade-rich spot at about 2 m southwest of the hearth (but crested blades occurred here in quantity: see below). A sector graph of the decortication blades with exact coordinates is shown in figure 148; the highest peak coincides with a flint-knapping location to the northwest of the hearth. Crested blades are more numerous than decortication blades; there are 58 in all. This difference only partly reflects the circumstance that cores were mostly crested before blade production started. Another reason is that cresting was also often applied midway through the blade production sequence, in order to repair damage to the core-front as a result of hinges or steps. The 55 specimens for which we possess spatial data are mapped in figure 146. It can be seen that fairly large numbers occur in several flint-knapping locations, including the one to the southwest of the hearth. The largest number were found, however, in the flint-knapping spot to the west of the hearth, as is even more evident from the density map of the crested blades with exact coordinates (fig. 147; 0

NSub: 55

1

1

2

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0m

Fig. 146. All crested blades, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen). 0

NSub: 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

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11

10

9

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7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 147. Crested blades with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm; grid position creating the richest possible cell (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

100

Non-tools

NSub: 20 Mean: 2.5 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 148. Decortication blades with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector. N  20; mean number per sector: 2.5 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

NSub: 49 Mean: 6.1 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 149. All crested blades with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector. N  49; mean number per sector: 6.1 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

cells of 50  50 cm, richest-cell option). The richest cell is associated with only one core, to which almost 100 artefacts could be refitted (refit group 170, described in detail in chapter 4). The spot where this core was worked is shown up also very clearly by the sector graph of the crested blades with exact coordinates: figure 149 (richest-sector option). Many blades (and blade fragments) are involved in refits of several kinds; these will be discussed in chapter 4.

3.5.3. Flakes In total, 693 flint artefacts were classified as flakes, 22 of which are stray finds. The 671 flakes for which we possess spatial data on at least the square-metre level are mapped in figure 150 (in this density map, a peripheral class division was employed, somewhat stressing lower frequencies). It can be seen that several spots southwest, west and northeast of the hearth are very flake-rich; these are most probably flint-knapping locations.

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

101

0 NSub: 671 1

1–2

2

3–9

3

10–21

4

22–36

5

37–57

6

58–82

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 150. All flakes, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 543 1–2 3–7 8–17 18–29 30–46 47–66

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

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11

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0m

Fig. 151. Flakes with exact coordinates in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

A more detailed picture is presented in figure 151, in which the 543 flakes with exact coordinates are mapped in cells of 50  50 cm (richest-cell option). The spots where flint-knapping was done are clearly visible, and the overall distribution of flakes is, of course, very similar to that of the chips (see section 3.5.4). A sector graph of the flakes with exact coordinates is shown in figure 152 (richest-sector option). It now becomes clear that two sectors, northwest and northeast of the hearth, have particularly large numbers of flakes, which suggests that especially the northern half of the site saw a lot of flint knapping. Moss analysed a total of 23 flakes for use-wear; 15 of these have no use traces, and two have ambiguous traces. The remaining six show traces of contact with hide (1) and meat (1); one flake was possibly used in butchering, and another has ‘notch traces’. Two flakes had unknown traces of use. It has to be noted that several flakes with use wear might in fact be blade fragments too small to be classified as such.

102

Non-tools

NSub: 542 Mean: 67.8 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 152. Flakes with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector. N  542; mean number per sector: 67.8 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 5108

1

1–19

2

20–78

3

79–175

4

176–312

5

313–487

6

488–701

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

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3

2

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0m

Fig. 153. All chips, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

3.5.4. Chips Chips are flakes smaller than 15 mm, but not smaller than 4 mm (the mesh width of the sieves used at Oldeholtwolde). Chips smaller than 4 mm are called ‘micro-chips’ and several thousands of these were collected; they are not discussed here, because they were not sampled in any systematic way. In total, 5158 chips were collected, 50 of which were stray finds. For 5108 chips we have spatial information on at least the square-metre level; these chips are mapped in figure 153: numbers per square metre. In total, 2165 chips were sieved per sq m from the undisturbed sand below the topsoil, and 361 more from the topsoil. During the excavation an effort was made to measure the exact locations of as many chips as possible; as a result, a total of 2582 chips have exact coordinates (about 50% of all chips). Figure 154 shows all chips with exact coordinates in the central area of the site (only 8 chips with exact coordinates occurred outside this area). Several dense clusters can be seen; these are most probably flint-knapping locations (discussed further in chapter 5). In these clusters, often less than 0.5 m across, many hundreds of chips occurred close together. At several places it can be seen that spots with a high density of chips border right onto places with hardly or no chips at all; some of these ‘empty’ spots may have been seating positions of the flintknapper(s) during work.

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

103

2

3

4

5

6

NSub: 2574

7

8

9

10 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 154. Chips with exact coordinates in the central part of the excavated area. N  2574 (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The same chips, in the same area, are shown in the density map of figure 155: numbers in cells of 25  25 cm (with a peripheral class division, somewhat stressing lower frequencies). For this map the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated; the richest cell of 25  25 cm contained no fewer than 311 chips. A sector graph of the chips with exact coordinates is shown in figure 156 (sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector). As in the case of the flakes (see section 3.5.3), two rich sectors northwest and northeast of the hearth stand out; this is where most flint knapping must have been done, though there is an additional, less distinct peak to the southeast of the hearth. In total, 83 chips (three are stray finds) were interpreted as possibly having resulted from retouching work. These include so-called ‘microburins of Krukowski type’, which in fact are not ‘microburins’ at all but resulted from accidents during retouching, especially of points (see e.g. Bordes, 1957; Brézillon, 1983). Both at Gramsbergen and Oudehaske, Epi-Ahrensburgian sites in the northern Netherlands, a number of such artefacts were collected, and in the case of Gramsbergen their distribution was similar to that of the points (Johansen & Stapert, 2000). This is also the case at Oldeholtwolde; most of these items occurred to the northeast of the hearth (compare with the points: figs 47 and 48). All 80 chips with spatial data that may have resulted from retouching, including finds from the sieve, are mapped in figure 157: numbers per square metre. For 44 of them we have exact coordinates. A sector graph of these is shown in figure 158; there is one very clear peak to the northeast of the hearth. As will be discussed in chapter 5, there is some evidence that in this area flint knapping was done just before the site’s abandonment. Possibly, new points were manufactured here which were subsequently taken away from the site.

104

Non-tools 2 NSub: 2574 1–9 10–35

3

36–78 79–138 139–216

4

217–311

5

6

7

8

9

10

10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 155. Chips with exact coordinates in the central part of the excavated area. Numbers in cells of 25  25 cm. Grid positioned so as to create the richest cell. Class division according to the peripheral option (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

NSub: 2579 Mean: 322.4 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 156. Chips with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Grid position creating the richest possible sector. N  2579; mean number per sector: 322.4 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

105

0

NSub: 80

1

1–2

2

3–4

3

5–6

4

7

5

8–9

6

10–11

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

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9

8

7

6

5

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3

2

1

0m

Fig. 157. All chips that may have resulted from retouching work (including ‘micro-burins of Krukowski type’), including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

NSub: 44 Mean: 5.5 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 158. All chips that may have resulted from retouching work with exact coordinates in eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Position creating the richest possible sector. N  44; mean number per sector: 5.5 (indicated by the circle in the sector graph) (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

3.6. BURNT FLINT ARTEFACTS If a tool (or a tool fragment) is burnt, this is indicated by an asterisk in the drawings accompanying this text. Of the tools with exact coordinates, only 14 are burnt: three notched tools (two are fragments fitting together), a fragment of a retouched blade, and ten points (mostly fragmented). Two more burnt points were sieved from the undisturbed sand below the topsoil. Burnt artefacts from the topsoil are disregarded here, because these might have become burnt in later times. A map of the 16 burnt tools from below the topsoil is shown in figure 159. The same 16 burnt tools are mapped in a density map: numbers per square metre (fig. 160). The spatial association with the hearth is very clear. This remains the case in a proportional map, showing the percentages per square metre of burnt tools with respect to all 326 tools from undisturbed sand (fig. 161). Though the overall percentage is 4.9%, at the hearth the percentage of burnt tools is locally 38.9%. In this map only square metres having at least five tools are included. Most burnt tools are point fragments, presumably because ‘retooling’ of projectiles was done close to the fire. The percentage of burnt items among the tools (omitting those from the topsoil and stray finds), 4.9%, is relatively high compared to that of all flints from undisturbed sand below the topsoil: 48 out of a total of

106

Burnt flint artefacts

4

5

NSub: 16 6

7

9

8

7

6m

Fig. 159. All burnt tools from the undisturbed sand below the topsoil. Fourteen have exact coordinates; the locations of the two sieve finds (open symbols) were randomized within the square metres from which they derived. The tools comprise: twelve points or point fragments, three notched tools and one retouched blade (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0

NSub: 16

1

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Fig. 160. The same 16 burnt tools as in the previous figure: numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

6265: 0.8%. The 48 burnt artefacts are mapped in a density map in figure 162 (numbers per square metre). In figure 163, these artefacts are shown as a proportion, per square metre, of all artefacts from undisturbed sand. Again, the tight clustering near the hearth is evident, both in absolute and in relative terms, though a few small artefacts occurred at some distance (three chips ended up more than 6 m away from the hearth, to the west). The clear clustering of burnt artefacts in or close to the hearth suggests that the site was very well preserved. It also supports the idea that it was occupied for a relatively brief period.

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

107

0

NSub: 16 NMain: 326 Prop.: 4.9% Threshold: 4

1 2

0.0–6.5% 3 6.6–13.0% 4 13.1–19.4% 5 19.6–25.9% 6 26.0–32.4% 7 32.5–38.9% 8 9 10 14

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Fig. 161. The same 16 burnt tools as in the two previous figures, now expressed as percentages, per square metre, of all 326 tools from undisturbed sand below the topsoil. Only square metres with at least five tools. Note that 4.9% of these tools are burnt (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

0 NSub: 48 1

1–2%

2

3–4%

3

5–6%

4

7–8%

5

9–10%

6

11–12%

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13–14%

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9 10 15

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Fig. 162. All burnt flint artefacts (N  48) from undisturbed sand below the topsoil (finds with exact coordinates and finds from the sieve): numbers per square metre (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

It is worth noting that the densest cluster of burnt flints practically coincides with the hearth. In other words, if the hearth had not been visible archaeologically, studying the distribution of burnt flints would have allowed a reliable reconstruction of its location. In the case of Rekem, de Bie & Caspar (2000) used the distribution of quartz fragments for this purpose; the fragmentation resulted from using quartzes as cooking stones. However, cooking pits generally will not have been located in hearths, but at some distance. In the case of Oldeholtwolde, the centre of a ring of stones to the north of the hearth, which can be interpreted as indicating the location of a cooking pit, occurred at about 1.5 m from the hearth centre. The many small quartz fragments present near the ring of stones are not a reliable guide in pinpointing the hearth location. But if we reconstruct the hearth position by calculating the average coordinates of the 30 burnt flints with exact coordinates in the central part of the excavation, we make an estimation error of only 22 cm.

108

Burnt flint artefacts 0

NSub: 48 NMain: 6265 Prop.: 0.8% Threshold: 9

1 2

0.0–1.8%

3

1.9–3.7%

4

3.8–5.5%

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5.6–7.3%

6

7.4–9.2%

7

9.3–11.0%

8 9 10 15

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Fig. 163. The same 48 burnt flint artefacts of the previous figure, now expressed as percentages, per square metre, of all flint artefacts from undisturbed sand. Only square metres with at least 10 artefacts. Note that only 0.8% of these flints are burnt (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

2

NSub: 30 NMain: 3856 Prop.: 0.8% Threshold: 9

3 0.0–5.8% 5.9–11.5% 4 11.6–17.3% 17.4–23.1% 5

23.2–28.8% 28.9–34.6%

6

34.7–40.4% 40.5–46.2%

7

8

9 10

9

8

7

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5

4m

Fig. 164. Burnt artefacts with exact coordinates as a percentage of all flint artefacts with exact coordinates, in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position calculated so as to create the highest possible proportion of burnt artefacts in at least one of the cells. N burnt artefacts  30; N all flint artefacts  3856; proportion of burnt artefacts: 0.8%. The hearth is shaded. A reconstruction of the hearth location based on the distribution of burnt flints is indicated by a circle of the same diameter; the smaller circle indicates the position of the putative cooking pit (fig. D. Stapert/L. Johansen).

The flint material from Oldeholtwolde

109

In figure 164, the percentage of burnt artefacts with exact coordinates with respect to all burnt flints with exact coordinates is shown per cell of 50  50 cm (only three burnt chips occurred outside the limits of this map). The grid position so as to create the highest possible proportion of burnt flints in at least one of the cells was calculated. Only cells with at least 10 artefacts are represented. Though the overall percentage of burnt flints is only 0.8%, the cell with the highest proportion of burnt flints, 46%, is located in the hearth. In this figure, the central pit of the hearth as found during the excavation is shaded. The adjoining circle, at a distance of 22 cm, indicates the reconstructed hearth on the basis of the average coordinates of all burnt flints in the mapped area. The smaller circle to the north of the hearth indicates the location of the probable cooking pit. It is concluded that in well-preserved sites the distribution of burnt flint artefacts may be used in reconstructing a hearth location, though one must of course carefully avoid dumps with material cleared out of hearths.

CHAPTER 4

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde LYKKE JOHANSEN

4.1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW A refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde was first performed by Jan S. Krist, for his master’s thesis in 1985. The first author has expanded this work, and also created an automated file of the results under the format of the ANALITHIC programme. In this file, all artefacts from Oldeholtwolde and many of their attributes are coded, including results of the refitting and use-wear analyses. At the same time, the production and evaluation of the Oldeholtwolde refitting file served for testing the refitting module of the ANALITHIC programme, which was constructed and refined in concert with the ongoing refitting analysis. In this process, the refitter (Lykke Johansen) and the programmers (Gijsbert Boekschoten and Manfred Schweiger) had to communicate almost daily, to solve the many problems encountered during the work. (This work was done in the house of the second author—not in the Groningen Institute of Archaeology where it should have been done according to the agreements between Stapert and Reinders.) In the Oldeholtwolde file, two separate classifications of the artefacts are coded: those made before and after the refitting. The refitting of breaks in many cases resulted in a reclassification of tools, and of course also in a substantial reduction of their numbers. All artefacts larger than 1.5 cm were included in the refitting operation. Smaller pieces were only included if they were parts of tools or if they had characteristic textures, colours, or other features which made it possible to recognize the refit group to which they belonged. Refit lines are drawn according to the system of Cziesla (1990). Several types of refit are distinguished. First, dorsal/ventral refits: parts of production sequences; these are indicated in maps by unbroken lines with an arrow pointing towards the core. Secondly, refits of burin spalls to burins; these are indicated by unbroken lines with an arrow pointing towards the burin spall. Thirdly, refits of broken-off borer-tips and scraper-edges to the damaged tools (broken lines). Finally, several types of break-refits are coded in the file: breaks along hidden frostcracks, breaks caused by heat, and—the majority—breaks of undetermined origin. All refit lines relating to breaks are indicated in the maps by broken lines without arrows. For artefact symbols used in the refit maps, see figure 165. In addition to recording and mapping the results of a refitting analysis, drawings of the refitted compositions may be of great documentational value. Drawings are preferable to photos (though this involves much more work), because they provide far more insight and make relevant details more clearly visible.

Burin Truncation Burin spall Combination tool Scraper Point Notched tool Retouched flake Fine borer/Zinken Alternating borer/Zinken Borer/Zinken Retouched blade Tip of borer or Zinken Core Blade Decortication blade Core preparation blade Flake, chip, block

Fig. 165. Artefact symbols used in all refit maps in this chapter (fig. L. Johansen).

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Introduction and overview

A total of 850 flint artefacts are involved in refits, which is c. 47% of the artefacts larger than 1.5 cm (fig. 166). Of these, 797 have either exact coordinates or were collected by sifting the soil per square metre. They are represented in figure 167. It should be noted that the locations of finds from the sieve were randomized within the square metres from which they came; in this way maps with refit lines are more transparent than if all sieved finds were to have (identical) coordinates in the centres of the square metres. Artefacts collected by sifting have open symbols in the maps. Only 53 refitted artefacts are stray finds. In total, 926 refits as defined by the system of Cziesla (1990) were recorded; there are slightly more refits (always connecting two artefacts) than refitted artefacts. In the maps, of course no refit lines can be shown to the stray finds; as a consequence, a total of just 825 refit lines can be shown. Not surprisingly, figures showing all refits or all refitted artefacts (figs 166 and 167) are not very clear. They contain too much information, and only serve to give an impression of the overall picture. The artefacts involved in refits are located everywhere around the hearth, but they show a tendency to cluster into two spatially distinct groups. One of these clusters 0 1 2 3 4 5 NSub: 797 NRefits: 825

6 7 8 9 10 15

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0m

Fig. 166. All refitted artefacts (except stray finds), and all refit lines connecting these. In total, there are 850 refitted artefacts, of which 797 are represented in this map (see also fig. 167) (fig. L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 5 NSub: 797

6 7 8 9 10 15

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Fig. 167. All refitted artefacts except stray finds: N  797. Open symbols: finds from the sieve, collected per square metre; in this publication, the locations of these artefacts are randomised within the square metres from which they derive (fig. L. Johansen).

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

113

of refitted artefacts occurs to the south/southeast of the hearth and the other to its north/northwest. Between these two clusters a zone occurs where relatively few refitted artefacts are present. This is clearly visible in figure 168, which is a density map of all refitted artefacts with exact coordinates. Note that this is not a linear density map. The peripheral option for class division was used here (intervals become larger with higher frequencies), which is stressing the lower cell frequencies (see Cziesla, 1990); especially when frequencies are high, this results in clearer pictures than a linear class division. Another way to bring out the distribution of the refitted artefacts is shown in figure 169; this is a proportion map where artefacts in refits are expressed as a percentage of all flint artefacts, including finds from the sieve, in cells of 1  1 m. Filled circles are cells where the percentage of refitted artefacts is larger than in the area as 0 1 NSub: 669 1–2 3–6 7–14 15–24 25–38 39–55

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

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8

7

6

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4

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2

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0m

Fig. 168. All refitted artefacts with exact coordinates: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. The peripheral option for class division was used. Open circle: location of the hearth (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

0 1 NSub: 797 NMain: 1640 Prop.: 48.6% Threshold: 4

2 3 4

0.0–20.0%

5

20.1–40.0%

6

40.1–60.0%

7

60.1–80.0%

8

80.1–100.0%

9 10 15

14

13

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11

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7

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4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 169. All refitted artefacts (including those from the sieve) shown as a percentage of all artefacts larger than 1.5 cm, in square metres. Square metres in which this percentage is higher than that over the whole area (48.6%) have filled circles, those with a lower proportion have open circles. Only square metres containing at least five artefacts larger than 1.5 cm are represented. The hearth is indicated by a shaded circle (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

114

Refits of broken artefacts

NSub: 658 Mean: 41.1 D  400 cm

Fig. 170. Sector graph of all refitted artefacts with exact coordinates, within 4 m from the hearth centre. The centre of the sector-wheel is located in the middle of the hearth, and has the value zero. The circle represents the mean number of refitted artefacts per sector (41.1). Sectors with an above-average number of refitted artefacts have filled bars outwards, sectors with a below-average number have open bars inwards (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

a whole. As can be seen, higher proportions of refitted artefacts occur especially to the north and to the south of the hearth. A possible explanation of this pattern with two clusters of refitted artefacts (to be discussed later in some detail) is that it reflects rotation of the main activity areas around the hearth during occupation as a result of a change in wind direction (see section 5.5). Within four metres from the hearth centre, there are 658 refitted artefacts with exact coordinates. It is of interest to present these in a sector graph (fig. 170). In this case, 16 sectors were employed. Sectors with a number of refitted artefacts larger than the mean number per sector have filled bars outwards, sectors with a lower number have open bars inwards. The two clusters of refitted artefacts mentioned above, north and south of the hearth, are visible again, but it now becomes clear that the northern cluster in fact consists of (at least) two subclusters, roughly west and north of the hearth. Moreover, it can be seen that the southern cluster is less important, in terms of artefact numbers, than the clusters west and north of the hearth. In the following, first the results of the refitting analysis will be described in some detail. Subsequently, in chapter 5, the results will be evaluated and interpreted, divided into several topics.

4.2. REFITS OF BROKEN ARTEFACTS 4.2.1. Introduction At a relatively small site such as Oldeholtwolde, where the occupation period was probably quite short, there is a theoretically logical sequence in the production and use of flint implements. In the first phase, the imported toolkit was used (consisting mainly of tools and blades, in addition to a few prepared cores). In the next phase, knapping was done for the production of implements to be used on the site; in some cases imported prepared cores were exploited in this phase, but also cores made of nodules collected in the vicinity. In the final phase, knapping was done for the production of tools and blanks intended for transport to the next encampment; most probably all cores knapped in this stage were collected as nodules in the vicinity of the site. It is of interest to distinguish, as far as possible, the tools and blades of the first two phases. It was decided to divide the broken artefacts that could be fitted together into those that are and those that are not at the same time part of refitted sequences. All refits concerning tool fragments have already been illustrated in the previous chapter; only those that are not at the same time in sequences are briefly described in section 4.2.2. The fragmented tools (with break refits) that are also in dorsal/ventral sequences will be described in section 4.3. Similarly, blade fragments with break refits but not fitted into sequences are briefly described below (section 4.2.3), while broken blades that are also in refitted sequences will be discussed later.

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

115

4.2.2. Refits of tool fragments that are not in sequences In all, 109 tool fragments that are not in refitted sequences are involved in refits of breaks; in other words, these tools have only ‘horizontal’ refits, and are not at the same time involved in dorsal/ventral (‘vertical’) refits. Of these 109, six are stray finds so that only 103 can be mapped. In figure 171, these 103 fitting tool fragments with their 56 refit lines are shown. It can again be seen that the refits seem to fall into two clusters which are hardly connected by refitlines: one to the west/north of the hearth and another to its south/southeast. All tools were described in chapter 3 (in the tool drawings the refitted breaks are indicated with somewhat thicker lines); here a summary suffices. Seven points were refitted out of 21 fragments. Two of these points are still not complete after refitting; one is heavily fire-cracked. Four of these points consist of two fragments, two of three fragments and one of seven fragments. Six scrapers have refitted breaks; in total, 13 fragments are involved (two of which are stray finds). Five scrapers consist of two fragments and one of three fragments. One of the scrapers has a snappedoff scraper-edge; the break probably resulted from too heavy pressure during hide-scraping work. Four Zinken/ borers have refitted breaks and are not in dorsal/ventral sequences. Three consist of two fragments and one of three. Of the notched tools, 11 have refitted breaks. Ten of these consist of two fragments and one of four fragments. Three burins have refitted breaks; two consist of two fragments and one of three. One of these burins has a broken-off burin-edge, probably because of use. In one case a burin was renewed after a break occurred: a burin spall was removed from the break surface. Seven combination tools have refitted breaks; six of these consist of two fragments. One of these six tools has a burin end with a fitting burin spall. One combination tool consists of three fragments. Six retouched blades have refitted breaks; five consist of two fragments and one of three. One of these six tools, still incomplete after refitting, has heavy retouch along both sides and was probably part of a scraper. There are 40 refit lines between fitting tool fragments with exact coordinates. Half of these are shorter than 50 cm; the longest is 3–3.5 m. The mean length of these refit lines is 71 cm and the median length 53 cm.

3

4

5 NSub: 103 NRefits: 56

6

7

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9

8

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3m

Fig. 171. All tools with refitted breaks that are not involved in ventral/dorsal refits (N  103; in total there are 109 tools, but six are stray finds). Finds from the sieve have open symbols, and their locations have been randomised within the square metres from which they derive. The hearth is indicated by a circle (fig. L. Johansen).

116

Refitted sequences involving tools

4

5

6

NSub: 44 NRefits: 24

7

8

9

10

9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 172. All blades with refitted breaks that are not in ventral/dorsal refits (N  44; in total there are 50 blades, but six are stray finds). Finds from the sieve have open symbols. In some cases, fitting fragments lie so close together that refit lines cannot be shown in the map (fig. L. Johansen).

4.2.3. Refits of broken blades that are not in sequences In total, 50 blade fragments could be fitted to each other, but are not involved in refitted sequences. Some of the refitted blades are still incomplete after the refitting of breaks. Many of these blades must have been imported to the site. Six of the 50 fitting fragments are stray finds; the remaining 44 are mapped in figure 172. These refitted blade fragments seem to occur in four concentrations around the hearth. A few examples of blades consisting of several fitting fragments are shown in figure 173. The blade No. 1 is 9.6 cm long and consists of two pieces. The blade No. 2 is 7.7 cm long and consist of seven fragments; these fragments were lying close together. In the latter case, the fragmentation may have resulted from post-depositional frostsplitting; another possibility is trampling. Use-wear analysis by Emily Moss has shown that many of these blades were used in hide-working, but a few show other types of use-wear. No. 1 in figure 173 was used on hide (distal part) and on plant (proximal part). No. 2 has ambiguous traces. No. 3 was used on wood. Nos 4 and 6 were used on hide. No. 5 is a special case; it shows microscopic linear impact traces (MLITs) parallel to the longitudinal axis, as normally seen on points used as projectile tips. The blade is still incomplete after refitting, so we cannot know whether or not the complete specimen was retouched. Most of the blades with refitted breaks but outside sequences, together with the blades that are not involved in refits of any type, were probably brought to the site from elsewhere, as part of the ‘founding toolkit’.

4.3. REFITTED SEQUENCES INVOLVING TOOLS 4.3.1. Introduction A total of 423 flint artefacts are in refitted sequences that include tools or tool fragments; of these, 24 are stray finds. The 399 artefacts for which we have spatial data are connected by in total 500 refit lines. These artefacts are scattered all around the hearth, but the two by now familiar concentrations, one to the west/north and the

4 3

2

1 2 cm 6

5

Fig. 173. Some refitted blades, consisting of several fragments, that are not in refitted sequences (fig. L. Johansen).

0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 399 NRefits: 500

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Fig. 174. All refit groups, including dorsal/ventral sequences, involving tools. In total, 423 artefacts are part of these groups, of which 24 are stray finds. There are 500 refit lines connecting the 399 artefacts for which there are spatial data (fig. L. Johansen).

other to the south/southeast of the hearth, are clearly visible: figure 174. In the following, all refitted sequences with tools will be described in some detail. The study of refitted sequences may in some cases reveal individual flint knappers, on the basis of marked differences in their skill; this is the case especially with longer sequences. At the site of Oldeholtwolde it has been possible to distinguish three flint knappers: a very skilled knapper who had mastered the whole chaîne opératoire of Hamburgian flint technology (knapper 1), a less skilled knapper who can be considered an

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Refitted sequences involving tools

advanced pupil (knapper 2), and a third knapper who was totally unskilled (knapper 3). The three flint knappers and their products will be discussed in more detail later (see section 5.3). 4.3.2. Sequences with tools but without cores It is remarkable that many of these sequences, lacking cores, seem to reflect the first stages of core-preparation. It seems probable that after the preparation stage a number of good blades/tools were manufactured, which were subsequently exported to the next encampment. This would make it impossible to refit the remaining parts of the total sequence to the cores if these were still present at the site. However, in many cases these cores are obviously absent, and it therefore seems probable that nodules that were prepared on the site to an optimal state were exported from the site. This suggests that such sequences date from the last part of the site’s occupation. Similarly, several cores that were prepared elsewhere were imported to the site. It can be shown that quite a few cores that were discarded at the site arrived there in an already prepared state, and were then exploited on the site. Refit group 99 (figs 175 and 176) This group only consists of two tools refitted in the dorsal/ventral way: a double burin and a double Zinken; the latter consists of two fitting fragments. The blank transformed into the burin was knapped off first and is a crested blade, resulting from the preparation of the core-front. Both tools have dorsal remnants of old natural surfaces. Though these tools are made from the first blades struck from a prepared core, they cannot be refitted with any other artefacts on the site. They were probably imported to the site. It is not possible to know

140

4

5

99

6

7 22

25

8 8

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6m

Fig. 175. Refit groups 140, 99, 22 and 25; see also fig. 176. Group 140: two artefacts, one refit line; group 99: three artefacts, three refit lines; group 22: two artefacts ( one stray find), one refit line; group 25: eight artefacts ( one stray find), 14 refit lines. The following applies to this and all other maps of refit groups. Open symbols: finds from the sieve; their locations within the square metres were randomised. Large open circle indicates the hearth. For artefact symbols, see fig. 165 (fig. L. Johansen).

99

1

2

140

2 cm

1

22

1

25 1

Fig. 176. Drawings of refit groups 140, 99, 22 and 25; see also fig. 175. Group 99: (1) double Zinken; (2) double burin. Group 140: (1) combination tool (oblique truncation/notches). Group 22: (1) double burin. Group 25: (1) blade with retouch (fig. L. Johansen). In this and following drawings of refitted groups, tools (and sometimes interesting blades) are labelled 1, 2, etc, per refitted group. Classifications in the figure captions are based on the implements after the refitting of breaks. Refits are indicated by somewhat thicker lines in the drawings. An asterisk indicates that the artefact is burnt.

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Refitted sequences involving tools

whether knapper 1 or knapper 2 made these artefacts. In the remainder of this chapter, it is assumed that either knapper 1 or knapper 2 created the described sequences if neither is mentioned specifically. Both tools were present near the hearth: the fragments of the Zinken to its northwest and the burin to its southeast. Only the burin was analysed by Emily Moss; it has traces of contact with bone or antler. Refit group 140 (figs 175 and 176) This group consists of two artefacts: a combination tool and a flake. The combination tool has an oblique truncation and two notches. This short sequence probably resulted from knapping on the site, because it is difficult to understand why a flake should be imported. The flint is grey and fine-grained, a fairly common type at the site. The two artefacts were located 1.5–2 m NNW of the hearth. Moss analysed the combination tool; it has ‘notch traces’, traces of working hide and traces of working an unknown material. Refit group 22 (figs 175 and 176) This group comprises a blade of which the dorsal face consists totally of cortex, and a double burin with a refitted burin spall. The blade was knapped off first, and then the core-front was partly crested. The burin was made of the next, crested blade. The raw material of this refit group is a characteristic type of flint (raw material 4; see section 5.6), of which there is another short tool-production sequence, involving a combination tool and two notched tools (refit group 18). Furthermore, there is one burin of this flint type, which cannot be refitted to other artefacts. It is not possible to know for sure whether or not the products of this raw material, including refit group 22, were knapped on the site. The blade of this refit group is a stray find; the burin and burin spall were located 1.5–2 m south of the hearth. The tool was not analysed for use-wear. Refit group 25 (figs 175 and 176) This group consists of nine artefacts, one of which is a stray find. Several of these artefacts are fragments, and after the refitting of breaks there are five flakes (some are in fact chips) and one tool, a retouched flake consisting of two fitting fragments. The tool was not analysed by Moss. The artefacts of this group were located quite close together at about 1.5 m southeast of the hearth; the dense scatter is only about one metre in diameter. Most artefacts have dorsal remnants of cortex or other old faces. The refit group consists of artefacts knapped on the site, and it documents the first preparation of a core. The flint is of a common type on the site, fine-grained and dark brown-greyish in colour. Refit group 74 (figs 177 and 178) The group consists of four artefacts: two blades, a Zinken and the fitting broken-off tip of the Zinken. The Zinken was analysed by Moss and has ‘notch traces’, while the broken-off tip does not have traces of use. The Zinken and

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7

81 19 8 12

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8

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Fig. 177. Refit groups 122, 74, 105, 181, 81 and 19; see also fig. 178. Group 122: three artefacts, three refit lines; group 74: four artefacts, three refit lines; group 105: two artefacts, one refit line; group 181: two artefacts, one refit line; group 81: two artefacts, one refit line; group 19: three artefacts ( one stray find), two refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

74

181

1 1

2 cm

105

19

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122

1

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81

1

Fig. 178. Drawings of refit groups 122, 74, 105, 181, 81 and 19; see also fig. 177. Group 74: (1) Zinken with fitting broken-off tip. Group 181: (1) Zinken. Group 105: (1) Zinken. Group 19: (1) Zinken. Group 122: (1) Zinken. Group 81: (1) combination tool (Zinken/oblique truncation) (fig. L. Johansen).

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Refitted sequences involving tools

its tip were located some 2 m NNE of the hearth, while the two blades occurred southwest of the hearth, c. 2 and 3.5 m away from it. The group is therefore widely scattered. First one of the blades was knapped off from one platform, then the blade that was transformed into a Zinken was knapped from the opposite platform; it ended in a hinge. The core was then turned over again and the last blade of this group was knapped off in an attempt to repair the hinge, which succeeded. This short sequence must have been knapped on the site. The flint knapper was probably knapper 1; good technical skill was shown by the successful repairing of the hinge on the core. Refit group 181 (figs 177 and 178) This group consists of only two artefacts: a Zinken and a blade. The Zinken was analysed by Moss; it has traces resulting from contact with bone. The Zinken occurred about 4 m northeast of the hearth, and the blade about 4.5 m to its SSW; the refit line connecting them is almost 8 m long. It is not possible to know whether or not the knapping was done on the site; the raw material of this group is a common type of flint on the site: finegrained, light brown-greyish. Refit group 105 (figs 177 and 178) The group consists of a blade and a Zinken. The Zinken was analysed by Moss; it shows wear from contact with bone or antler, hide and stone. The two artefacts were lying close together 1.5–2 m northeast of the hearth. The two artefacts represent an early stage in the knapping of a core; both have natural dorsal surfaces. Both artefacts also reveal that the knapper had some problems in exploiting this core, because they show dorsal negatives of hinged blades, coming from the opposite platform. Refit group 19 (figs 177 and 178) This group consists of four artefacts: a Zinken and three blades. The Zinken was not analysed by Moss. The Zinken and one of the blades were lying close together about 1 m southeast of the hearth, while another blade was present 3 m SEE of the hearth, at a distance of about 2 m from the Zinken. The third blade is a stray find. The artefacts derive from the first stage in the preparation of a core-front. All artefacts have remnants of old surfaces dorsally. The core must have been rather short even in its preparatory state; at the start of blade production the core cannot have been much longer than 5.5 cm. The sequence is too short to reveal the identity of the knapper (except that it was not knapper 3), but it was probably produced on the site. Refit group 122 (figs 177 and 178) The group contains three artefacts: a blade and a Zinken consisting of two fragments. The Zinken was not analysed by Moss. The three artefacts were located about 2 m northwest of the hearth. Both the blade and the Zinken are crested blades. The blade, struck off before the Zinken, must have been one of the first knapped from this core after its preparation; dorsally it shows unifacial cresting from an old frost-split face. The core was probably somewhat longer than 9 cm in its prepared state, and the knapping was done by a skilled knapper, probably knapper 1. Refit group 81 (figs 177 and 178) This small group consists of two artefacts: a combination tool (Zinken/truncation) and a blade. The combination tool was analysed by Moss; it has traces of working wood and an unknown material. The combination tool was located more than 5 m SSW of the hearth, while the blade occurred at a distance of more than 5 m from it, c. 2 m southeast of the hearth. The two artefacts probably derive from an early stage in the knapping sequence; large parts of their dorsal faces consist of old surfaces. The Zinken shows heavy crushing of the main dorsal ridge, a phenomenon seen quite often in Late Hamburgian sites; this seems to have been employed as a form of core-preparation (Johansen, 2000a). Refit group 94 (figs 179 and 180) This group consists of three artefacts: a crested blade and a notched tool composed of two fragments. According to Moss’s analysis, the distal part of the notched tool has traces of bone or antler working; both fragments were also used on an unknown material. The notched-tool fragments were located about 1 m apart, 0.5–1.5 m south and southeast of the hearth, and the blade about 2 m southwest of the hearth. This short sequence derives from the first knapping stage after the core-front was prepared; the crested blade came first. All three artefacts dorsally preserve remnants of old surfaces.

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

123

65 4 82 88 5

6

94 7

8

8

9

10

9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 179. Refit groups 94, 8, 88, 82 and 65; see also fig. 180. Group 94: three artefacts, three refit lines; group 8: two artefacts ( four stray finds), one refit line; group 88: four artefacts, five refit lines; group 82: five artefacts, five refit lines; group 65: three artefacts, two refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

Refit group 8 (figs 179 and 180) This group consists of six artefacts: two blades and one notched blade consisting of four fragments. The tool was not analysed by Moss. Four of the artefacts are stray finds, and the remaining two are finds sieved from the topsoil. All artefacts of this refit group are dorsally covered with heavily weathered cortex. The blades derive from the very first preparation of a core, and were probably produced on the site. The raw material is of a very common type: fine-grained, light-brown. Refit group 88 (figs 179 and 180) The group consists of four artefacts: two flakes, one chip and a notched flake (in the map, one flake is not visible as it coincides with a blade of refit group 82). The notched tool was not analysed by Moss. One chip was located about 2.5 m south of the hearth, while the rest were present 2.5–3 m west of the hearth. This sequence originated during preparation of the core-front; much of the dorsal faces preserve remnants of old surfaces. Sadly for the flint knapper, there was a frostcrack in the core and the first flake split off along it. Only the small flake that was turned into the notched tool was knapped without problems. This sequence must have been knapped at the site; it is probable that only the outer parts of the core were frostcracked. Refit group 82 (figs 179 and 180) This group contains five artefacts: four narrow blades, one of which—transformed into a notched tool—is composed of two fragments. Moss analysed the notched blade; both fragments have use traces, but the contact material is not known. One of the blades was located about 3.5 m SSW of the hearth, while the rest lay 2.3–3 m to the west of it. The sequence was probably knapped on the site. Refit group 65 (figs 179 and 180) This group consists of three artefacts: a flake, a blade and a notched blade. According to the analysis by Moss, the notched blade has ‘notch traces’ and traces of unknown origin. The artefacts of this group were lying quite

124

Refitted sequences involving tools

1 94

8

1

2 cm

1 88

1

82

65

1

Fig. 180. Drawings of refit groups 94, 8, 88, 82 and 65; see also fig. 179. Group 94: (1) notched blade. Group 8: (1) notched blade. Group 88: (1) notched flake. Group 82: (1) notched blade. Group 65: (1) notched blade (fig. L. Johansen).

close together c. 2.5 m north of the hearth. The sequence originates from the middle of the complete series of blades from a core. The sequence was made from a distinctive raw material (raw material No. 6: see section 5.6), of which several more sequences are known. The knapping must have been done on the site. Refit group 31 (figs 181 and 182) This group is composed of five artefacts: three notched tools and a blade; one of the notched tools (No. 1) consists of two fragments. Two of the tools were analysed by Moss. Tool No. 1 has traces of contact with wood

4 45

5

29 6 31

7

8

9

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3m

Fig. 181. Refit groups 31, 29 and 45; see also fig. 182. Group 31: five artefacts, five refit lines; group 29: five artefacts ( one stray find), six refit lines; group 45: two artefacts, one refit line (fig. L. Johansen).

2 cm

31 1

29

2

3

1

45 1

Fig. 182. Drawings of refit groups 31, 29 and 45; see also fig. 181. Group 31: (1, 2, 3) notched blades. Group 29: (1) notched flake. Group 45: (1) notched tool (fig. L. Johansen).

126

Refitted sequences involving tools

(distal) and ‘notch traces’ (proximal). Another notched blade (No. 3) also has ‘notch traces’. The artefacts of this group occurred widely scattered. The longest refit line between two artefacts is almost 8 m. One notched tool was located c. 2.5 m north of the hearth, three other artefacts a little over than 2 m south of the hearth, while one notched tool lay c. 5.5 m south of the hearth. It is probable that the artefacts in this sequence were imported. Three of the four blades are tools; the fourth blade is only a small fragment, and could easily have been part of a tool. Refit group 29 (figs 181 and 182) This group contains six artefacts: a notched flake, two flakes, and a blade consisting of three fragments. The notched flake was analysed by Moss; it has ‘notch traces’. The artefacts of this group were located 1–3 m northeast of the hearth. All artefacts of this refit group are dorsally covered with remnants of natural surfaces. The structure of the group reveals that it originated during the preparation of a core platform. The sequence must have been knapped on the site. Refit group 45 (figs 181 and 182) This group only consists of a notched flake and a small flake. The notched flake split off along a frostcrack in the flint. The tool was analysed by Moss; it has ‘notch traces’. The dorsal faces of the two artefacts consist largely of old surfaces. The two flakes probably resulted from preparing a core platform (as did refit group 29). The notched flake was located 1 m west of the hearth, and the small flake about 3 m northeast of the hearth. Though this is a very short sequence, it must have been knapped on the site since there is no point in importing the small flake. Refit group 28 (figs 183 and 184) This group is composed of ten artefacts: three blades, five flakes and two notched tools (one of which is a stray find). Moss only analysed one of the blades (No. 3 in figure 184); it has traces of processing plant material. The artefacts of this group occurred widely scattered south and southeast of the hearth, from about 0.5 to 4 m away from it. All dorsal faces are covered by natural surfaces (cortex and old frost-split faces). The group derived from the first preparation of the core-front, and this sequence must have been knapped on the site. Refit group 18 (figs 185 and 187) The refit group consists of seven artefacts: two blade fragments and one chip making up one blade, two notched blades (one is a stray find), and a combination tool (burin/notch) consisting of two fragments. None of the tools

6

7

28

8

9 9

8

7m

Fig. 183. Refit group 28: nine artefacts ( one stray find), ten refit lines. See also fig. 184 (fig. L. Johansen).

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

127

2 cm

28

1

2

3

Fig. 184. Drawing of refit group 28; see also fig. 183. (1) Notched blade; (2) notched flake; (3) blade (fig. L. Johansen).

were analysed by Moss. Five of the artefacts of this group were located 2–3 m north of the hearth, while one of the notched tools was lying about 3 m northwest of the hearth. This refit group originates from the middle of the blade-production sequence from a core with two opposite platforms. The raw material is distinctive (type 4, see section 5.6; see also refit group 22). It is not clear whether or not this material was knapped on the site. Refit group 101 (figs 186 and 187) The group consists of eight artefacts: three blades, one flake, and three notched tools, one of which consists of two fragments. Two of the tools were analysed by Moss; No. 1 has ‘notch traces’, while No. 3 has no traces of use. Most artefacts in this group were located quite close together about 2 m NNW of the hearth; one notched tool occurred about 1 m northeast of the hearth. The refit group originates from the middle of the bladeproduction sequence from a core. The raw material is a distinctive type of speckled flint (raw material No. 6; see section 5.6). This sequence, including a rather small flake, is part of a much larger production series (including among others refit groups 49 and 51), and must have been knapped on the site. Refit group 156 (figs 185 and 187) This group consists of four artefacts: three notched blades and one blade. Two of the notched tools were analysed by Moss (Nos 2 and 3); both have ‘notch traces’. One of these tools is burnt (No. 3). The artefacts of this group were located about 2 m west of the hearth. The group comes from the middle of the blade-production sequence from a

128

Refitted sequences involving tools

3

18

4

156

5

9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 185. Refit groups 156 and 18. Group 156: four artefacts, three refit lines; group 18: six artefacts ( one stray find), 12 refit lines. See also fig. 187 (fig. L. Johansen).

4

101

NSub: 8 NRefits: 11

5

6

5m

Fig. 186. Refit group 101: eight artefacts, 11 refit lines. See also fig. 187 (fig. L. Johansen).

core with two opposite platforms. The sequence was probably knapped on the site. Only one thin and narrow blade was not transformed into a tool, but this blade is unlikely to have been imported because of its mediocre quality. Refit group 7 (figs 188 and 189) The group contains eight artefacts, which after the refitting of fragments reduce to five: two blades and three Zinken (of which one has a fitting broken-off borer-tip). One of the borers (No. 2) was analysed by Moss; it has

18

1

3

2

101

2

1

3

2 cm

2

156

1

3

Fig. 187. Drawings of refit groups 18, 101 and 156; see also figs 185 and 186. Group 18: (1) combination tool (burin/notches); (2, 3) notched blades. Group 101: (1, 2, 3) notched blades. Group 156: (1, 2, 3) notched blades (fig. L. Johansen).

130

Refitted sequences involving tools

4

5

127

6

7

7

8

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2m

Fig. 188. Refit groups 7 and 127. Group 7: seven artefacts ( one stray find), eight refit lines; group 127: five artefacts, four refit lines. See also fig. 189 (fig. L. Johansen).

traces of contact with wood. One of the blades was also analysed; it has traces of contact with bone or antler. The artefacts of this refit group were located southeast of the hearth, at distances from 0.2 to about 4 m; the artefacts occurred quite widely scattered. The sequence shows two episodes of cresting of the core-front; two of the Zinken are on crested blades. The cresting does not reflect the first preparation of the core, but was applied in order to repair and straighten out the core-front, about halfway through the exploitation of this core. It is impossible to establish whether the sequence was knapped on the site. All artefacts in this group are either tools or good blades, so import is certainly a possibility. Such short sequences containing only usable artefacts may result from the last flint-knapping episode in the previous encampment, producing artefacts meant to be carried during travel. Refit group 127 (figs 188 and 189) This group consists of three Zinken, one of which is a double tool. Two Zinken have fitting broken-off borer-tips, so in total there are five artefacts in this group. All three Zinken were analysed by Moss. No. 1 has traces of contact with bone or antler, and of an unknown material; No. 2 has traces of use on antler at the tip; No. 3 shows ‘notch traces’. The artefacts of this group occurred quite widely scattered to the northeast of the hearth, at distances of 2–5 m from it. The sequence originates from somewhere in the middle of the blade-production sequence from a core. All three blades were transformed into tools, which were used on the site; borer-tips broke off from two of them. The group was probably imported, either as tools or as blades that were retouched on the site. Refit group 141 (fig. 190) This group, ten artefacts in total, contains three tools: a scraper, a burin and a notched tool. Scrapers are very seldom encountered in sequences at Oldeholtwolde; this is one of only two instances. Apart from the tools, the group consists of four blades (two consist of two fragments) and one flake. All three tools were analysed by Moss. The scraper (surprisingly) has ‘notch traces’, and traces of unknown origin. The notched tool also has ‘notch traces’, and traces possibly resulting from contact with wood. The burin had contact with bone or antler. The artefacts of this refit group occurred widely scattered west of the hearth, at distances of 0.5–3 m. Most artefacts are dorsally covered by remnants of old surfaces, partly consisting of weathered cortex and partly of an old frost-split face with patina and windgloss. The group consists of the first blades struck from a core-front. Cresting was hardly done, because a natural ridge was already present over the entire length to guide the blades. The core was very large at this stage: about 12.5 cm, which is the greatest core-length that could be observed

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

131

2 cm 7

1

2

3

127

1

2

3

Fig. 189. Drawings of refit groups 7 and 127; see also fig. 188. Group 7: (1, 2, 3) Zinken. Group 127: (1) double Zinken; (2, 3) Zinken (fig. L. Johansen).

132

Refitted sequences involving tools

or reconstructed at the Oldeholtwolde site. The old surfaces dorsally present on the artefacts are quite characteristic and easy to recognize, but no other artefacts with these surfaces were found. All blades of this group, whether or not transformed into tools, were of fairly good quality. This suggests that import of all elements of this sequence is a possibility. On the other hand, we are dealing with the first blanks struck off from the core, and most are lying relatively clustered. Therefore, it is probable that the knapping took place on the site. If this was indeed the case, the core was subsequently taken away from the site in an early stage of its exploitation. The knapping was done by a quite skilled knapper (knapper 1). One of the blades produced a hinge in the middle of the core-front, but this was successfully repaired by a blade struck from the opposite platform. 141 3

4

141

5

8

7m

2 cm

1

2

3

Fig. 190. Refit group 141, map and drawing: ten artefacts, 13 refit lines. (1) Notched blade; (2) burin; (3) scraper (fig. L. Johansen).

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

133

Refit group 49 (fig. 191) This refit group consists of 12 artefacts; after the refitting of beaks this number dropped to nine. Five tools were produced from this sequence (three of which consist of two fragments): three notched blades and two Zinken. Moss analysed three tools: one of the Zinken (No. 2), showing no use traces, and two notched tools. Of the latter, one (No. 5) shows traces of contact with antler; the second has no use traces. The majority of the artefacts

2

3

49 4

5

12

11

10

9

8

7

6m

2 cm

49

1

2

3

4

5

Fig. 191. Refit group 49, map and drawing: ten artefacts ( two stray finds), 11 refit lines. In the map, a flake is hidden by the blade at the right. (1, 2) Zinken; (3, 4, 5) notched blades (fig. L. Johansen).

134

Refitted sequences involving tools

were located about 1 m north of the hearth, quite close together. One of the notched tools was found about 7 m from the concentration near the hearth; however, it was sieved from the topsoil and may originally have been located near the other elements. The raw material of this sequence is a distinctive one (raw material No. 6: the speckled flint; see section 5.6; see also refit groups 101 and 51). This group reflects the first exploitation of a core-front. Most of the dorsal faces of the artefacts show remnants of old surfaces, and some cresting was done (tool No. 1). All artefacts of this refit group were knapped from the same platform, and one quite sturdy blade (later transformed into Zinken No. 2) shows that the blade-core must have been much longer than is documented by this series. The knapper was quite skilled; most blades are thin and regularly shaped. The platform of the core was rejuvenated several times during the knapping of this sequence. The work was probably done by knapper 1. It seems probable that this was done on the site; for example, the chip included in this refit group would probably not have been imported. However, none of the platform flakes was recovered.

5

6 3 7

8 9

8

7

6m

2 cm

2

3

1

3

Fig. 192. Refit group 3, map and drawing: three artefacts ( one stray find), two refit lines. (1) Truncated blade (with rounded ends); (2) burin; (3) combination tool (Zinken/oblique truncation) (fig. L. Johansen).

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

135

Refit group 3 (fig. 192) This group consists of four artefacts, which after the refitting of breaks comprise three tools: a burin, a combination tool (Zinken/oblique truncation) and a truncated blade consisting of two fragments. The truncated blade has two rounded ends and is therefore similar to the rounded tools that probably were used to produce sparks in combination with pyrite (Stapert & Johansen, 1999); however, in this case microscope study failed to provide a definite answer, so its function remains unresolved for the time being; the tool was not analysed by Moss. She did analyse the burin but found no use traces. The tools of this group occurred rather widely scattered, both west and east/southeast of the hearth. The sequence was probably not produced on the site, but imported. All three blades are tools, and nothing else can be refitted to the sequence. The three blades derive from the first stages of exploitation of a core; the first one knapped (No. 2) is a crested blade with remnants of old surfaces. Refit group 66 (figs 193 and 194) This large refit group consists of 20 artefacts. After the refitting of breaks, four tools are among the products: a notched tool, two Zinken and a retouched blade. Two of the tools were analysed by Moss; the notched tool (No. 2) has ‘notch traces’ and the analysed Zinken (No. 1) has no use traces. Most artefacts of this group were located very close together about 2 m northeast of the hearth, but three (all of them tools) occurred elsewhere: the notched tool (both fragments) lay to the west of and close to the hearth, and one Zinken lay at about 3 m north of it. The core must have arrived at the site in a prepared state; the core-front was already free of natural surfaces and had been crested before arrival. One of the two platforms of the core had a good core-angle, but the knapper faced severe problems with the other platform because the core-angle was too sharp. The knapper succeeded in trimming the platform into an adequate shape. It is clear that more artefacts from this core were produced on the site, which probably were exported. The core of this sequence was not found on the site, but it must have been too small for further useful exploitation; it was less than 4 cm long. Maybe it was tossed to a place outside the excavated area. There are several examples of cores at Oldeholtwolde that were tossed away over quite large distances at the end of their productive life (this tendency is part of the general process called the centrifugal effect). Nevertheless, there is a possibility that the remaining core was exported. Both at Oldeholtwolde, and at many other Late Palaeolithic sites, we have good evidence that almost exhausted cores were carried during travel (for examples, see the sites of Gramsbergen and Oudehaske: Johansen & Stapert, 2000). The knapper of this sequence was quite skilled. No large problems occurred, such as hinges, and he was well able to control the knapping process; also the repair of a platform went well. He did encounter some problems though, and several blades plunged; for example, a blade that was transformed into a Zinken (No. 3) took away a large part of one of the platforms. The work was probably done by knapper 1.

3

66

4

5

7

6

5m

Fig. 193. Refit group 66: 19 artefacts ( one stray find), 20 refit lines. See also fig. 194 (fig. L. Johansen).

136

Refitted sequences involving tools

66

1

2 cm

2

3

4

Fig. 194. Drawing of refit group 66; see also fig. 193. (1) Zinken; (2) notched blade; (3) Zinken; (4) blade with retouch (fig. L. Johansen).

Refit group 51 (figs 195 and 196) This group consists of 15 artefacts of which only four were not (part of) tools: two small blades and two flakes. After the refitting of breaks there are nine tools: a combination tool (burin/notches) with a fitting burin spall, two borers and six notched tools. Only three tools of this sequence were analysed by Moss. The combination tool (No. 1) has traces of contact with antler; the burin spall has no use traces. One of the borers (No. 2) has traces of contact with wood, and the large notched blade (No. 4) was used on bone or antler. Most of the artefacts of this refit group were located quite close together, up to about 2 m north of the hearth. Two artefacts were finds from the sieve, which may originally have been inside the main cluster. The raw material of this refit group is the characteristic speckled flint (raw material 6; see section 5.6), the same as that of refit groups 49 and 101. The refit group makes it clear that it was knapped from a rather long core, at least 10 cm but probably even longer. All artefacts were knapped from one platform, except one of the blades (later transformed into notched tool No. 4). Nine tools in one sequence is quite a lot, especially because many of the tools are made from rather narrow and thin blades. Parts of the dorsal faces of the artefacts are covered by natural surfaces (both cortex and frost-split surfaces), but it is nevertheless clear that some blades had been struck off before this sequence was produced. The knapping is of a high standard, and was probably done by knapper 1. It is likely that this material was knapped on the site (this question will be further discussed under ‘raw material 6’ in section 5.6).

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

137

4

5

NSub: 13 NRefits: 12

6

51

7

6

5m

Fig. 195. Refit group 51: 13 artefacts ( two stray finds), 12 refit lines. See also fig. 196 (fig. L. Johansen).

Refit group 115 (fig. 197) The refit group consists of 11 artefacts, struck off in six strokes. After the refitting of breaks, there are two tools in this sequence: a combination tool (burin/Zinken) to which a broken-off borer-tip and a burin spall (consisting of two fragments) could be fitted, and a notched blade. Furthermore, there are three blades and a flake. Both tools were analysed by Moss. Though the borer-tip had snapped off, it has no use traces, and neither have the two fragments of the burin spall fitting to the combination tool; the tool has only ambiguous traces. Only the distal part of the notched tool has use traces, but of unknown origin. Most of the non-tools of this sequence, and one fragment of the notched tool, were located very close together about 2 m NNE of the hearth. It is remarkable that the other fragment of the notched tool was located at a distance of some 3 m, west of the hearth; it must have been transported there after the break occurred (it is the fragment with use traces). The combination tool and the burin-spall fragments were lying much closer to the hearth. The sequence originates from the preparation stage and the first exploitation of a core. Parts of the dorsal faces of the artefacts have remnants of old surfaces, and the combination tool (the first of this sequence) is made of a partly crested and crushed blade. The knapper tried to smooth away some bumps in the core-front, but though this was largely successful it also resulted in a small hinge. All artefacts were knapped from only one platform, and the knapping was of a medium quality, partly as a result of the shape of the nodule. It may have been done by either knapper 1 or 2. Most probably the knapping was done on the site; the sequence includes a small flake (with a lot of crushing), and several small blades and blade fragments are also part of it. Moreover, most artefacts occurred in a dense cluster. Refit group 14 (fig. 198) The group consists of nine artefacts; after the refitting of breaks there are two complete blades (one composed of four fragments, the other of three), a blade fragment and a tool fragment. The tool (No. 2 in fig. 198) is a distal fragment with a straight truncation (retouched both ventrally and dorsally). The two complete blades in the refitted state are quite long: both measure about 9.5 cm. One of the blades (No. 1, all the fragments) belongs to the

1

2

3

51

2 cm

4

6

7

5

8

9

Fig. 196. Drawing of refit group 51; see also fig. 195. (1) Combination tool (burin/notches); (2, 3) Zinken; (4–9) notched blades (fig. L. Johansen).

first artefacts collected at the site, by discoverer Mr. Jan Boschker, c. two weeks before the excavation; these finds derive from the disturbed area southeast of the hearth. The two long blades were analysed by Moss. One was used to work hide (traces on all fragments); the second has no use traces. The artefacts of this group occurred widely scattered south of the hearth; three blade fragments were situated very close to or even within the hearth, the tool fragment was lying more than 3.5 m away (it was sieved from undisturbed sand below the topsoil). The raw material of this refit group is a distinctive one (raw material 1), and will therefore be discussed separately (see section 5.6). This short sequence reveals very good flint-knapping technique; the blades were probably knapped by knapper 1. The knapping was not done on the site, as there is no waste material of this flint type; the long blades were imported. It is probable that both the tool fragment and the blade fragment once were part of quite long blanks. Refit group 180 (fig. 199) This group consists of only two artefacts: a blade and a (fragmented) retouched blade (No. 2). The tool fragment probably was part of a scraper originally; the scraper end was not found on the site. Both artefacts were analysed by Moss, with unusual results. The relatively small blade (No. 1) shows traces of contact with wood

4

115 5

8

7

6

5m

115

2 cm

1

2

Fig. 197. Refit group 115, map and drawing: 11 artefacts, 15 refit lines. (1) Combination tool (Zinken/burin); (2) notched blade (fig. L. Johansen).

140

Refitted sequences involving tools

6

14 7

8

10

9

8

7m

2 cm

14

2

1

Fig. 198. Refit group 14, map and drawing: five artefacts ( four stray finds), eight refit lines. (1) Blade; (2) blade fragment with straight truncation (fig. L. Johansen).

and moreover has transverse MLITs, suggesting use as a ‘barb’ (see chapter 3). Also the tool fragment has traces of contact with wood. The two artefacts were located close together 2.5 m west of the hearth. It is not possible to know whether these artefacts were knapped on the site, but import seems a reasonable proposition, since the group is very small and both artefacts had been used.

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

141

Refit group 106 (fig. 199) This group contains three artefacts: two blade fragments and a fragmented retouched blade. The retouched blade fragment may have been part of a scraper; a fitting scraper end was not found. One of the blades and the retouched blade were analysed by Moss. The blade fragment did not show any use traces; the retouched blade has ‘notch traces’. The three artefacts of this group were located 1–2 m NWW of the hearth. There is not enough evidence to determine whether this sequence was knapped on the site. Refit group 33 (fig. 199) This group consists of six artefacts; after the refitting of breaks there are two blades (one consists of two fragments) and two tools: a truncated blade (No. 1) and a retouched blade (No. 2, consisting of two fragments). Both tools were analysed by Moss. The truncated blade had been used, but the traces are of unknown origin. Both fragments of the retouched blade have traces of butchering. The sequence occurred quite widely scattered, a few m south of the hearth. All artefacts of this refitted group are totally or partly covered dorsally by old surfaces (both cortex and old frost-split faces); the truncated blade was in fact made of a decortication blade. The sequence therefore documents the first stage of the exploitation of a core. Cresting was not done, because the intended core-front already possessed a suitable ridge over its entire length. The sequence was probably knapped on the site. Refit group 32 (fig. 199) The group consists of four artefacts; after the refitting of breaks there are two tools: a notched blade (No. 1) and a Zinken (No. 2). Both tools were analysed by Moss. The Zinken has use traces, but these are of unknown origin. The notched blade has no use traces. The artefacts of this group were located about 2 m south of the hearth (the fragment lying farther away was sieved from the topsoil). The short sequence derives from the middle of a blade-production series. The blade transformed into a notched tool plunged, taking away part of the opposite platform. It is difficult to know whether or not this sequence was produced on the site, but import is the more probable hypothesis. Both blades were turned into tools, and nothing else could be refitted: one would expect a plunging blade to be refittable to other artefacts if the knapping was done on the site. Refit group 16 (fig. 200) This refit group is composed of 16 artefacts, just ten after the refitting of breaks. The group contains one tool: an oblique truncation consisting of two fragments; the tool was not analysed for use wear. Most artefacts of this group were located quite close together c. 2 m north of the hearth (one fragment of the tool, lying somewhat outside the scatter, was collected by sifting). The outer surface of the refitted group as a whole consists entirely of cortex. The sequence documents the first stage in the exploitation of a core; cresting was hardly applied. Apart from a series of blades, there are four flakes and a chip knapped off during the preparation of one of the platforms. It is very probable that this sequence was knapped on the site. Some good blades were left, but probably many more were taken away from the site. The core cannot have been very large, but it was skillfully worked. Several blades ended in small hinges, but each time the problems were solved by knapping off a somewhat thicker blade, from the same platform. It is probable that the work was done by knapper 1.

4.3.3. Sequences with tools and including cores Five refit groups documenting sequences including a core also contain one or several tools: groups 10, 30, 58, 68 and 170. Refit group 10 (core 2514) (figs 201–203) The core came to the site in an already prepared state; the core’s dimensions were then about 9.5  6.5  6.5 cm. The raw material is fine-grained Senonian flint, light-grey, containing some Bryozoan fossils. The residual core, after knapping ceased, measures about 5.2  5.4  3.0 cm. The refit group consists of 32 artefacts: one core, 13 blades, seven flakes, and nine tools: a scraper, a burin, a notched tool (consisting of two fragments, one of which is now missing), two oblique truncations, and four Zinken of which two are double tools. Two Zinken have fitting broken-off borer-tips. Moss analysed seven tools. The scraper was used on hide, and so was the burin (which also has traces of unknown origin). Truncation No. 3 has traces of contact with wood. Zinken No. 6 has no use traces, though one of its tips broke off (and was refitted). No. 7 has ‘notch traces’.

180

3

1

106 180

4

2

106 5

6

1 7

33

8

32 9

10

9

8

7

6m 1

2 cm

33

32

2 1

2

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

143

←

Fig. 199. Refit groups 180, 106, 33 and 32, map and drawings. Group 180: two artefacts, one refit line; group 106: three artefacts, two refit lines; group 33: six artefacts, six refit lines; group 32: four artefacts, five refit lines. Group 180: (1) blade; (2) retouched blade. Group 106: (1) retouched blade. Group 33: (1) oblique truncation; (2) retouched blade. Group 32: (1) notched blade; (2) Zinken (fig. L. Johansen).

16

5

6

5m

2 cm

16

1

Fig. 200. Refit group 16, map and drawing: 15 artefacts ( one stray find), 28 refit lines. (1) Oblique truncation (fig. L. Johansen).

144

Refitted sequences involving tools 2

3

10 4

5

6

7 8

6

7

5

4

3

2

1m

Fig. 201. Refit group 10, map: 31 artefacts ( one stray find), 43 refit lines. See also figs 202 and 203 (fig. L. Johansen).

0 1 NSub: 22

2

1 2 3 4

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 202. Refit group 10, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also figs 201 and 203 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

Zinken No. 8 also has a fitting broken-off borer-tip (which is now lost); its use traces are ambiguous, as the whole artefact is quite glossy. No. 9 was used on hide and also has ‘notch traces’. It is clear that the majority, perhaps all, of these tools were produced, used and discarded on the site. Most of the 31 artefacts for which we have spatial data (one artefact is a stray find) were located quite close together, roughly 1–3 m NNW of the hearth. These 31 artefacts are connected by 43 refit lines (fig. 201). It is of interest to look somewhat more closely at the distribution of the artefacts with exact coordinates (n  22). Figure 202 is a density map of these, with cells of 50  50 cm. The richest-cell option of the ANALITHIC programme was used, to bring out the ‘centre of gravity’ of this refit group. The richest possible cell occurs about 1 m WNW of the hearth, and it may be assumed that the knapping of the core took place near this spot. One flake was located a few metres from this dense scatter, but the core was located farthest away: it lay about 5 m northeast of the dense scatter. This is a common picture at Oldeholtwolde and other sites; many used-up cores

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

145

2 cm

10

2 cm

1

4

2

6

7

3

8

5

9

Fig. 203. Refit group 10, drawing; see also figs 201 and 202. (1) Burin; (2) notched blade; (3) oblique truncation; (4) scraper; (5) oblique truncation; (6, 7) double Zinken; (8, 9) Zinken (fig. L. Johansen).

seem to have been tossed away to spots outside the central activity area (thus reflecting the ‘centrifugal effect’; see also section 3.5.1). The core was prepared outside the site. The very first cortex flakes and blades struck from the core were not present on the site, though several of the first blanks knapped on the site still have cortex remnants. After arrival on the site, the first thing to happen was the creation of a new platform at one end; the opposite platform was formed by an old frost-split face. The first blade struck from the new platform was transformed into a

146

Refitted sequences involving tools

scraper. It broke, maybe during use; only the fragment with the scraper end was found (the remaining part must still have been long enough to be transformed into a tool). The next blade was later turned into a notched tool. After two more blades and a flake, a rather heavy flake was produced, which later was transformed into a Zinken, to which a broken-off tip could be fitted. Another blade was knapped, and then the platform consisting of the old frostbreak had to be renewed. A series of six rather short blades were then knapped; they are up to 4.5 cm long. Four of these were nevertheless transformed into tools: two truncated blades, a burin and a double Zinken with a refitted broken-off tip. One of the short blades in this series ended in a hinge, so the core was turned around in order to repair it by strokes from the other platform. Three flakes were knapped in this attempt, of which one was very thick and took away a large part of the core-front. After the successful repair, the core-angles were still adequate. The core was turned around again, and several small blades and two larger ones (up to 5 cm long) were knapped. The two larger blades were later transformed into a Zinken and a double Zinken. The core-front had now become too flat, and the flintknapper tried to reshape it by flaking from one of the sides. Several hinges resulted, including a quite big one, and the core was given up. It could probably have been repaired, but it would then have been of little use, with its remaining length of 5.2 cm. It was thrown away. When the core, with its front already prepared, arrived at the site, it was not very large. Moreover, its shape was not very satisfactory, compared to most other Havelte-Group cores. This piece was quite rounded in crosssection, while the more typical cores are made of slab-like nodules. The core was given two opposite platforms, but one of them was only used to repair a hinge. No crested front was made, probably because the shape of the nodule did not allow this without losing too much flint. The produced blades are rather short, but the knapper turned quite a lot of them, and a flake, into tools. The knapping technique was not the very best, but the knapper was certainly not without skill. This sequence was knapped by an advanced pupil: knapper 2. This refit group is a little strange in the sense that many inferior blades, and also a flake, were transformed into tools. The exploitation of this core must have occurred about halfway through the period of occupation; the produced tools were both used and discarded here. At the start of occupation, much better blades imported from elsewhere were available to the occupants. These must have been used up by the time this core was knapped; its knapper tried to get as many tools as possible out of his work. It is worth noting that this is one of only two sequences containing a scraper. Most scrapers were imported (or made from imported blades). Another aspect worth noting is that several different tool types (five) were manufactured from the products. Though four of the nine tools are of the same type (Zinken), most other long sequences display a higher degree of ‘core specialisation’ among the tools deriving from one core (meaning that most tools are of the same type). Refit group 30 (core 1314) (figs 204–206) The raw material of this group is dark-grey, fine-grained Senonian flint. The nodule came to the site in a largely unworked state, and the shape of the nodule was not perfect for blade production. One side of the nodule was covered by cortex and the other by old frost-split faces. Its dimensions were about 8.0  4.0  7.2 cm. The residual core measures 6.5  3.1  5.8 cm. The refit group consists of 20 artefacts. After the refitting of breaks, five tools or tool fragments are present: a notched tool, a Zinken, a burin (with a fitting burin spall consisting of two fragments), a blade fragment with retouch (two fragments) and a flake with retouch. In the last two cases intentional retouching is not certain. Furthermore, there are a core, four blades or blade fragments, five flakes and two chips. Of the tools, only the Zinken was analysed by Moss; it has ‘notch traces’ and traces of unknown origin. The artefacts of this group occurred rather widely scattered to the southeast of the hearth, mostly at distances of 1–2 m. The 20 artefacts are connected by 25 refit lines (fig. 204). There are 15 artefacts with exact coordinates; a density map showing them in cells of 50  50 cm is presented in figure 205. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated; the richest cell is located about 1 m southeast of the hearth. The core lay in the close vicinity: 0.5 m east of the hearth. The first work done was the creation of a platform. This was not much of a success; probably the percussion angle was wrong, and the resulting flake took too much material away. This clumsy platform flake was nevertheless transformed into a notched tool (No. 1). The created core angle, between platform and front, was not ideal but usable. This does not mean that the knapper was totally unskilled; the stroke needed to produce a good platform is one of the most difficult in any core preparation. At the opposite end of the core a very small platform was made, partly by retouching. Then the front was shaped by retouching and cresting, after which the first blades were removed. One of these was later transformed into a burin (No. 3). The core-front was again crested into the right shape. A narrow blade (broken) was then struck off. At least one part of it was later retouched (No. 4). The next blade was transformed into a Zinken (No. 2). Four

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

147

5

6

30 7

8

9 9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 204. Refit group 30, map: 20 artefacts, 25 refit lines. See also figs 205 and 206 (fig. L. Johansen). 0 1 NSub: 15 1 2 3 4

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 205. Refit group 30, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also figs 204 and 206 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

more flakes were struck off, and one more blade which ended in a hinge. At that stage it must have become clear that several frostcracks were present in what remained of the core. Nevertheless attempts were made to do some further knapping from the back of the core, but this was not successful. Even now, the core could have been repaired, but it would have become too small for the production of useful blades. It was discarded at the spot. The shape of this nodule and the quality of the flint were not very good. Still, the knapper managed to produce some useful blades and flakes, from which at least three tools were manufactured. The knapper was not

30

2 cm

4

1

2

3

5

Fig. 206. Refit group 30, drawing; see also figs 204 and 205. (1) Notched blade; (2) Zinken; (3) burin; (4) retouched blade; (5) retouched flake (fig. L. Johansen).

without skill, but he seems not to have been very experienced. I therefore believe that the work was most probably done by knapper 2, but it cannot be excluded that knapper 1 was responsible. Refit group 58 (core fragments 1284 and 1302) (figs 207–209) From the core of this group most probably a long series of blades had already been knapped before it arrived at the site, in an already rather used-up state. At that moment its dimensions were about 7.3  4.2  2.3 cm. The raw material is light to medium grey, rather fine-grained flint containing some small Bryozoan fossils. The back of the core is covered by both cortex and an old frost-split face. The residual core, consisting of two fitting fragments, measures 5.8  3.8  1.6 cm. The refit group consists of 20 artefacts; after the refitting of breaks there are three tools: a burin with a fitting burin spall (No. 2), a double burin (two fragments) with a fitting burin spall (No. 3), and a flake with retouch. Apart from the two core fragments, the group further contains seven blades or blade fragments and five flakes. All three tools were analysed by Moss. The double burin has traces of contact with bone or antler on its distal end, and no use traces on its proximal end; the burin spall shows traces of contact with antler probably dating from before its removal. The single burin, and its fitting burin spall, have ambiguous traces; it is not certain that they were used. The flake with retouch has no use traces. The core was knapped at a spot about 2 m south of the hearth; most artefacts were located there close together. This is evident from a density map of the artefacts with exact coordinates (fig. 208), for which the grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Several tools were present at distances of a few metres, and the two core fragments were probably tossed away to their locations about 3 m south of the hearth. Before the core came to the site it had probably been knapped by a very skilled flintknapper (probably knapper 1, assuming that no other highly skilled knappers camped at the previous encampment). On the site, however, the

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

149

6

58

7

8

10

9

8

7m

Fig. 207. Refit group 58, map: 20 artefacts, 29 refit lines. See also figs 208 and 209 (fig. L. Johansen). 0 1 NSub: 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 208. Refit group 58, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also figs 207 and 209 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

first blade that was struck off destroyed about half of the core-front, because it split off along a hidden frostcrack. After this, it was rather difficult to knap the core successfully. The knapper was able to obtain some more blades and flakes, but soon the core became totally used-up and broke into two pieces. The work could have been done by either knapper 1 or knapper 2. It is not possible to distinguish them in a sequence like this one, which starts only after many blades had already been produced elsewhere, and which documents problems caused by hidden frostcracks.

150

Refitted sequences involving tools

2 cm

1

58

2

3

Fig. 209. Refit group 58, drawing; see also figs 207 and 208. (1) Retouched flake; (2) burin; (3) double burin (fig. L. Johansen).

Refit group 68 (core fragments 6–256, 788, 1785 and 2419) (figs 210–212) The nodule arrived on the site in an unprepared state; its dimensions then were 9.7  8.7  3.3 cm. It had a lot of frostcracks, most of which could not be seen from the outside; however, it must have been possible to establish their presence by listening to the sound when the nodule was tested by tapping. The raw material is lightgrey and fine-grained flint containing some Bryozoan fossils. All outer surfaces consisted of weathered cortex. The refitted group consists of 26 artefacts: four core fragments, four blades, 16 flakes, one chip and one retouched blade. The retouched blade only has a little retouch; it was not analysed by Moss. The artefacts of this group occurred rather widely scattered (see fig. 210) though there are several small clusters, e.g. 2.5 m NNW and 1 m west of the hearth. At least one of the core fragments was probably tossed away, ending up c. 3 m southwest of the hearth. A density map of the artefacts with exact coordinates is presented in figure 211; the position of the grid was calculated so as to create the richest possible cell. The richest cell is situated c. 1 m west of the hearth, but a few additional clusters are present at distances of 2 and 3 m, northwest of the hearth. Knapping started with the creation of a crested front along one side, which was partly successful. However, as soon as an attempt was made to exploit the core, it split into three fragments along hidden frostcracks. The knapper tried out all three fragments, but only one fragment (No. 788) turned out to be usable as a core; it was then only 6.4  4.2  2.4 cm. No platforms were made. Only a few very short blades were struck off. The core then split into two fragments, and knapping was abandoned.

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

151

2

3

4

68 5

6

7 10

9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 210. Refit group 68, map: 26 artefacts, 33 refit lines. See also figs 211 and 212 (fig. L. Johansen).

0 1 NSub: 24

2

1 2 3 4 5 6

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 211. Refit group 68, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also figs 210 and 212 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

The flint knapper had some skill but was evidently no master; it was probably knapper 2. Parts of the chaîne opératoire were skipped (no platforms were created), and an experienced knapper would not have selected this nodule in the first place, as its quality was so poor that hardly anything useful could be extracted from it.

1

2 cm

Fig. 212. Refit group 68, drawing; see also figs 210 and 211. (1) Retouched blade (fig. L. Johansen).

68

152 Refitted sequences involving tools

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

153

Refit group 170 (core 3808) (figs 213–217) This refit group is the largest from the site. It comprises 96 artefacts (several more small artefacts have now been lost). The slab-like nodule arrived at the site in an only partly prepared state; it had a good shape for use as a bipolar Havelte-Group core. Its dimensions were then about 10.0  10.5  3.0 cm. The raw material is a light-brown and fine-grained type of Senonian flint. After the refitting of breaks, eight tools are part of this composition: one combination tool (Zinken/notch, No. 1) and seven notched blades (one consisting of two fragments, another of three). Seven tools were analysed by Moss. The combination tool has traces of contact with hide and meat, and it was possibly hafted in wood. Notched tool No. 2 was used in butchering, has hide usewear and in addition ‘notch traces’. Notched tool No. 3 has ‘notch traces’. No. 4 was used, but the traces could not be identified. All three fragments of notched tool No. 5 have traces of contact with bone or antler. Nos 7 and 8 have ‘notch traces’. Moss also analysed many non-tools of this refit group, and found use traces on six. Most surprisingly, she found that three small blades (Nos 10–12) were used as ‘barbs’, having transverse MLITs. A large blade consisting of two fragments (No. 9) has wood use-wear (distal fragment) and traces of contact with bone or antler (proximal fragment). Finally, two flakes also have use traces: No. 13 was in contact with hide, and No. 14 with antler. The nodule came to the site with a coarse crest on one side, which probably was made at the spot where it was collected in order to test its quality. On the site the core-front was carefully prepared over the whole length of the core by further cresting, and a lot of small flakes were struck off in the process. The front acquired a nice, slightly curved profile. The first crested blade struck from the core was 8.6 cm long, but unfortunately it broke into three pieces. A whole series of blades were then struck off, but several of these fragmented. The quality of the flint was not the very best; there were several hidden frostcracks in the core causing problems. One of the platforms was corrected several times by the removal of small flakes and chips. The angles between the core-front and the two (opposite) platforms were mostly around 70–80 degrees. After this platform rejuvenation a second series of blades were produced; several blades of the last part of this series must have been taken away from the site. By this stage the core-front had a wrong shape, and the angle between it and one

2

3

4

170 5

6

7

8

9 13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 213. Refit group 170, map: 96 artefacts, 135 refit lines (a few small artefacts originally part of this group have been lost). See also figs 214–217 (fig. L. Johansen).

154

Refitted sequences involving tools 0 NSub: 96 1

1–5

2

6–10

3

11–16

4

17–21

5

22–26

6

27–31

7 8 9 10 15

14

13

12

11

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9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 214. Refit group 170, density map of all artefacts with spatial data, including finds from the sieve: numbers per square metre. See also figs 213 and 215–217 (fig. L. Johansen).

0 1 2

NSub: 83 1–7

3

8–14 4

15–22 23–29

5

30–36 6

37–43

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 215. Refit group 170, density map of artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also figs 213, 214, 216 and 217 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

of the platforms was no longer adequate. Part of the front was then crested, and both platforms were repaired; from one of the platforms two big tablets were removed, but this failed to improve the core-angle. The other platform was reshaped by a few small flakes, and here the correction attempt was successful. Another sequence of blades were then produced, most of which were left on the site. Many of these blades came from the core in a fragmented state because of frostcracks in the core. Some of the last blades ended in hinges, but the core was successfully repaired by blades struck from the opposite platform. Soon, however, a large part of the core split off along a frostcrack (this fragment was not found on the site), which almost destroyed the core. Nevertheless,

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

170

155

2 cm

Fig. 216. Refit group 170, drawing (two views). See also figs 213–215 and 217 (fig. L. Johansen).

156

Refitted sequences involving tools

1

2

3

4

2 cm

5

6

7

10

9

13

8

11

12

14

Fig. 217. Refit group 170, drawings of the tools and a few other artefacts; see also figs 213–216. (1) Combination tool (Zinken/notches); (2–8) notched blades; (9–12) blades or blade fragments; (13, 14) flakes (fig. L. Johansen).

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

157

Table 7. Refit groups involving sequences: numbers of tools.

Total

Number of refit groups

Number of tools per refit group

21 5 9 1 2 1 2 41

1 2 3 4 5 8 9 98

the core was turned around and the other side was crested. Even though the cresting was successful, the flintknapper probably realised that after the creation of new platforms the core would become too small. Knapping was stopped without attempts at further blade production, and the residual core was tossed away; it ended up about 6 m from the spot where it was worked, 5.5 m south of the hearth (see fig. 213). The knapping of this core was performed about 2.5 m WNW of the hearth (see figs 214 and 215). Here a dense scatter of small flint waste was present; the richest cell of 50  50 cm contained 43 artefacts of this refit group. The knapper was very skilled (knapper 1), and totally familiar with the whole chaîne opératoire of Havelte flint technology. He knew how to solve problems, although he had some trouble maintaining an adequate angle between one of the platforms and the core-front. On the whole he did a very good job, considering that the quality of the flint was poor as a result of several hidden frostcracks. Many tools and blades produced at the knapping spot were taken to other places on the site. Quite a few were transported to an activity area about 2 m east of the knapping location, next to a small ring of stones. Here probably was a cooking pit, given the fact that many fragments of several cooking stones (quartz) were found in the immediate vicinity. The transport of tools and blades to this spot is clearly visible in figure 213, in the form of a dense bundle of lines (1.5–2 m in length) connecting the knapping location with this activity area. Furthermore, a few notched tools from this core ended up in far-away spots south and southeast of the hearth (see fig. 213). The longest refit line of the group falls in the 7–7.5 m length class. 4.3.4. Tools in sequences: summarizing tables There are 41 refit groups involving sequences and containing tools. After the refitting of breaks, a total of 98 tools are part of these sequences: about a third of all tools after the refitting of breaks. Half of these refit groups (21) contained only one tool; the maximum number of tools per refitted group is 9 (two cases). For an overview of the tool numbers per refitted group, see table 7. Please note, however, that some refit groups ‘belong together’, meaning that they are part of one production series, from one and the same core (or at least the same nodule). This implies that the maximum number of tools per nodule may have been rather higher than 9 (see also section 5.6). Table 8 gives the details of all 41 refit groups described so far, including typological classifications of the tools fitted into these sequences. Moreover, this table also indicates whether the sequence is thought to have been knapped on the site or elsewhere. Finally, the identification of the knapper is given, whenever possible. For a further discussion of the data summarized in this table, see section 5.4.

4.4. REFITTED SEQUENCES WITHOUT TOOLS 4.4.1. Sequences with cores There are six refit groups involving sequences with a core that do not contain any tools; they will be briefly discussed below. In several cases, we will meet the two apprentice flint knappers (knappers 2 and 3; see also section 5.3).

158

Refitted sequences without tools

Table 8. Tools in sequences. Table showing the number of tools, per type, for all refit groups with sequences including tools. Numbers are counted after the refitting of breaks. Key: POI—points; SCR—scrapers; BUR—burins; COM—combination tools; TRU—truncations; ZIN—Zinken or borers; NOT—notched tools; BLA—retouched blades; FLA— retouched flakes; I/S—I: probably made elsewhere and imported to the site, or S: probably produced on the site; C—core absent or present (*); KNP—identification, as far as possible, of the knapper (1, 2 or 3). GROUP

POI

SCR

BUR

COM

TRU ZIN

10 141 58 3 30 99 22 51 170 18 115 140 81 33 14 16 7 127 49 66 32 74 181 105 19 122 31 101 156 28 94 88 82 8 65 29 45 68 25 106 180 Total

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 0

1 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 2

1 1 2 1 1 1 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 8

– – – 1 – – – 1 1 1 1 1 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 7

2 – – 1 – – – – – – – – – 1 1 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6

4 – – – 1 1 – 2 – – – – – – – – 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 24

NOT 1 1 – – 1 – – 6 7 2 1 – – – – – – – 3 1 1 – – – – – 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 – – – – 42

BLA

FLA

N (tools)

C

I/S

KNP

– – – – 1 – – – – – – – – 1 – – – – – 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1 – 1 1 6

– – 1 – 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1 – – 3

9 3 3 3 5 2 1 9 8 3 2 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 5 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 98

*

S S S I S I ? S S ? S S ? S I S ? I S S I S ? ? S ? I S S S ? S S S S S S S S ? ?

2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 2 1/2 1/2 1/2

* *

*

*

Refit group 4 (core 456) (figs 218 and 219) The core in this refit group measures 8.2  7.0  2.8 cm. The raw material is fine-grained Senonian flint containing some Bryozoan fossils. To this core 22 flakes or blades could be fitted (4 are stray finds). After the refitting of breaks, there are 11 flakes and 3 blades. It is clear that more blades were knapped off on the site, but these must have been taken away. The first series of flakes that can be refitted to the core were knapped off to give the core-front a good shape (cresting). The next two series of flakes created the two opposite platforms. Then a series of blades were knapped, probably between four and eight, none of which were left on the site. The scars left by the last ones suggest that these blades were of good quality. After this, three more blades were knapped off, which are of poor quality and were left on the site. One is too thin because the stroke was placed

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

159

6

7

8

4

9

9

8

7

6m

4

2 cm

Fig. 218. Refit group 4, map and drawing: 19 artefacts ( four stray finds), 29 refit lines. See also fig. 219 (fig. L. Johansen).

160

Refitted sequences without tools 0 1 NSub: 11

2

1 2 3

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 219. Refit group 4, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also fig. 218 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

too close to the platform’s edge; this blade was at most 3 cm long. The last two blades knapped from this core both hinged, and destroyed the core. It might have been repaired, but this was not attempted. The large difference in knapping skill revealed by the quality of the products from two successive phases in the exploitation of this core suggests that two different knappers were involved. The first knapper made a series of good blades (which were taken away from the site), and he was very skilled (knapper 1). The second knapper, who struck off the last three blades, was much less experienced and may be considered an advanced pupil in the art of flint working (knapper 2). The first blade he made was knapped off too close to the platform edge. The next two also went wrong though the core-angles were good. With the first, the stroke must have been a little too soft, and the percussion angle not just right. The blade ended in a hinge, damaging the core. A skilled knapper would then have repaired the core from the opposite platform. But this was not attempted; instead, another blade was struck off from the same platform. This blade also ended in a hinge. A skilled flint knapper would have anticipated that. There was still quite a lot of good material left in the core at that stage, but it would have been necessary to repair it. This was not attempted; the last knapper perhaps did not feel that he had sufficient skill to do so (the first knapper could easily have done the job). The blades and flakes of this group were located in a quite wide scatter, about 1–3.5 m SSE of the hearth (fig. 218); though the richest 0.5  0.5 m cell is close to the hearth, the clustering tendency is rather weak (fig. 219). The core was not tossed away, but discarded at the spot where it had been worked. Refit group 46 (core 2247) (fig. 220) The raw material of this refit group is fine-grained, bluish-grey Senonian flint. The core measures 5.2  3.3  3.5 cm. Eight blades or flakes could be refitted to the core. The core had already been prepared, and used for blade-production, before it arrived on the site. When it arrived at Oldeholtwolde its dimensions were about 6.2  3.3  4.0 cm. A skilled flint knapper, wishing to produce blades longer than 4 cm, would have considered this core (almost) exhausted; it was imported nevertheless. Probably only one useful blade was produced on the site from this core, which was not found (alternatively, it may have fragmented into several quite small pieces, which therefore were not submitted to refitting analysis). None of the produced flakes and blades were transformed into tools. The refitting shows that several of the first blanks struck from the core ended in hinges. The core was then turned around, in order to repair the damage from the opposite platform. This was successful, and a not very good blade was produced in the process. The core was then turned around again, and another blade of poor quality was struck off. The next stroke resulted in a hinged blade. The core was successfully repaired from

3

4

5

6

46

7

8

9

8

7

6

2 cm

5

4

3

2m

46

Fig. 220. Refit group 46, map and drawing: nine artefacts, ten refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

the same platform. The core was then turned around again, and the only successful, though rather small, blade from this core (not found) was then produced; it must have been about 4 cm long and only 0.9 cm wide. The next stroke, from the same platform, resulted in a hinge. Yet again the core was turned around, in an attempt to repair it from the opposite platform. This was not successful; two small hinged blades resulted. The core was then discarded, and probably tossed away over a distance of 3–4 m. It seems that this core, before it came to the site, had been worked by a skilled flint knapper (knapper 1), and on the site by a less skilled one, knapper 2. The waste products from this core are widely scattered (fig. 220), though it is probable that the knapping was done a few m northwest of the hearth. The residual core was flung away several metres towards the periphery.

162

Refitted sequences without tools

Refit group 50 (core 5-148) (fig. 221) The raw material of this group is a grey and fine-grained Senonian flint. The core measures 6.4  2.8  2.1 cm. It came to the site in an already prepared and used state; in fact the core was by then practically exhausted. It is evident that before the core’s arrival at the site, a number of good blades had been removed. In total, only four blades or flakes could be refitted to the core (one flake is not indicated in figure 221, because the refit was found only afterwards). On the site only one blade was knapped of, and it ended in a hinge after having attained a length of 4 cm. The knapper tried three more times, but in every case a hinge developed within 2 cm. Technically, only the first blade could have been successful, but the stroke was too soft, resulting in the development of a hinge. The three later strokes could never have resulted in good blades, because the core-angles at the spots where the core was struck were not good.

5

6

50 7

8

13

12

11

10

9

8

50

2 cm

Fig. 221. Refit group 50, map and drawing: five artefacts, four refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

7m

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

163

As in several other cases, this core must have been worked by a skilled knapper (probably knapper 1) before it arrived at the site. On the site, however, it was knapped by an almost totally unskilled knapper, who has been called knapper 3. The core was retrieved from the topsoil. Three flakes were present not far from the hearth; the work was probably done close to the hearth. The only blade, however, was located almost 6 m southwest of the hearth, and must have been transported there over a distance of at least 4 m.

Refit group 72 (core 924) (figs 222 and 223) This refit group documents what was done to a nodule that measured 6.8  6.0  3.8 cm when it arrived at the site. The raw material is of good quality (grey, fine-grained Senonian flint), and the nodule had a perfect shape

5

6

72

7

7

6

5

4

3

2m

72

2 cm

Fig. 222. Refit group 72, map and drawing: 21 artefacts, 25 refit lines. See also fig. 223 (fig. L. Johansen).

164

Refitted sequences without tools 0 1 NSub: 18

2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 223. Refit group 72, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also fig. 222 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

for use as a classical Havelte-Group blade core though it was rather small. But the technique applied in knapping this core was totally wrong. First an attempt was made to knap blades from the part that normally would have been used as a platform. By a lucky stroke, one blade came off. The knapper continued to attempt to strike off more blades without preparing either the platform or the core-front, and the next blade ends in a hinge. Then the core was turned, and now he attempted to strike off blades from the part that should have been used as the core-front in the first place. An attempt was even made to create a platform, but the resulting core-angle is a little too wide. The core-front would normally have been crested before blades were struck off, in order to remove a part that was sticking out. But this was not done, and the first blade became very short, ending in a deep hinge. A knapper with some experience then would have made a crest without delay. Without it, any subsequent attempts could only go wrong too. This is indeed what happened, not once but at least four times in a row. Some knapping was done on the lower part of the core (lower in the drawing), the purpose of which is unclear. If the idea was to produce a platform this was not successful; similarly, if the aim was to produce a crested front, the attempt failed. (On the colour plate—see section 5.1—this part is left white because of the uncertain intention of the knapping.) The core was then discarded at the spot. This core must have been knapped by a person who watched other people knapping flint; he tried to imitate them but had not yet received much training, or none at all. This core is the clearest example of the work by which I have identified the presence of knapper 3. There are no tools in this group; 20 artefacts can be refitted to the core: nine flakes, seven chips and four blade fragments. The flint knapping location was only 0.5 m ESE of the hearth, as is evident from the tight clustering of most of the flint waste (figs 222 and 223). One flake was lying on the opposite side of the hearth, however, and a blade fragment was found about 6 m northeast of the hearth. Perhaps it was carried there by children at play, because this blade fragment would not normally have been considered useful. Refit group 91 (core 1593) (figs 224 and 225) Only about half of the core in this group was found: a piece c. 2 cm thick, split off by frost. It can only be classified as part of a core because a little sequence of five flakes and a chip can be fitted to it. The remaining core may still have been usable, and exported from the site. On the basis of the small sequence it is not possible to say anything about the level of the knapper’s skill. From the map (fig. 224), and also from the density map (fig. 225), it may be deduced that the knapping was most probably done about 1.5 m south of the hearth though one flake

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

165

6 NSub: 6 NRefits: 5

91 7

9

8

7m

91

2 cm

Fig. 224. Refit group 91, map and drawing: six artefacts, five refit lines. See also fig. 225 (fig. L. Johansen).

occurred at a distance of c. 2 m; the core fragment ended up very close to the hearth: near the spot where core 924 was worked (refit group 72, described above). Refit group 95 (core 355) (fig. 226) The core of this group came to the site in an already quite intensely used state, measuring 7.3  3.9  2.3 cm. The previous knapping of the core must have been done by a skilled knapper. The two opposite platforms were properly shaped, and the preserved blade scars show that quite a number of usable blades had been produced. After the core arrived on the site, however, only a small blade/flake ending in a hinge was produced. The core-angle at the spot where it was struck off was satisfactory, but the platform had not been well prepared. The knapping was probably done by a knapper with some skill but not enough training, maybe knapper 2. It is remarkable that a largely used-up core was imported to the site. Both the core and the blade/flake lay south of the hearth.

166

Refitted sequences without tools 0 1 NSub: 6

2

1 2

3

3 4

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 225. Refit group 91, density map of all artefacts with exact coordinates. Cells of 50  50 cm; richest-cell option. See also fig. 224 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

4.4.2. Sequences with blades There are 28 refit groups documenting blade production, without containing tools. A total of 154 artefacts (9 are stray finds) are involved in these sequences; the 145 with spatial data are involved in a total of 174 refit lines (fig. 227). Five of these sequences include a core; these were described above (refit groups 4, 46, 50, 72 and 95), and contain a total of 60 artefacts (four are stray finds), with 69 refit lines. The 23 blade sequences without a core comprise 94 artefacts (five of which are stray finds), with 105 refit lines. It is clear that the blade-production sequences include both series produced on the site (including those with a core) and short sequences consisting of blades produced elsewhere, which were imported to the site. The great majority of these artefacts were located south/southeast of the hearth. Only a few refit groups with blades in sequences, but without cores, will be briefly described here. Refit group 48 (fig. 228) contains 14 artefacts (one is a stray find), most of which are fragmented. After the refitting of breaks, seven blades or blade fragments are present. The group derives from the first stage in the exploitation of a core (dorsally, the refitted group is largely covered by cortex). The initial knapping of this core was probably done on the site, but later the core was taken away. None of the blades in this sequence was analysed by Moss. According to the research by Moss, two refit groups with blades but without cores contain blades with interesting use-wear traces. Group 100 (fig. 229, left) only consists of two artefacts; the blade fragment shown at left has traces of use on wood. Group 85 (fig. 229, right) consists of two blades in a ventral/dorsal refit, one of which is composed of two fragments. The large blade has traces of butchering; the small blade was also used, but the traces are unknown.

4.4.3. Sequences with flakes A total of 33 refit groups can be characterized as resulting from flake production, as they contain neither tools nor blades. These sequences only consist of flakes, and in some cases chips; one group also contains a core (refit group 91, described above). Of course, the aim of the knapping was not to end up with flakes, but to

Refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde

167 2 cm

95

6

95

7

8 8

7m

Fig. 226. Refit group 95, map and drawing: two artefacts, one refit line (fig. L. Johansen).

3

4

5 NSub: 145 NRefits: 174

6

7

8

9

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2m

Fig. 227. All refitted sequences with blades, but without tools. Of the 28 refit groups, five include cores (fig. L. Johansen).

168

Refitted sequences without tools 4

5

6 NSub: 13 NRefits: 28

48

7

8

11

10

9

8

7

6m

48

2 cm

Fig. 228. Refit group 48, map and drawing (fig. L. Johansen).

85

2 cm

100

Fig. 229. Refit groups 100 (left) and 85 (right), drawings (fig. L. Johansen).

3

4

5

NSub: 91 NRefits: 65

6

7

8

9

10

9

8

7

6

5m

139 2 cm

Fig. 230. Top: map of all 33 refitted sequences containing flakes, but neither tools nor blades. One of these includes a core. Bottom: drawing of refit group 139 (fig. L. Johansen).

170

Refitted sequences without tools

produce blades; either blade production failed, or blades that were produced were subsequently taken off the site. In total, 91 artefacts are involved in these sequences, with 65 refit lines (fig. 230, top). Most of the artefacts were located south, west and especially north of the hearth, but hardly any east of the hearth. The refitted sequences are in most cases quite short. Moss found that one of these refit groups (No. 139) has a flake with use wear consisting of ‘notch traces’ (fig. 230, bottom).

CHAPTER 5

Towards dynamic reconstructions LYKKE JOHANSEN and DICK STAPERT

5.1. FLINT TECHNOLOGY AND THE CHAÎNE OPÉRATOIRE A refitting analysis may contribute significantly to reconstructing the prehistoric chaîne opératoire: the tactically ordered sequence of all (mainly) technological behaviours involved in the transformation of raw materials into finished tools, and their use and eventual discard. The concept plays a key role in modern lithic research (e.g. Pelegrin et al., 1988). It was introduced by André Leroi-Gourhan (in his Le Geste et la Parole, 1964/65) who did not bother to define it in any exhaustive way (for a discussion of its uses and meanings: see Audouze, 1999). Refitting often makes it possible to follow the prehistoric flint knapping process stroke by stroke, and thus to clarify and illustrate the technologies used at any site. A fascinating aspect is that refitting, to a certain extent, allows the identification of individual flint-knappers, on the basis of differences in their level of skill. As we saw, in the case of Oldeholtwolde there are good arguments for postulating the presence of three flint-knappers: a very skilled knapper, an advanced learner, and a totally unskilled novice (more about them in section 5.3). Especially the refit groups that are attributable to the very skilled knapper can be used for a complete reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire of the typical Havelte-Group blade production. The best example at Oldeholtwolde is refit group 170 (described in section 4.3.3), which shows all components of the chaîne opératoire (for a further illustration, see Plate I). The only aim of flint-knapping in the Havelte tradition was the production of good blades, to be used as such or as blanks for tools. Almost all tools were made on blades. Only 11 flakes have retouch, but in many cases this may not be intentional, but retouch created by trampling or during knapping (see e.g. Moss, 1983b; Newcomer, 1976). Only very few flakes have use traces, according to the analysis by Moss. Some larger flakes, however, were transformed into notched tools, and used as such, and some borers or Zinken were also made of flakes. There are three important steps in the Havelte blade-production process. First a nodule had to be found; mostly slab-like pieces were selected, 3 or 4 cm in thickness. All nodules were collected out of the locally occurring bouldersand (the weathered top part of the boulderclay: Saalian ground moraines). Many of the nodules in the bouldersand have (and had during the Late Glacial) frostcracks; in addition, most are heavily patined and covered in windgloss. It must have been rather difficult to find sufficiently large flint nodules of good quality. After testing of the nodule, and a first rough shaping of the core, a core-front was prepared—if necessary—by cresting; the core-front was made into a slightly convex shape in side-view. Two opposite platforms were then carefully prepared. The angle between the platform and the core-front ideally was 40–60 degrees. Sometimes the platform and the edge between the core-front and the platform was abraded and crushed a little, in order to strengthen it (Johansen, 2000a). Blades were then produced, in most cases using both platforms. In quite a few cases, however, one platform was preferred for striking off blades, while the opposite platform was mainly used for correcting the core-front, for example after a hinge occurred. If the core-angles became unsuitable during the knapping process, new platforms were made, normally by knapping off rather small flakes. During the exploitation of the core, it was often necessary to (partly) crest the core-front again, mostly in order to repair a hinge. Sometimes the ridges between blade-scars on the core were rubbed with a hammerstone before the next blade was struck off. Some blades of Oldeholtwolde show crushed dorsal ridges as a result. This phenomenon is relatively scarce here; however, it can be seen much more frequently at the Havelte sites of Sølbjerg 2 and 3, southeastern Denmark (Petersen & Johansen, 1994). The en éperon technique, known from the Late Magdalenian (e.g. Valentin & Pigeot, 2000) and the Creswellian in Great Britain (e.g. Barton & Roberts, 1997) is not clearly in evidence at Oldeholtwolde. The reason is probably that this technique is especially useful in the production of big blades from quite long cores. In the moraine areas of the northern Netherlands it is difficult to find large nodules and blades therefore tend to

172

Dense flint scatters: knapping locations or dumps?

be rather short. Havelte people maybe did not wish to shorten the cores more than necessary during the bladeproduction process. It should be noted, however, that also at the Danish Havelte site of Sølbjerg, where blades and tools are at least one and a half times as long as at Oldeholtwolde, the en éperon technique was not used. We don’t know exactly what tools were used in knapping. However, most blades were knapped off with a soft hammer, either a ‘soft’ sandstone or an antler club. It is often difficult to distinguish between these possibilities. Hard hammers were sometimes used in the preparatory stage. Three or four hammerstones were found at Oldeholtwolde, at least one of which is a sandstone. That antler hammers were in use during Lateglacial times is shown by, for instance, the find of such an implement at the Federmesser site of Kettig (Baales, 1994; Baales & Street, 1996). One of the advantages of reconstructing the chaîne opératoire, is that it makes it possible to assess which parts of it are present, or missing, for each refitted group. Relatively few refit groups show the whole process, implying not only that the core was worked on the site, but also that the produced blades and tools were used and then discarded on the site. In other cases we see that a few good blades (or tools) are present, refittable into short sequences, but nothing else; these must have been imported to the site. Finally, there are sequences documenting the preparation and first stages of a core’s life, while any good blades or tools produced from it, and often the core too, are missing; they were most probably taken away from the site. Imported short sequences of good blades are found more often in the southern half of the site; sequences resulting from the last episodes of flintworking on the site are found especially in the northern half. The phenomenon of export/import of flint artefacts will be discussed more fully in section 5.4; and the impression that people rotated around the hearth during the site’s occupation will be investigated more fully in section 5.5. Here, it suffices to state that the concept of the chaîne opératoire is a very useful one; apart from clarifying technology, it helps to identify individual knappers, to distinguish import and export of artefacts, and it also contributes to creating a dynamic picture of the site’s occupation. A series of colour plates (Plates I–V) are appended to this paragraph. They show the ‘anatomy’ of the most important refit groups involving cores, and may be helpful in clarifying the Havelte chaîne opératoire; they also give an impression of the differences in skill between the three knappers assumed to have been active at Oldeholtwolde.

5.2. DENSE FLINT SCATTERS: KNAPPING LOCATIONS OR DUMPS? In order to understand the structure of a Stone Age site, and to construct a dynamic picture of its occupation, it is important to identify the exact spots where flint knapping took place. Unfortunately, this is not always an easy task. A dense scatter of lithic material does not necessarily reflect a knapping location. Such dense scatters may just as well result from dumping of flint waste en masse (e.g. Karlin & Newcomer, 1982). So, how do we distinguish between these two types of dense scatter? It proved useful to approach this problem by experimenting. A series of both flint-knapping and dumping experiments were carried out at the Historical–Archaeological Experimental Centre at Lejre in Denmark (Johansen, 1994; a series of unpublished reports describing all experiments were prepared for the Lejre Centre: Johansen, 1996; Johansen & Stapert, 1996; Johansen et al., 1996; 1997a; 1997b). In the initial stages of this project, it was believed that refitting might contribute to solving the problem, but this turned out to be hardly the case. For example, both at knapping locations and at dumps, we may find high percentages of refitted artefacts and dense clusters of short refit lines. Flint waste left at knapping locations may contain exactly the same elements as dumps of flint waste (see also Boëda & Pelegrin, 1985). We only have to imagine that a knapper did his work on a hide, and afterwards emptied the hide at another spot. Because of this possibility, it is not necessarily true (as often stated in the literature) that spots with a high density of chips and other small flint waste may safely be assumed to be knapping locations; such dense clusters of flint waste might equally well be dumps. Especially at sites that were occupied for a relatively long period, and where therefore clearing up would have taken place regularly, we should expect dumps of various types, occurring at some distance from the central activity area. For a realistic interpretation of the lay-out of any site it is very important to be able to distinguish between knapping locations and dumps. A statistical approach was devised for telling apart the two kinds of dense flint scatters, which often are not much larger than 0.5 m across. For this purpose, a series of both knapping and dumping experiments were

Towards dynamic reconstructions

173

performed at Lejre, in which all artefacts in the resulting scatters were counted in grid cells of only 10  10 cm. The collected data were processed and analysed using the ANALITHIC programme. The results for a first series of experiments were published in a joint paper (Johansen & Stapert, 1998); more work on this issue is planned. The main conclusion was that knapping locations are characterized by a heterogeneous internal structure, while dumps are more homogeneous. This was only to be expected; the point is that the difference turned out to be demonstrable by statistical means. Subareas within knapping spots may differ markedly in composition; this is hardly the case in dumps because of the mixing of material prior to and during dumping. This difference can be demonstrated by, for example, correlation analysis. However, the internal structure of a dense flint scatter can also be made visible graphically. A heterogeneous scatter may be characterized by widely varying proportions of, for instance, chips with respect to all artefacts, if counted in grid cells that are small enough. In experimental flint scatters produced by knapping it was found that cells with high proportions of chips were often located right next to cells with very low proportions. The ANALITHIC programme is able to produce so-called proportion maps, in which the percentage of chips in all cells is shown; internal heterogeneity or homogeneity may become visible in this way (proportion maps of all experimentally produced scatters at Lejre can be found in the reports mentioned above). At Oldeholtwolde, a series of dense flint scatters, containing relatively many chips, occurred in a wide circle around the hearth. These scatters are often less than 0.5 m in diameter. Some are more clearly delineated than others. For descriptive purposes, it seemed wise not to distinguish too many of such dense concentrations; after considering various types of distribution map a number of five clusters seemed appropriate (in some cases two small scatters lying very close to each other were lumped together; therefore, it has to be realized that some detail is lost). These five clusters with high amounts of small flint waste are labelled A–E. A density map of all chips for which we have exact coordinates (except Krukowski ‘microburins’ and other chips that may have resulted from retouching work) is presented in figure 231. In this map, cells of 50  50 cm were used, and the peripheral option for class division, somewhat stressing lower frequencies, was employed. The five dense scatters A–E are indicated; cluster D is not very conspicuous in this map. A second way of looking at these scatters is to consider the artefacts involved in very short refit lines, up to 50 cm in length. For this we can only use artefacts with exact coordinates. Figure 232 shows all these artefacts in cells of 50  50 cm, again using the peripheral option for class division. The picture is quite similar to that of figure 231, but clusters A and B are less conspicuous now, and cluster D stands out more clearly. A third way is to look at refitted artefacts with exact coordinates, shown as a percentage of all flint artefacts with exact coordinates, except chips, in cells of 50  50 cm (fig. 233). Only cells with at least five artefacts are

0

NSub: 2538 1–11 12–44 45–98 99–175 176–273 274–393

1 2 C

3

D

4 5

E

B

6 7

A

8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 231. All chips with exact coordinates, except chips that may derive from retouching work. Cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Class division according to the peripheral option, which is somewhat stressing lower frequencies. Five concentrations of chips are labelled A–E (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

174

Dense flint scatters: knapping locations or dumps? 0

NSub: 329 1 2–5 6–12 13–22 23–34 35–49

1 2 C

3

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4

E

5 B 6 A

7 8 9 10 14

13

12

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9

8

7

6

5

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1

0m

Fig. 232. All artefacts with exact coordinates involved in refits with refitlines not longer than 50 cm: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. As in fig. 231, the peripheral option for class division was employed. Dense clusters of chips are labelled A–E as in the previous figure (fig. L. Johansen).

2

C

3

NSub: 651 NMain: 1287 Prop.: 50.6% Threshold: 4 D

4

0.0–15.2% E 15.2–30.3% 5 30.4–45.5% B

45.6–60.6%

6 60.7–75.8% 75.9–90.9% A

7

8

9 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 233. Map showing the number of refitted artefacts as a percentage of all artefacts (except chips), in cells of 50  50 cm. For this proportion map, only artefacts with exact coordinates were used, and only cells with at least five artefacts in total are shown. Filled circles indicate cells where the percentage of refitted artefacts is higher than that over the whole area (50.6%); empty circles indicate cells with lower percentages. Note that the clusters of chips (A–E) in most cases also show relatively high refit-percentages, except cluster B (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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2

C

3

NSub: 2569 NMain: 3856 Prop.: 66.6% Threshold: 4 0.0–20.0% 20.1–40.0% 40.1–60.0% 60.1–80.0% 80.1–100.0%

D

4

E

5 B 6

7

A

8

9 10

9

8

7

6

5

4m

Fig. 234. Chips with exact coordinates, shown as a percentage of all artefacts with exact coordinates, in cells of 20  20 cm. Only cells with at least five artefacts are indicated. Note that the separate clusters are rather heterogeneous internally, in the sense that the percentage of chips varies widely—with in many cases cells with low percentages next to cells with very high percentages. For an example of one of these clusters (B) in more detail, see fig. 235 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

represented in this map. Concentrations A, C, D and E are visible, but B does not seem to be characterized by a high proportion of refitted artefacts. Concentration D appears very large in this map. Also close to the hearth, high proportions of refitted artefacts show up in several cells. Finally, a proportion map of the chips with exact coordinates, shown as a percentage of all flints with exact coordinates, is presented in figure 234. In this case, cells of only 20  20 cm are used. Again, only cells with at least five artefacts in total are represented, thus revealing the areas with relatively high artefact numbers. Clusters A, B, C and E are clearly visible, but cluster D is not conspicuous and appears to be fragmented. In all clusters, however, it may be noted that cells with relatively high proportions of chips occur right next to cells with relatively low proportions. These scatters therefore show a heterogeneous internal structure, suggesting that we are dealing with residues at knapping locations (for a further discussion of proportion maps in this context, see Johansen & Stapert, 1996, 1998). As an example, concentration B is shown in more detail in figure 235; here cells of 10  10 cm are employed. Two subareas with higher proportions of chips than in the area as a whole are visible; it is probable that one of the legs of a seated flint-knapper separated these two sub-clusters. The individual concentrations will now be briefly described. Concentration A contains quite a lot of chips occurring in a quite concentrated fashion. On the map of artefacts with short refit lines (fig. 232) it is not very conspicuous, but the concentration shows up well in the proportion map of refitted artefacts (fig. 233). The concentration contains many chips deriving from flint knapping, but because there are relatively few short refit lines clustered together, it seems that knapping was done here in several episodes, not always at exactly the same spot. This is supported by the fact that many refit groups are

176

Dense flint scatters: knapping locations or dumps? 5.00 5.10

NSub: 354 NMain: 522 Prop.: 67.8% Threshold: 4

5.20 5.30 5.40 5.50 5.60

0.0–20.0% 20.1–40.0% 40.1–60.0% 60.1–80.0% 80.1–100.0%

5.70 5.80 5.90 6.00 9.20 9.10 9.00 8.90 8.80 8.70 8.60 8.50 8.40 8.30 8.20 8.10 8.00 m

Fig. 235. Cluster B is shown here in more detail. Chips with exact coordinates, shown as a percentage of all artefacts with exact coordinates, in cells of 10  10 cm. The grid position creating the highest possible percentage (in at least one cell) was calculated. Only cells with at least five artefacts were considered. Note that the cluster is internally heterogeneous, suggesting that it was created, at least partly, by flint knapping on the spot (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

centred in this area, mostly small ones. It also appears that the knapping residues became somewhat disturbed afterwards. Some knapping was done in this area, but it certainly was not extensive. The knapping in this area was probably done by both knapper 1 and knapper 2 (see section 5.3). Concentration B shows a heavy concentration of chips, both in the density map and in the proportion map. But this concentration is not visible in the map where refitted artefacts are shown as a percentage of all artefacts, and it is not conspicuous in the density map of artefacts involved in short refit lines. Because of its heterogeneous internal structure this most probably is (also) a knapping location, but it seems that most of the larger (refittable) elements produced here were subsequently removed from the spot. We do not know which knapper worked here, because there are no long sequences associated with this concentration that might allow an identification. Concentration C is dominated by the artefacts of the large refit group 170. The concentration clearly shows up on all four types of map presented above. There are many chips, many short refit lines and high numbers and proportions of refitted artefacts. Knapping was done at this spot, and the resulting residue was not much disturbed later. Many of the larger artefacts produced here were removed to other areas on the site, mainly to the area of concentration D. The knapper who worked here was knapper 1, the most skilled knapper at the site. Concentration D shows up very clearly on the proportion map of refitted artefacts (fig. 233), but not so clearly on the other maps presented above. There are relatively few chips here, and in the proportion map of the chips the concentration appears fragmented (fig. 234). This concentration is located near the small ring of stones north of the hearth. It may be that this ring reflects the position of a cooking pit (fragments of cooking stones were found close by). This spot was mainly an activity area, and many blades and tools produced elsewhere on the site were transported here to be used. Quite a few artefacts in this area are blades and tools (mostly with notches) produced in concentration C, and this is the main reason why concentration D contains a relatively high number (and proportion) of refitted artefacts. Not much serious flint-knapping took place in this area, though three refit groups without cores (Nos 49, 51 and 101) probably reflect some knapping in this area; these relatively short sequences contained a high number of tools (especially with notches). Concentration E shows up very clearly in all types of map presented above. There are many chips in the area, and they occur tightly clustered. We find here the densest concentration of short refit lines. This concentration is a knapping spot that does not at all seem to have become disturbed afterwards; it therefore probably reflects the last episode of knapping at the site, just before the occupants departed.

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In general, it appears that the dense concentrations A and B, southeast and southwest of the hearth, were probably ‘disturbed’ to some degree after the knapping took place there (see also section 5.8). Moreover, in most cases relatively small sequences are involved. On the other hand, concentrations C and E, northwest and north of the hearth, seem rather undisturbed, though much more flint-waste was present there, and much longer sequences could be documented by refitting. This suggests that the southern half of the site was used especially in an early phase of the site’s occupation and the northern area in a late phase. This possibility will be discussed in more detail in later sections. All dense scatters at Oldeholtwolde seem to contain residues of knapping. Concentration D, however, can largely be interpreted as an activity area where blades and tools were used; only a little flint-knapping has been going on there. Cluster B shows up weakly in several maps; though knapping must have been done here, this spot also has some characteristics of a dump.

5.3. THE THREE FLINT KNAPPERS As noted above, a refitting analysis may in some cases reveal the level of technical skill of the flintknapper(s) on the site (and in exceptional cases also some of their idiosyncrasies). This may result in the identification of several individual flint knappers, as at Pincevent (Bodu et al., 1990), Etiolles (Pigeot, 1987), and also at Oldeholtwolde. Of course, there are several problems with this approach. An obvious problem is the circumstance that the nodules exploited at a site may have differed in quality. A piece of very poor quality would have troubled even a very skilled knapper, especially if there were hidden frostcracks in the flint, and the resulting waste material in such cases would not strike an observer as having been produced by a proficient knapper. Apart from such evident complications, we should also consider that any knapper may have had a bad day, or lost concentration for a while during the work on a specific core. Nevertheless, the analysis of a large refitted sequence, especially by someone with personal experience in flint knapping, will often make it possible to assess quite reliably the level of skill of the prehistoric flint knapper. This assessment will be the more reliable when the knapper had to face severe problems during the exploitation of the core, resulting for example from frostcracks in the flint, or from the development of a hinge. The way such problems were handled often gives valuable insights into his (or her) level of skill. A skilled and experienced knapper would have known how to resolve such problems, but a less skilled knapper may have experienced trouble in overcoming them. A totally unskilled knapper would in general only do wrong strokes, merely aggravating the problems. The experimental archaeologist Jacques Pelegrin (pers. comm.) often compares flint knapping to playing chess; only a skilled player knows a good move in each situation, and is able to anticipate future developments. Of course, a long refitted sequence offers the best chances for establishing the level of competence, but in some cases even a very short sequence may reveal the knapper’s skill (or the absence of it), especially if a core is involved. In the case of Oldeholtwolde, it seems to be reasonable, on the basis of the refitting results, to distinguish between three flintknappers: knapper 1, a very skilled knapper, who knew the whole chaîne opératoire of the Havelte blade production; knapper 2, a knapper still in the learning stage but already with some skill; and knapper 3, who was totally unskilled. Examples of the work done by these three postulated knappers are described and illustrated above (in chapter 4; see also the Plates). Though a few cases of female stone-working are known ethnographically, this was mostly the work of men. In a cross-cultural study by Murdock and Provost (1973), data about 73 groups are given (both hunter/gatherers and other peoples). With 67 of these peoples (91.8%) stone-working was done exclusively by men; with the remaining six groups, both men and women worked stone. There are no physical reasons why women should not be flint knappers (the first author of this text is one), but there were most probably both cultural and evolutionary reasons for this division of labour by sex. Though it is quite possible that during the Upper Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic some women were experienced knappers, and even probable that most women knew how to knap a little in case of an emergency, we may nevertheless assume that most if not all Upper Palaeolithic knappers were men, at least most of the time. This is all the more likely because tools and toolmaking would have been very important for hunting—another activity almost exclusively done by men, according to Murdock and Provost (1973). All in all, it seems probable that our knapper 1 was an adult man, with a lot of experience. Knapper 2 was probably a big boy, who was an advanced pupil in the art of flint knapping. Finally, knapper 3 was probably a young boy. It is reasonable to suppose that the three knappers were related; the site is a relatively small one that

178

The three flint knappers

must have been occupied for only a short period. Therefore, the most plausible interpretation is that we are in the presence of a father (knapper 1) and two of his sons: an older boy (knapper 2) and a young boy (knapper 3). We may assume that at least one woman was present too, because according to the use-wear analysis by Moss a good deal of hide-working was done at the site; hide-working was mostly women’s work (Murdock & Provost, ibid.). The conclusion is that at Oldeholtwolde most probably a family camped for a few weeks, consisting of at least a father, a mother and two boys. (Assuming all this is correct, it follows that it is especially the presence of daughters that is difficult to demonstrate archaeologically.) Good flint was a relatively scarce material in the area around Oldeholtwolde. All the nodules used on the site were collected from local moraine outcrops, and these pieces were often quite small and damaged by glacial transport and frostcracking. The cores knapped by flint knapper 3 in most cases still contained plenty of useful material when they were discarded. On the other hand, the cores worked by the very skilled knapper (1) were totally exhausted at the moment of discard. Knappers 1 and 2 in many cases had to use material of rather poor quality; most nodules had internal frostcracks that were not easily visible on the outer surface. In such circumstances it is perhaps not surprising that some of the cores imported to the site were already almost exhausted when they arrived there. But this makes it somewhat strange that the novice flint knapper (No. 3) had access to rather good material, and one may also wonder why the skilled knappers did not use the still serviceable cores discarded by knapper 3. Maybe knapper 3 hid away his precious cores? In previous chapters it was already indicated which refit groups may be ascribed to the three assumed flint knappers at the site. In many cases it is difficult to distinguish between knappers 1 and 2, especially when no problems occurred during the knapping. Nine refitted sequences can be attributed with some probability to knapper 1 (groups 14, 16, 49, 51, 66, 74, 122, 141 and 170). Three refitted sequences can be attributed to flint knapper 2 (groups 10, 46 and 95). The core of group 46 had probably been knapped by knapper 1 before it arrived at the site. One refitted sequence (group 4) seems to have been worked by both knapper 1 and knapper 2 (first by knapper 1, then by knapper 2). Two refitted sequences can be attributed to knapper 3 (groups 50 and 72); the core of group 50 had probably earlier been knapped by knapper 1. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9 1

8

7 2

6 3

5

4 4

3

2

1

0m

5

Fig. 236. Map of knapping locations, and identifications of the knappers. This map is based on the refit groups reflecting probable flint knapping on the site, and containing more than five artefacts with exact coordinates; in total, there are 16 such refit groups. For each of these, density maps were prepared of the artefacts with exact coordinates, using cells of 50  50 cm. In all cases the position of the grid creating the richest possible cell was calculated (examples of such ‘optimized’ density maps for the larger refit groups are presented above). The richest cell found in this way for each refit group was taken as the most probable centre of its knapping location, indicated in this figure. See also fig. 237. (1) Knapping spots of knapper 1; (2) knapping spots of knapper 2; (3) knapping spot of knapper 3; (4) knapping spots of either knapper 1 or knapper 2; (5) knapping spot of knapper 1 and knapper 2 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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Figure 236 shows the most probable knapping locations for 16 refit groups involving sequences; the knapper is indicated in cases where the identification is reasonably certain. (The procedure used to produce this map is explained in the caption.) As can be seen, there are (at least) three knapping locations that can be attributed to knapper 1; in each spot at least two refit groups were knapped by this knapper. These locations occurred at distances of 1.5–2.5 m from the hearth to the west, north and NNE (these are clusters C–E in fig. 231). In cluster D, flintknapping was limited; it is especially in clusters C and E that long sequences must have been knapped. To knapper 2 at least two knapping locations can be attributed, close to each other, at 0.5–1 m west of the hearth. At least one knapping location can be attributed to knapper 3; it is located right next to the hearth, to the east. Several knapping locations may have been created by either knapper 1 or knapper 2. Two of these occurred close to locations ascribed to knapper 1, and may therefore have been left by him. Several other locations of either knapper 1 or knapper 2 occurred on the opposite, southern side of the hearth, one of which was located about 3 m south of the hearth. The advanced learner probably sat close to the skilled knapper during at least one, and maybe several, episodes of flint knapping at Oldeholtwolde, the two of them 1 to 1.5 m apart. If we look only at the attributions of which we may feel quite certain, it can be seen that the skilled knapper on average sat the farthest away from the hearth, and the young boy the closest. The advanced learner sat at intermediate distances during knapping. This is more or less the opposite picture to that found at Etiolles U5 (Pigeot, 1987). The difference may reflect different seasons of occupation; at Oldeholtwolde occupation during summer is probable (Stapert, 1984); at Etiolles there is some evidence for occupation during the end of winter or early spring (Olive et al., 1991). Another aspect is that flint knapping seems to have been the dominant activity at some units of Etiolles, while Oldeholtwolde seems to represent a family base camp. In figure 237, all knapping locations for which we possess the cores exploited there are indicated, together with the locations of these cores. It may be seen that the cores in many cases occurred at quite a distance from the spots where they were knapped. Evidently, used-up cores were mostly tossed away from the central activity area around the hearth towards the periphery (see also section 3.5.1), a process known as the ‘centrifugal effect’ (e.g. Stapert, 1992). But this is not true for all cores. The centrifugal effect worked especially well with respect to the cores exploited by knappers 1 and 2. At the knapping location of knapper 3, however, we find not only the core worked by him on the spot, but also three cores or core fragments discarded by knapper 2. It seems that knapper 3 collected these used-up cores, and brought them to this spot close to the hearth. At the end of this section it may be noted that the existence of two or three levels of knapping skill has also been postulated for other sites; as a recent example the excellent publication on Rekem in Belgium can be mentioned (De Bie & Caspar, 2000); see also Barton (1992) on Hengistbury Head. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 237. Map of the knapping locations of sequences involving a core (or several fitting core fragments), and the locations of these cores. For key of the knapping spots: see fig. 236. The cores are indicated by star symbols. Note that in several cases the cores were located relatively far away from the spots where they had been knapped. Note also that several cores exploited by knappers 1 or 2 ended up near the knapping location used by knapper 3 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

180

Tools: import versus on-the-site production

5.4. TOOLS: IMPORT VERSUS ON-THE-SITE PRODUCTION It is of interest to compare the percentages of the various tool types for two groups: on the one hand, tools that were probably imported, and on the other, tools that were probably made on the site. As may be seen in table 8, not all tools in sequences can be considered as having been manufactured on the site; some were knapped elsewhere and imported together with a few other tools or blades from the same core. In table 8 it is indicated which sequences are interpreted as probably having been knapped on the site (‘S’). If we count the tools of those sequences, their total is only 54: 18% of the total number of tools (300) after the refitting of breaks. Most tools left on the site were not produced there. In order to get a clearer picture for our comparison between tools inside and outside sequences knapped on the site, it was decided to split up combination tools into their constituent parts; they will therefore be counted twice (for example: one burin and one scraper). Double tools were counted as one, however (for several reasons, one of which is the existence of many fragmented tools even after the refitting of breaks). Rounded ends (possible firemakers) were not counted in table 9, because they do not constitute a formal tool type. The numbers of tools in table 9 listed as having been made on the site should be considered as minimum estimates. Tools that cannot be refitted into sequences were not necessarily imported to the site. Even so, the proportion of the tools that were both manufactured and discarded on the site is much lower than may be expected, probably not more than one third and maybe considerably less. This proportion will be the higher the longer a site was occupied. In figure 238, the frequencies of the tool types, listed in table 9, are illustrated in a bar graph; in black the tools that were most probably made on the site. Figure 239 shows, for each tool type, the percentage that were most probably made on the site. Notched tools have the highest percentage: c. 37%. Burins, truncations and Zinken have moderate proportions of clearly site-made specimens. Retouched blades and scrapers show percentages far below the average (22.6%): around 9%. Most extremely, probably none of the points were made on the site; they all seem to be imported, and were probably carried to the site in a hafted state (as arrowheads). The same phenomenon can be noted at several other sites. For example, none of the more than 80 points of the Epi-Ahrensburgian site at Gramsbergen I could be refitted in the ventral/dorsal way; of the 39 points from the Epi-Ahrensburgian site at Oudehaske, only one could be refitted in a sequence (Johansen & Stapert, 2000). At the small Creswellian site of Emmerhout (Stapert, 1987), none of the tools could be refitted ventrally/dorsally. Though we have to be careful in interpreting the data in table 9, it may nevertheless be concluded that points and scrapers were especially well represented among the tools carried during travel, in addition to retouched blades. It is furthermore probable that a fairly large number of unretouched blades were imported to the site, as blanks (see also section 5.5).

Table 9. Tools: imported or made on the site. Based on table 8, the tools that were probably made on the site were counted: numbers after the refitting of breaks. In this table, combination tools are counted twice. Double tools are counted once. Rounded ends—possible firemakers—are not counted. Percentages are calculated in two ways: (A) vertical: based on the total of the groups, in order to compare the tool spectrum of imported tools with that of tools made on the site; (B) horizontal: per type, in order to compare the types with each other in terms of the proportion in which they were probably imported. Diagrams illustrating the data in this table are presented in figures 238–240. Types

Total n

Made on the site %A

Points Scrapers Burins Truncations Zinken/borers Notched tools Retouched blades Retouched flakes

32 23 29 23 62 103 44 11

9.8 7.0 8.9 7.0 19.0 31.5 13.5 3.4

Total

327

100.1

n 0 2 7 5 15 38 4 3 74 (22.6%)

Imported

%A

%B

0.0 2.7 9.5 6.8 20.3 51.4 5.4 4.1

0.0 8.7 24.1 21.7 24.2 36.9 9.1 27.3

100.2

–

n 32 21 22 18 47 65 40 8 253 (77.4%)

%A

%B

12.7 8.3 8.7 7.1 18.6 25.7 15.8 3.2

100.0 91.3 75.9 78.3 75.8 63.1 90.9 72.7

100.1

–

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In figure 240, the two groups of tools (probably locally-made and possibly imported) are compared with each other. The dominant tool type among the tools that can be refitted in sequences knapped on the site is the notched tool: 51.4%. Also Zinken are well represented among the tools made, used and discarded on the site. Among the tools that cannot be refitted into sequences, notched tools are still the most numerous type, but far from predominant: 25.7%. Most refitted sequences reflect knapping on the site. Only six sequences containing tools were most probably knapped elsewhere (see table 8). It has to be noted, however, that for a substantial number of short sequences containing tools (some ten sequences), it is not really possible to decide whether or not the knapping was done on the site. Around 15 of the sequences containing tools but no cores, document the process of preparing a core-front. These refit groups are totally or largely covered by natural surfaces. Around 20 of the sequences without cores come from somewhere in the middle of the exploitation sequence of a blade-core. Of the longer sequences containing tools and a core, only one (group 68) shows that an unprepared nodule was brought to the site. The knapper would have been wise to test the nodule earlier, which he obviously did

Number (after refitting breaks)

120 110

Site-made,74

100 90

Import?,253

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 NOT

ZIN

BLA

POI

BUR

SCR

TRU

FLA

Types

Fig. 238. Tools at Oldeholtwolde: numbers per type group after the refitting of breaks. Combination tools were counted twice, but rounded ends (which were probably used to make fire) were omitted because they are not formal tools. Multiple tools of a single type were counted as one. Tools considered to have been manufactured on the site are indicated in black (see table 9 for the data; note that all points are considered to have been imported to the site). Key: NOT—notched tools; ZIN—Zinken and borers (of these, Zinken are the great majority); BLA—blades with retouch; POI—points; BUR—burins; SCR—scrapers; TRU—truncations (both straight and oblique); FLA—flakes with retouch. See also figs 239 and 240 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert). 100 90

Percentage per type

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

NOT,103

FLA,11

ZIN,62

BUR,29

TRU,23

BLA,44

SCR,23

POI,32

Types

Fig. 239. For each of the main tool types, the percentage of the tools probably manufactured on the site is indicated in black. For the data, see table 9. For key of tool types: see fig. 238. Compare with fig. 240 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

182

Moving around the hearth 60

Percentage per assemblage

Site-made,75 50 Import?,253 40 30 20 10 0 NOT

ZIN

BUR

BLA TRU Types

FLA

SCR

POI

Fig. 240. Two groups of tools at Oldeholtwolde: those that were probably made on the site, and those that were probably imported to the site. Percentages for the main types, for both of these two groups, are presented; for the data, see table 9. It may be noted that especially notched tools were made, used and discarded at the site. Most of the retouched blades and scrapers, and all of the points, were imported to the site (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

not, because it turned out to be full of frostcracks; only one blade with retouch was produced, of which it is not even certain that the retouch was intentional. The nodules of two of the larger refit groups with cores were either prepared (group 30) or only tested (group 170) elsewhere, before arriving at the site. At least two refit groups document cores which had already been knapped elsewhere, and were then exploited again on the site (groups 10 and 58). All sequences containing tools, whether or not produced on the site, provide information concerning the phenomenon known as ‘core specialisation’ or ‘serial production’: the tendency for just one or a few types to be represented among the tools from any core (see Löhr, 1990, for a discussion of this phenomenon, and more references). It is true that at Oldeholtwolde some sequences include a rather wide variety of tool types; two refit groups (10 and 30) contain tools of up to five different types. Nevertheless, core specialisation is clearly in evidence at Oldeholtwolde, even with small refit groups (for the data, see table 8). For example, of the nine refit groups containing three tools, five have tools of only one type: notches in three cases, Zinken in the remaining two cases. There are only three refit groups with more than five tools. The most spectacular example of core specialisation is, without doubt, one of these: refit group 170. It has eight tools: seven notched tools and one combination tool, combining a Zinken with a notch. This is extreme, also given that in many cases Zinken and notches served similar purposes (Moss, 1988). Refit group 10 contains nine tools; though five types are represented, four tools are of the same type: Zinken. Refit group 51 also has nine tools: six notched tools, two Zinken and one combination tool, combining a burin with notches. It may be noted that among the tools in sequences, especially notched tools and Zinken are well represented. Of the total of 98 tools in sequences, 66 are notched tools or Zinken: about two-thirds. These tools were used for technical tasks (Moss, 1988), and most of them were manufactured, used and discarded on the site. Finally, it is of interest to note that core specialisation is evident especially in the sequences knapped by the expert knapper 1. The products of the advanced learner, knapper 2, show much more variation in terms of the produced tool types per core. 5.5. MOVING AROUND THE HEARTH At encampments such as Oldeholtwolde, with occupation debris clustered around a hearth in the open air, we have to consider the possibility that people rotated around the hearth during their occupation of the site, as a result of changes in the prevailing wind direction. People would have rotated to remain windward of the hearth, in order to avoid sitting in the smoke. This is a disturbing possibility, because it means that even if such a site was occupied for a brief period and has been preserved well, much of the resulting artefact scatter may nevertheless be a palimpsest. To a certain extent, the existence of such a rotation around the hearth during occupation

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can be demonstrated by a combination of refitting analysis and ring & sector analysis, as will be illustrated below (for preliminary accounts of this approach see: Stapert & Boekschoten, 1996; Boekschoten et al., 1997; Stapert, 2000). An investigation along these lines may result in the establishment of a ‘micro-chronology’: the recognition of a series of phases in the occupation of the space around a hearth in the open, and identification of the areas within this space where certain activities occurred during the various phases. The idea is to compare the spatial distributions of imported blades and tools with those of the blades and tools produced on the site. It is reasonable to assume that the imported tools and blades were used in the first phase of occupation. Only later on did people collect flint nodules in the vicinity, which were then knapped on the site. A second assumption is that some of the imported blades were later transformed into tools, which therefore may represent a somewhat later phase than the unretouched blades. The same types of reasoning probably apply to the blades and tools deriving from nodules knapped on the site. On the basis of the above considerations, it seems possible to roughly define four phases, represented by the following artefact groups: (1) blades not refittable in the ventral/dorsal way, (2) tools not refittable in the ventral/dorsal way, (3) blades in production sequences, (4) tools in production sequences. Of course, this is a rough outline; in fact it is no more than an approximation, and the phases so distinguished will in reality have overlapped in time. Nevertheless, comparing the spatial distributions of these four groups may allow us to investigate whether or not a rotation around the hearth occurred. To investigate this, density maps and sector graphs were made for each of these artefact groups. The density maps are presented in figs 241–244. In these maps the position of the grid creating the richest possible cell was calculated, so as to bring out the ‘centres of gravity’ in each case. Of course, only artefacts for which we have exact coordinates can be subjected to this treatment. Furthermore, two different ways of class division were used: the peripheral option was used if the richest cell contained more than 20 artefacts, and the linear one if the richest cell had less than 20 artefacts. It may be seen that blades that cannot be fitted into sequences occurred especially southwest and south of the hearth, while blades refitted into sequences occurred in high densities especially northwest and north of the hearth (figs 241 and 243, respectively). Similarly, tools that cannot be fitted into sequences have their richest cell southeast of the hearth, though they also occurred elsewhere; tools that can be fitted into sequences have their richest cell on the opposite side of the hearth: to its north (figs 242 and 244, respectively). Sector analysis is suited to investigate these patterns more fully. For all four artefact groups, sector graphs were prepared (figs 245–248). Here all artefacts with exact coordinates within 5 m from the hearth centre were counted. The ANALITHIC-programme can calculate the position of the sector-wheel to create the richest possible sector, an optimizing option used for these figures. It should be noted that the circle in sector graphs (indicating the average number per sector) becomes smaller in diameter as the tendency for the artefacts to cluster in only one or a few adjacent sectors becomes stronger (see note on p. 218). Blades that cannot be fitted into sequences (fig. 245) should reflect the first occupation phase; they cluster southwest of the hearth. The second phase would be represented by tools that cannot be fitted into sequences (fig. 246); their tendency to cluster is less strong but they occurred especially west of the hearth. The third phase would be represented best by the blades knapped on the site, whose distribution can be approximated by looking at the blades that could be fitted into sequences (fig. 247); they cluster northwest and northeast of the hearth, though there is a small third cluster southeast of the hearth. Finally, tools made of blades knapped on the site, represented by the tools that can be fitted into sequences (fig. 248), cluster NNW to north of the hearth. Another feature of the ANALITHIC programme is its ability to calculate the position of the sector wheel with the richest possible half (in fact, one then looks for the position with the richest possible sector when only two sectors are employed). This was done for the four artefact groups under discussion here (diagrams not illustrated). The directions of the radii in the centres of these richest halves were then used to estimate the prevailing wind directions during the four putative occupation phases; the resulting wind directions are indicated in figure 249. It may be noted first of all that the four directions are in a logical order: the supposedly oldest phase, represented by blades not fitting in sequences, would have had a prevailing wind direction from the southwest, and during the following phases the prevailing wind direction appears to have gradually veered, moving clockwise, to almost north. During the occupation at Oldeholtwolde, the whole area around the hearth was probably used at one time or other, but certain areas were used more intensively than others. In the first phase, people sat and worked mostly to the southwest of the hearth. During their stay they gradually moved to the north of the hearth. It is of interest to note that nowadays, a wind veering from south to north is typically what happens when a depression moves across Holland from the west.

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The model developed here implies that most tools from blades knapped on the site were manufactured to the north of the hearth, during the later stages of the site’s occupation. Several other ways of looking at the data will be explored later, in order to test this model. Here, a density map of chips that will have resulted mostly from retouching work is presented (fig. 250). In this figure especially so-called ‘Krukowski microburins’ are mapped: chips with retouch and having a little bulb of percussion, originating mainly from accidents during retouching work; other chips recognizably deriving from retouching work were also included. Only pieces with exact coordinates were used in this density map with cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell 0

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was calculated. It can be seen that these chips cluster especially north of the hearth, though somewhat increased numbers also occur west and northwest of the hearth. In other words: these chips from retouching work occur in the same area where most of the tools were found that can be refitted into sequences. In fact, many of these chips may result from retouching the last tools manufactured on the site, many of which were subsequently exported. To a certain extent, this map supports the model described above. 0

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Fig. 243. Blades with exact coordinates that could be fitted into sequences. A large part of these blades were probably knapped on the site. Density map with cells of 50  50 cm. The position of the grid creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Peripheral class division. See also fig. 247 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert). 0

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Fig. 244. Tools with exact coordinates that could be fitted into production sequences. Probably most of these tools were made from blades knapped on the site. Density map with cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Linear class division. See also fig. 248 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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NSub: 246 Mean : 30.8 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 245. Blades with exact coordinates that could not be refitted in the ventral/dorsal way. Sector graph employing eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. The circle indicates the mean number per sector, the centre has the value zero. The circle will be smaller in diameter as the tendency of the specimens to cluster in one or a few sectors increases (see note on p. 218). The sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector was calculated (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

NSub: 185 Mean : 23.1 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 246. Tools with exact coordinates that could not be refitted into sequences. Sector graph with eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

NSub: 179 Mean : 22.4 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 247. Blades with exact coordinates that were refitted into sequences. Sector graph with eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

NSub: 95 Mean : 11.9 D ⬍ 500 cm

Fig. 248. Tools with exact coordinates that could be refitted into sequences. Sector graph with eight sectors within 5 m from the hearth centre. Sector-wheel position creating the richest possible sector (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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ble ina njo Co ls ble too ina njo Co d e s bla

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Fig. 249. Diagram showing reconstructed prevailing wind directions for four hypothetical occupation phases, represented by four artefact groups (in ‘chronological’ order: blades not fitting into sequences, tools not fitting into sequences, blades fitting into sequences, and tools fitting into sequences). It is suggested that wind direction changed from SW to NNW during the period of occupation. The diagram was constructed by calculating the richest half (not the richest sector, as in figs 245–248) for the four groups of artefacts, and using the centre of these halves as the best approximation of the prevailing wind direction. Note that the word ‘conjoinable’ used in the diagram stands for ‘fitting in the ventral/dorsal way’ (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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Fig. 250. Density map of ‘Krukowski micro-burins’ and other chips that may have originated during retouching work (see fig. 158 for a sector graph). Only pieces with exact coordinates; numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated. Note that cells fairly rich in retouch chips occur northwest, and above all north of the hearth; this is the same area where most of the tools that can be fitted into sequences occurred (see fig. 248). Probably most tools were manufactured in this area during a late stage of the occupation, just before abandonment of the site (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

5.6. SOME DISTINCTIVE RAW MATERIALS All flints (and stones of other kinds) left behind at Oldeholtwolde were collected by the occupants from the northern moraines in the area, the boulderclay, dating to the Saalian. To be more precise, the flint nodules come from the top part of the till deposits: the so-called bouldersand. This lag-deposit was formed by weathering and

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erosion of the boulderclay over a long period of time, and is quite rich in flints (and other stones). However, most flints in the bouldersand are rather weathered, covered in windgloss, and damaged by frostcracking. Hamburgian people must have invested a good deal of energy into collecting usable nodules from the bouldersand. In general, the flints brought to the site are of reasonable quality: fine-grained, grey Senonian flint. Unfortunately, quite a few nodules exploited at the site were very similar in colour and texture. Only seven distinctive types of flint can be singled out, the artefacts of which can be recognized with certainty—also when they cannot be refitted to other artefacts of the same material. In some cases, only a few isolated artefacts, or even a single one, are all there is of a specific kind of flint (e.g. raw material 2: one burin and two burin spalls; raw material 3: four burin spalls; raw material 7: one blade with retouch). Such artefacts were definitely made elsewhere, and imported to the site. In the case of raw materials for which we possess several refitted groups, including sequences, we must carefully look at all the evidence in order to establish whether or not these artefacts were manufactured on the site. The raw materials 1–7 will now be briefly described. Raw material 1 (figs 251–253) A very characteristic light-grey, rather coarse-grained type of flint, containing many small Bryozoan fossils. In total, there are 34 artefacts of this raw material, of which 11 were stray finds (most of the stray finds were collected by Mr Jan Boschker prior to the excavation, in the disturbed area east of the hearth). Most artefacts of this material were located in the area south and southeast of the hearth, though quite some blades and tools of this material occurred widely scattered over the site. Quite a lot of fragments of blades or tools could be refitted to each other, resulting in a number of quite long blades and seven tools (figs 251 and 252). In addition, one refitted group (No. 1 in fig. 251) documents a short sequence of four strokes (refit group 14, see section 4.3.2), which after the refitting of breaks consists of two complete blades, a blade fragment and a fragment of a truncated blade. According to the analysis by Moss, one of the complete blades has use wear resulting from working hide. Among the tools of this raw material are two notched blades (Nos 2 and 4 in fig. 251), one of which (No. 2) has use wear resulting from butchering, and from cleaning fish, according to Moss. Then there are two Zinken (No. 3 in fig. 251 and No. 5 in fig. 252); one of these (No. 5) has hide use-wear, the other (No. 3) shows traces of contact with hide and wood. Furthermore there is a notched point (No. 6 in fig. 252), of which the medial part, according to Moss, was used as a barb (see section 3.4). Two scrapers (Nos 8 and 9 in fig. 252) are also made of raw material 1. One of these (No. 9) was analysed by Moss; it has hide use-wear. The remaining artefacts of this material are blades. Five of these are shown in fig. 252 (Nos 7 and 10–13); Moss found use-wear traces on all of them. Blades Nos 7, 11 and 13 have traces of contact with wood; blade No. 10 was used on hide, and blade No. 12 shows wear of processing plant material. Quite a lot, or maybe even all, of the artefacts of this raw material were used, either before they arrived at the site or during its occupation. The blades of this raw material are rather large and thick. Because of the Bryozoan fossils in the flint, blades would easily break if they were too thin, so the knapper had to produce sturdy blades. Quite a few of the blades became fragmented, but this was at least partly a result of secondary frostsplitting. After the refitting of breaks, the longest blade of this raw material is 9.5 cm, which is one of the longest at the site. The core from which the blades of refit group 14 were struck must have been even longer, also given the fact that this sequence is from the middle of the blade-production series from this core (which was not present at the site). There are no flakes or chips of this raw material, and only one short dorsal/ventral sequence could be refitted. All the blades are of fairly good quality, suitable as blanks for tools. These artefacts were certainly not knapped on the site, but represent some of the best products from a blade-core exploited elsewhere. They were part of the tool kit carried in travel, and used during the first phase of occupation at Oldeholtwolde. The knapper was very skilled: knapper 1. It is of considerable interest that most blades and tools of this material occurred in the area south of the hearth. Figure 253 presents a density map of the artefacts with exact locations. The grid position creating the richest possible cell was calculated; the richest cell occurs south of the hearth. As noted above, it is probable that during the initial phases of occupation, people mostly sat in this area. Raw material 2 (fig. 254) Of this raw material only three artefacts are present. The flint is of a fine-grained and ‘flamed’ type, light-grey parts alternating with dark-grey zones. The artefacts comprise a combination tool combining a burin and a

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rounded end, and two burin spalls of which one could be fitted to the tool. The unrefitted burin spall was probably also struck from the same tool; moreover, after the fitting spall was removed, yet another was struck off (which was not found). The tool was analysed by Moss; the burin end does not have any use traces, and the rounded end shows wear resulting from use on stone. It is probable that the rounded end was used in the production of fire, in combination with pyrite/marcasite (Stapert & Johansen, 1999). The three artefacts were 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 23 NRefits: 13

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Fig. 251. Top: map of the artefacts of raw material 1. See also figs 252 and 253. In all, there are 34 artefacts (11 are stray finds, one of which is a point consisting of three fragments). Open symbols: artefacts from the sieve. Bottom: drawings of several artefacts of this raw material. (1) Refit group 14, containing a fragment of a truncated blade; (2) notched blade; (3) Zinken; (4) notched blade (fig. L. Johansen).

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Fig. 253. All artefacts of raw material 1 with exact coordinates: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position creating the richest possible cell (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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Fig. 254. Top: map of the artefacts of raw material 2. Bottom: drawing of the artefacts of this material. (1) Combination tool: burin/rounded end, and fitting burin spall (fig. L. Johansen).

located quite close together about 3 m south of the hearth. The tool was not produced on the site but part of the imported tool kit, and used during the first phase of the occupation. It seems probable that the burin spalls were removed on the site in order to facilitate handling or hafting of the tool during work with the part opposite the burin edge (on burin function, see also Moss, 1986; 1988). Raw material 3 (fig. 255) Of this raw material there are only four burin spalls. The flint is a distinctive type of light-grey, very homogeneous Senonian flint. All four spalls were probably struck from one (multiple?) burin, which was not found. Three spalls occurred southeast of the hearth, the fourth at its west, and all of them quite close to the hearth. Because there is nothing else of this material, it may be assumed that the missing burin was imported to the site in the form of a blade, and then exported as a burin. Raw material 4 (figs 256 and 257) This is a fine-grained, dark-grey Senonian flint, with narrow bands (c. 5 mm wide) of coarse-grained, light-grey flint. Maybe more artefacts of this material are present, especially small artefacts, than those identified (total: 15, two of which are stray finds); only if artefacts show the light-grey bands can they be identified. Most artefacts of this material are part of two refit groups comprising sequences; in addition there are three isolated artefacts. One sequence (No. 1 in fig. 256) contains a decortication blade (stray find), and a burin to which a burin

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Fig. 256. Top: map of artefacts of raw material 4. See also fig. 257. Bottom: drawings of artefacts of this material. (1) Refit group 22, containing a double burin (with a fitting burin spall); (2) refit group 18, containing a combination tool (burin/notch) and two notched blades; (3) double burin (fig. L. Johansen).

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Fig. 257. Artefacts of raw material 4 with exact coordinates. See also fig. 256. Density map with cells of 50  50 cm; grid positioned so as to create the richest possible cell (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

spall could be refitted (group 22, No. 1, in fig. 176). The other sequence (fig. 256, No. 2) contains a blade, a combination tool (burin and notch) and two notched tools (see fig. 187: group 18, Nos 1–3). Furthermore there are a burin (No. 3 in fig. 256), a blade and a flake, all of them isolated artefacts. The tools of this raw material consist of notches and burins, in one case combined. The artefacts of this material occurred both to the south and to the north of the hearth (fig. 256, top). The density map (fig. 257) shows the richest cell to be located north of the hearth. It is hard to tell whether this material was knapped on the site. The main reason for this uncertainty is the apparent absence of chips and flakes. However, any chips or small flakes of this material that might be present are unlikely to be identified as such. Because of this circumstance, it seems a fair bet to assume that this material was indeed knapped on the site. Raw material 5 (figs 258 and 259) This raw material is a dark-grey, fine-grained Senonian flint, with a very characteristic black band. In total, 16 artefacts can be identified as of this material (one of which is a stray find). Three small refit groups of this material contain no tools. Only one tool, a Zinken (the tip of which was broken off; it was not found) is made of raw material 5 (No. 1 in fig. 258). All artefacts involved in refits were located very close together, about 3 m northwest of the hearth. The other, unrefitted artefacts were located in another cluster, southeast of the hearth; in this area also the Zinken occurred. A quite isolated blade was located north of the hearth. The artefacts of this raw material were probably knapped on the site; chips and flakes are present, and there are sequences of artefacts not suitable as tool blanks. It seems that knapping took place both south and northwest of the hearth (see the density map: fig. 259). As with raw material 4, more artefacts of this material than those identified could easily be present; small artefacts without the black band would not be recognized. Raw material 6 (figs 260–263) This is a very characteristic type of flint, dark-grey with many small white specks; the material is easily identified even in the case of small artefacts. Four refit groups including sequences of this material are present (groups 51, 49, 65 and 101). In total, 50 artefacts are made of this flint (of which only one is a stray find). No fewer than 20 of these are tools: an astonishingly high percentage. No core of this material was found on the site. The longest refitted sequence of this material consists of 15 artefacts, before the refitting of breaks (group 51; No. 1 in fig. 263). There are nine tools in this sequence, in addition to one blade and two flakes. The tools comprise six notched blades, two Zinken, and a combination tool (burin and notch) with a refitted burin spall. According to Moss, one notched tool has use wear resulting from contact with bone or antler. One Zinken and the

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Fig. 259. Artefacts of raw material 5 with exact coordinates: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position creating the richest possible cell. See also fig. 258 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

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Fig. 261. Map of the dense concentration of artefacts of raw material 6, north of the hearth (see also figs 260, 262 and 263) (fig. L. Johansen).

combination tool have use wear from contact with wood. The maximum length of the refitted group is 10 cm; the core was knapped from two opposite platforms. Another refitted group of this material consists of 12 artefacts before the refitting of breaks (group 49; No. 2 in fig. 263). It contains five tools, two blades, a flake and a chip. The tools are three notched blades and two Zinken. The analysis by Moss showed that one of the notched tools has use wear from contact with antler. The third refitted group consists of eight artefacts before the refitting of breaks (group 101; No. 3 in fig. 263). There are three tools, four blades and one flake. All three tools are notched blades.

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Fig. 262. Artefacts of raw material 6 with exact coordinates: numbers in cells of 50  50 cm. Grid position creating the richest possible cell; peripheral class division. See also figs 260, 261 and 263 (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

The fourth refitted sequence consists of just three artefacts (group 65; No. 4 in fig. 263). The only tool is a notched blade (with use wear consisting of ‘notch-traces’, according to Moss). In addition, one blade and one flake are part of it. Finally, there are two isolated tools of this material: a double, fine borer (No. 6 in fig. 263; it has ‘notch traces’ according to the analysis by Moss), and a fragment that has been classified as a possible point fragment (No. 5 in fig. 263). The reason to classify the latter piece as a point fragment is especially the occurrence of ventral retouch, a common feature of Hamburgian points. The typological composition of the other 19 tools, however, makes one wonder if it is not in fact a fragment of a notched tool. The 20 tools of this raw material comprise 13 notched tools, five Zinken or borers, one combination tool (burin/notches), and the supposed point fragment. As a whole, this composition is similar to that of the large refit group 170, in which notched tools also dominate the tool spectrum. Most artefacts of raw material 6 were located very close to each other, 1–2 m north of the hearth (see fig. 262). The knapping of this material must have taken place on the site, during the last phase of the occupation. There are several flakes and chips of this material. The many notched implements, located near the probable cooking pit, may have played a functional role in the manufacture of arrows with hafted points, intended for use during travel to the next encampment. Most blades of this material are slender and quite thin. Unlike raw material 1, the flint of raw material 6 is fine-grained, allowing the production of fine and thin blades. In table 8, two of the sequences were attributed to knapper 1 or knapper 2, and the other two to knapper 1. The attribution was done on the basis of the individual refit groups; taking all the evidence together, however, it seems very probable that all artefacts of this material were knapped by knapper 1. The core was not found; perhaps it was not yet exhausted, and was therefore exported from the site. Raw material 7 (fig. 264) A retouched blade of whitish, ‘marbly’ flint is the only artefact of this material. The tool has retouch along all the edges, most of which is probably not intentional. The whole surface of the flint is somewhat glossy. The tool was analysed by Moss; it shows hide use wear. Moreover, it possesses traces that suggested to Moss that it had been carried in a bag together with other objects for some time: a ‘curated’ tool (Moss, 1988: 405). The tool was situated about 2 m southwest of the hearth. It must have been part of the tool kit brought to the site from elsewhere, and used during the first phase of occupation. Because of the state of its surface and edges, this tool appears to have been carried around for a much longer time than most of the other tools that were imported to the site.

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Fig. 263. Drawings of refit groups and isolated artefacts of raw material 6. (1) Refit group 51, containing one combination tool (burin/notch), two Zinken and six notched blades; (2) refit group 49, containing two Zinken and three notched blades; (3) refit group 101, containing three notched blades; (4) refit group 65, containing one notched blade; (5) possible point fragment; (6) double borer (fig. L. Johansen).

White flint is a rare phenomenon among the flints that can be found in the northern moraines. It is of interest that at the Creswellian site of Emmerhout two artefacts of white flint were recovered (a scraper and a blade), which had not been knapped on the site, but like this one had been imported (Stapert, 1987).

5.7. TYPES OF REFIT Refitting of breaks may be described as ‘horizontal’ refitting, whereas fitting artefacts into a sequence, ventral/dorsal refits, may be termed ‘vertical’ refitting. Tools that can be refitted into an extensive sequence were

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Fig. 264. Top: location of the only artefact of raw material 7. Bottom: drawing of this artefact. (1) Blade with retouch, made of white flint (fig. L. Johansen).

often manufactured from blades knapped on the site. Tools that cannot be fitted into such sequences were in many cases imported, and carried to the site in either their finished state or in the form of blanks (blades). For describing and documenting the results of the refitting analysis of the Oldeholtwolde flint material, the system devised by Cziesla (1990) for recording and mapping refits was followed. In principle, each refit between two artefacts corresponds to one refit line. In reality, the number of refits often is not the same as the number of refit lines that can be drawn on a map, because of stray finds in the refit group. According to the Cziesla system of generating refits, a total of 926 refits have now been recorded for Oldeholtwolde. However, only 825 refits can also be mapped as refit lines; the other refits involve (one or two) stray finds. The Cziesla procedure for generating refits/refit lines automatically leads to a certain ‘over-representation’ of sequence refits, compared to break refits. This can be explained by imagining a blade that consists of three fitting fragments and that is also fitted in the middle of a short sequence consisting of three blades. There are two break refits in this case, but no fewer than six sequence refits. This is because in the Cziesla system the sequence lines have to pass through every fragment. At Oldeholtwolde, many artefacts consisting of fitting fragments are also part of sequences. All this leads to different ratios of number of refits to number of involved artefacts, for sequence refits and break refits. In the case of Oldeholtwolde there are 691 sequence refits, involving 660 artefacts: the ratio of

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199

0 1 2 3 4 5

NRefits: 825

6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 265. All refit lines (of all types). A total of 825 refit lines are shown, which connect 790 artefacts (symbols are omitted). A number of the artefacts involved (N  121) were retrieved by sifting of the soil. The locations of artefacts from the sieve were randomized within the square metres from which they derived (fig. L. Johansen).

refits/artefacts is 1.05. There are 222 break refits, involving 395 artefacts; here the ratio is 0.56. In other words: the number of sequence refits is almost twice that of breaks, for the same number of artefacts involved. This is one of the reasons why some researchers have decided to draw only one sequence refit line between the products of two strokes—irrespective of whether the products of each stroke fragmented into several pieces. For example, Dimitri de Loecker (pers. comm., 1996) and De Bie & Caspar (2000) prefer to draw sequence refit lines only from proximal fragment to proximal fragment. In this system, the number of sequence refit lines equals the number of strokes, and the ratio of refits to involved artefacts would be smaller for sequences than for breaks. In short, there would be much less refit lines in the maps. It is important to realize that under the Cziesla system there will be more sequence refits than break refits, if the numbers of artefacts involved in each category are the same. Moreover, the number of sequence refits will increase strongly, for the same knapping work, the more heavily the produced artefacts became fragmented afterwards (for whatever reason: cultural or natural). This disturbing influence is eliminated in the system adopted by De Bie and Caspar. But since most researchers have adopted the Cziesla system it is also applied here, to facilitate comparisons. (In retrospect, however, we believe the system of De Bie and Caspar to be preferable.) Figure 265 shows all 825 refit lines. This is, of course, not a very useful map; however, two clusters of refit lines may be observed: one to the south and one to the north of the hearth. As explained earlier, there are good reasons to believe that the southern cluster reflects especially the first phase of habitation. Later, the occupants seem to have moved towards the area north of the hearth, and the second cluster of refit lines is thought to reflect especially the last phase of habitation. If we want to get an impression of the lengths of the refit lines, we should only look at lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates; there are 589 such refit lines in total. In figure 266, the lengths of these 589 refit lines are grouped in classes of 50 cm (the Y-axis has the percentage scale; frequencies are indicated in the graph). Short lines clearly predominate; about 58% of all refit lines are less than 1 m in length. Long lines are quite rare; the longest is between 7 and 7.5 m long. Below, the different types of refit are discussed briefly. Refit type 1: sequences This type concerns dorsal/ventral refits, in other words: sequences; but without burin/burin spall refits. There are 620 refit lines of this type (fig. 267), involving 617 artefacts. Because this is the largest group of refits, the map is very similar to that of all refit lines; the two clusters, north and south of the hearth, are clearly visible. Within these two clusters, smaller dense clusters of refit lines can be seen—these reflect flintknapping locations (discussed in section 5.2).

200

Types of refit % 45 40

235

35 30

NSub: 589 Mean: 116 cm Median: 76 cm St. dev.: 128 cm

25 107

20

84

15

56

10

37

5

18

14

8

7

8

3

8

3

1

0

0 0

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 cm

Fig. 266. Lengths of refit lines, all types taken together; classes of 50 cm. For this histogram, only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert). 0 1 2 3 4 5

NRefits: 620

6 7 8 9 10 15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 267. All refit lines of type 1: dorsal/ventral refits. In total, 617 artefacts are involved in sequences (including artefacts from the sieve), connected by 620 refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

The lengths of type-1 refit lines are shown in figure 268 (only lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates). About 53% of these refit lines are shorter than 1 m: these are clustered in and near the knapping locations. Many refit lines longer than 1 or 1.5 m will reflect the removal of tools and blades from knapping locations to activity areas elsewhere on the site, where they played a functional role. Part of the longer lines, however, will have resulted from clearing activities such as tossing away larger flint waste, including used-up cores. Refit type 2: burins/burin spalls This type concerns refits of burin spalls to burins (or to combination tools with a burin end). In total, 13 refit lines of this type are documented, involving 23 artefacts. There is a definite ‘burin area’ a few metres south of the hearth (see fig. 269), where five burins and two combination tools are refitted with burin spalls (see also chapter 3: burins). Scattered elsewhere (west and north of the hearth), four combination tools have fitting burin spalls. Most refit lines between burins and fitting burin spalls are quite short, less than 1.5 m, indicating that in many cases burin spalls were removed more or less in the same area where the burins were to be used (see fig. 270). One refit line of this type, however, is quite long: 4.5–5 m. The burin spall in this case lay close to the hearth, east of it, and the tool to which it fits, a combination tool (scraper/burin) was located quite far to the north of the hearth. It is probable that this tool was imported to the site (as a blade or a scraper), and transformed here into a burin/scraper during the first phase of occupation. Refit lines between burins and burin spalls can be rather long as a result of repeated resharpening of the burins, when burins were used in different areas during their functional career (this can be observed at several

% 40 159 35 30 NSub: 448 Mean: 128 cm Median: 92 cm St. dev.: 133 cm

25 20

78

70

15 45

10

35

5

15

14

7

4

7

3

7

3

0

0 0

1

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 cm

Fig. 268. Lengths of refit lines of type 1 (sequences); classes of 50 cm. Only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

3

4

5 NSub: 23 NRefits: 13

6

7

8

9 10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3m

Fig. 269. All refit lines of type 2: refits of burin spalls to burins (or combination tools with a burin end). The arrows in the refit lines point towards the spalls. In total, 23 artefacts are involved, connected by 13 refit lines (fig. L. Johansen). % 50

4

40 NSub: 9 Mean: 131 cm Median: 105 cm St. dev.: 119 cm

30 2

2

20 1 10 0

0

0

0

0

0

0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500 cm

Fig. 270. Lengths of refit lines of type 2 (burin/burin spall refits); classes of 50 cm. Only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

202

Types of refit

2

3

4

5 NSub: 287 NRefits: 157

6

7

8 9

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2m

Fig. 271. All refit lines of type 3: breaks of unknown origin. In total, 287 artefacts are involved (including artefacts from the sieve), connected by 157 refit lines (fig. L. Johansen). % 70 64

60 50

NSub: 108 Mean: 62 cm Median: 30 cm St. dev.: 86 cm

40 30 23 20 8

10

7 2

0

2

1

0

0

1

0

0 0

50

100 150 200

250 300

350 400 450

500

550

600 cm

Fig. 272. Lengths of refit lines of type 3 (breaks of unknown origin); classes of 50 cm. Only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

Magdalenian sites). At Oldeholtwolde, however, burins were not resharpened very often, and most refit lines of this type are rather short, which suggests that the period of habitation was relatively brief. Refit types 3: breaks of unknown origin There are several types of break, only some of which can be identified reliably (see types 4–6). Many processes can result in breakage, including knapping accidents, dropping, use, trampling, intentional breaking, heat and secondary frostsplitting (plus excavation and laboratory damage). In most cases it is not possible to determine what caused the fragmentation. In figure 271, all refit lines for breaks of unknown origin are drawn. In total, 287 artefacts are involved (including finds from the sieve), connected by 157 refit lines. It is immediately clear that in most cases the breaks concern tools or blades. The two clusters, north and south of the hearth, show up again, and several flintknapping locations are also visible. The pattern of refit lines is very different from that of the sequence refit lines; break refit lines do not radiate out from production centres, but instead circle diffusely around the hearth. Break refit lines are on average shorter than sequence refit lines (see fig. 272; only lines between artefacts with exact coordinates). About 81% of these lines are shorter than 1 m, and about 59% are shorter than 50 cm. The

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203

4

5

6 NSub: 24 NRefits: 12

7

8

9 9

8

7

6

5m

Fig. 273. All refit lines of type 4: breaks probably resulting from use. In most cases the refits concern broken-off borertips (lozenges) fitting to Zinken (triangles) or combination tools (crosses); in one case a broken-off scraper-edge could be fitted to the damaged tool (both indicated by a segment). A total of 24 artefacts are involved (including sieve finds), connected by 12 refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

% 50 3 40 NSub: 7 Mean: 89 cm Median: 82 cm St. dev.: 48 cm

2

30 20

1

1

10 0 0

50

100

150

200 cm

Fig. 274. Lengths of refit lines of type 4 (breaks probably resulting from use); classes of 50 cm. Only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

median length of these refit lines is only 30 cm, while that of sequence refit lines is 92 cm: about three times as long. The longest break refit line is almost 6 m; it concerns an unusable blade fragment, probably carried around by a child (see also section 5.3). Refit type 4: breaks from use In almost all cases, we are dealing here with tips of Zinken or borers (or combination tools with a Zinken part), that snapped off during use. In one case, however, a broken-off scraper edge could be fitted to the damaged tool (there is also a broken-off scraper edge that could not be refitted). In total, there are 12 refits of this type, involving 24 artefacts (including finds from the sieve). Most of these artefacts occurred west and north of the hearth (fig. 273), and only a few to the south of it. The artefacts involved were located relatively close to the hearth; all refit lines of this type are shorter than 2 m (fig. 274; only refit lines between artefacts with exact coordinates).

204

Types of refit 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 25 NRefits: 15

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 275. All refit lines of type 5: breaks along hidden frostcracks in the flint. In total, 25 artefacts are involved (including finds from the sieve), connected by 15 refit lines (fig. L. Johansen). % 30 3

25

3

3

20 NSub: 12 Mean: 197 cm Median: 171 cm St. dev.: 154 cm

15 1

10

1

1

5 0

0

0

0 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450 cm

Fig. 276. Lengths of refit lines of type 5 (breaks along frostcracks); classes of 50 cm. Only refit lines between artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

Refit type 5: breaks along frost cracks In most cases these are breaks that occurred during knapping as a result of hidden frostcracks in the flint; in a few cases, however, the breaks may have been caused by secondary frostsplitting. In general, secondary frostsplit-breaks (dating from Dryas 3) will have been recognized during the excavation, because the fragments would still lie very close together, and the frost fissures in the soil could be observed. Such cases were not included in the refitting file. However, in a few cases fragmentation caused by secondary frostsplitting will have gone unnoticed during the excavation, and the resulting refits are then included in the file. In most cases it is clear that the breaks documented by this refit type occurred during knapping as a result of internal frostcracks. In total, there are 15 refits of this type, involving 25 artefacts (fig. 275). Several refit groups have refits of this type, especially those connected with knapping northwest of the hearth. Most refit lines of this type are relatively short, though a few longer ones do occur, up to almost 4.5 m (fig. 276; only refit lines between artefacts with exact coordinates). Refit type 6: breaks from heat Only very few refitted breaks can be attributed to heat. Ten artefacts are involved in eight refits. The refits in fact concern only two points, one consisting of seven fragments, the second of three (fig. 277). One of the seven fragments of the first point (its tip) is not burnt, though it broke off because of heat. All artefacts with exact coordinates were located very close to, or even within the hearth. The refit lines of this type are very short; if we take into account only refit lines between artefacts with exact coordinates, their median length is a mere 17 cm. Table 10 lists the median lengths of the different refit types. As noted above, break refits are on average quite short; their median length is only 30 cm, less than a third of that of the sequence refits. The median length of

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205

4

5 NSub: 10 NRefits: 8 6

7

8

7

6m

Fig. 277. All refit lines of type 6: breaks caused by heat. Note that the 10 artefacts involved are all point fragments, located close to the hearth; there are eight refits. If only artefacts with exact coordinates are taken into account, all refit lines (N  5) are shorter than 0.5 m, with a median length of only 17 cm (fig. L. Johansen). Oldeholtwolde: refit lines between artefacts with exact coordinates Sequences

Breaks

Burin/spall

Number of refits (N ⫽ 589)

300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0–50

51–200 201–450 Length of refit lines in cm

451–800

Fig. 278. Diagram showing the proportions of three main refit types per length class (note that refits are counted here, not refitted artefacts). Only refits between artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account. Note that break refits tend to be shorter than sequence refits (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

sequence refit lines, 92 cm, may not seem very great, but in fact many sequence refit lines are quite long; the median is kept relatively low because many unsuccessful blades, flakes and other waste products remained in the flint-knapping areas, producing a lot of short sequence refits. The longer sequence refit lines reflect transport of usable blades and tools from knapping locations to activity areas. The median distance between burins and fitting burin spalls is 105 cm, and there are hardly any lines longer than 1.5 m. Most burins were manufactured near the place where they were going to be used, only a few were transported over a significant distance after the burin spall was removed (the longest line involves a combination tool, which may not have been used for the same work as most burins). The refit lines connecting fragments created by heat are very short, as should be expected. In figure 278, the proportions of the three main refit types (sequences, breaks (all types), burin/spall refits) are presented per length class (see also the following section); for this figure only refit lines connecting artefacts with

206

Types of refit Sølbjerg 2 (Hamburgian) 124 refits

100

100

90

90

80

74.6

Percentage of all refits

Percentage of all refits

Oldeholtwolde (Hamburgian) 926 refits

70 60 50 40 30

24

20

80 70

50 40 30

1.4

0

20

Sølbjerg 1 (Ahrensburgian) 37 refits

90

90

80

80

63.2

60 50

36.8

40 30 20 10

70.3

60 50 40

29.7

30 20

0 Sequences,43

Breaks,25

Burin/spall,0

Sequences,26

Breaks,11

Burin/spall,0

Refit types

Refit types

Gramsbergen I (Epi-Ahrensburgian) 242 refits

Oudehaske (Epi-Ahrensburgian) 123 refits

100

90

90

80

Percentage of all refits

Percentage of all refits

70

10

0

64.1

60 50 40

29.3

20

6.6

10 0

80

71.5

70 60 50 40

26

30 20 10

2.4

0 Sequences,155 Breaks,71

(a)

Burin/spall,6

Emmerhout (Creswellian) 68 refits 100

30

Breaks,81

Refit types

Percentage of all refits

Percentage of all refits

Sequences,37

Refit types

100

70

4.8

0

Sequences,691 Breaks,222 Burin/spall,13

100

29.8

10

10

70

65.3

60

Refit types

Burin/spall,16

Sequences,88

Breaks,32

Burin/spall,3

Refit types

Fig. 279. Diagrams showing the proportions of three main refit types (sequences, breaks of all types, and burin/burin spall refits), for six Late Palaeolithic sites (a) and four Mesolithic sites in Holland and Denmark (b). The numbers of refits are indicated on the X-axis. Data for Emmerhout are taken from Stapert (1987); the other sites were analysed by Johansen (fig. L. Johansen/D. Stapert).

exact coordinates can be used. It may also be of interest to present the proportions of these refit types in a bar graph, counting all documented refits (fig. 279a and b). Such diagrams were also used by Cziesla (1990: 248–249), who observed that in most cases sequence refits are more numerous than break refits, despite the fact that it is easier to refit breaks than to refit sequences. In part, this is simply a result of the Cziesla method of generating refits, as discussed above. In fact, this system hampers realistic comparison between several sites if the average number of breaks per artefact are widely different. (In Cziesla’s fig. 150, a diagram for Oldeholtwolde is

Towards dynamic reconstructions

207 Vænget nord (Middle mesolithic) 969 refits

Swalmen (Early mesolithic) 114 refits 100

100

90

80

77.2

Percentage of all refits

Percentage of all refits

90 70 60 50 40 30

22.8

20

Sequences,88

70 60 50 40 30 20

13.2

Breaks,26 Burin/spall,0

1.5 Sequences,826 Breaks,128

Burin/spall,15

Refit types

Refit types

Gøngehusvej (Late Mesolithic) 468 refits

Halsskov (Late Mesolithic) 189 refits

100

100

90

90

80

80

70

Percentage of all refits

Percentage of all refits

80

10 0

10 0

65.4

60 50 40

33.1

30 20 10 0

1.5 Sequences,306 Breaks,155

(b)

85.2

Burin/spall,7

Refit types

93.7

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

6.3 Sequences,177 Breaks,12

Burin/spall,0

Refit types

Fig. 279. (Continued).

included, based on the refitting work by Jan S. Krist; it is very similar to the one presented here.) Figure 279, in addition to the diagram for Oldeholtwolde, presents diagrams for a series of other sites (except for Emmerhout, all sites were analysed by Johansen; the diagram for Emmerhout in Cziesla, 1990: fig. 150, is not correct as it shows the number of artefacts involved in sequences, instead of the number of refits). Most diagrams in figure 279 are of the same type: sequence refits predominate over break refits, and burin/burin spall refits are rare or absent. This type of diagram is also dominant among the examples provided by Cziesla (1990). It seems to be the normal picture for (more or less completely excavated and not heavily disturbed) sites in areas with plenty of raw materials, occupied by relatively small groups for periods long enough to make flint-knapping on the site necessary. A deviating picture is shown by Sølbjerg 2. It is not advisable to assume that we are here dealing with a radically different type of site, however. The deviating picture can largely be explained by the circumstance that the site was heavily disturbed by ploughing, with only a small proportion of the material in situ below the ploughed topsoil.

5.8. REFIT LINES: DIFFERENT LENGTH CLASSES It is of interest to study the patterns displayed by refit lines of different length classes. This may result in insights concerning the type of occupation at the site (see e.g. Cziesla et al., 1990). For example, the occurrence of many short lines, both of dorsal/ventral refits and of break refits, and few long lines, probably indicates that the site was occupied only for a very short period. If many long lines are present, it is more probable that the site was occupied for a relatively extended period. The longer refit lines may reflect all kinds of movement, thus providing us in many cases with quite dynamic pictures. The following length classes were used: 0–50, 51–200, 201–450 and 451–800 cm (these are a little different from the classes employed by Cziesla 1990: 121). In figure 278, refits of three main types were counted for the

208

Refit lines: different length classes

four length classes. Only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were used, in order to create as accurate a picture as possible; there are 589 such refits at Oldeholtwolde. As can be seen, the refit lines connecting fitting fragments (break refits) are in general quite short; there are only a few longer than 2 m, and none longer than 4.5 m. Their median length is only 30 cm (see table 10). This is a normal picture for sites occupied Table 10. Types of refit: median lengths of refit lines. Only refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were taken into account. Refit type 1. Sequences 2. Burins/burin spalls 3. Breaks of unknown origin 4. Breaks from use 5. Breaks along frost cracks 6. Breaks from heat Total

Number of refits

Median length (cm)

448 9 108 7 12 5 589

92 105 30 82 171 17 76

0 1 2 3 4 NRefits: 238

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 280. All refit lines with lengths of 0–50 cm, between artefacts with exact coordinates (fig. L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NRefits: 246

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 281. All refit lines with lengths of 51–200 cm, between artefacts with exact coordinates (fig. L. Johansen).

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209

for a relatively short time. The dorsal/ventral refit lines (sequences), however, are rather long on average; most fall in the 0.51–2.00 m length class, but there are quite a lot of sequence lines longer than 2 m. In fact, as can be seen in figure 278, the longer the refit lines, the higher the proportion of sequence refits. The same pattern was observed at the Epi-Ahrensburgian site of Gramsbergen I (Johansen & Stapert, 2000). The reason for this pattern is probably that at Oldeholtwolde a large proportion of the produced blades were either used or transformed into tools, because flint of high quality was rather scarce. Since blades and tools were used in all kinds of activities, quite a lot of movements away from the production centres towards various activity areas may be expected, resulting in more sequence refit lines over larger distances. In figures 280–283, all refit lines connecting artefacts with exact coordinates were drawn per length-class (adding refit lines connected to artefacts from the sieve would have made these pictures somewhat more fuzzy, but not really different). In total, there are 276 very short refit lines, 0–50 cm (fig. 280). In this map the flint-knapping locations to the northwest and north of the hearth show up clearly, as tight clusters of refit lines. The knapping locations southwest and south of the hearth are much less clear. It appears that the knapping locations in the southern area have become somewhat ‘disturbed’, scattered, during the occupation (for example by trampling, children’s play, etc.), while 0 1 2 3 4 NRefits: 83

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 282. All refit lines with lengths of 201–450 cm, between artefacts with exact coordinates (fig. L. Johansen). 0 1 2 3 4 NSub: 30 NRefits: 22

5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0m

Fig. 283. All refit lines of 451–800 cm, between artefacts with exact coordinates. In this map, the artefact symbols were attached to the refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

210

‘Refitting clusters’

those to the north and northwest of the hearth remained fairly undisturbed. This seems to support the hypothesis that the people rotated around the hearth during the occupation period, from the southern to the northern part. There are 373 medium refit lines, with lengths of 51–200 cm; these are mapped in figure 281. This figure shows a striking division into two clusters of refit lines: one south of the hearth, the second north of it. The map suggests that the movement from south of the hearth to north may have happened quite fast. An area west of the hearth is almost devoid of refit lines, as if that area was ‘skipped over’; this is less evident in maps of longer refit lines, however. Flint-knapping locations northwest and north of the hearth are still well visible, as is now also one southeast of the hearth. In figure 282, the 138 long refit lines, 201–450 cm, are mapped. These show a much more even distribution all over the site, though the two clusters north and south of the hearth are still vaguely visible. Many connections between the two areas are now in evidence, however. We see bundles of lines radiating away from several production centres. For example, from the flintknapping location northwest of the hearth, bundles of lines go to both the northeast and the southeast, and some of the latter end south of the hearth. The movement from this knapping location towards the northeast is also visible in the map of the medium-length lines, but it is especially with the long lines that we get an impression of the transport of usable blades and tools from production centres to activity areas elsewhere on the site. The 38 very long refit lines, longer than 450 cm, are mapped in figure 283; in this map artefact symbols are attached to the lines because there are relatively few. The two clusters north and south of the hearth are no longer visible. These very long refit lines reflect various processes. A few lines seem to document transportation of tools from production centres to activity areas. Several of these lines are the result of tossing waste, such as usedup cores and other larger artefacts, towards the periphery of the site. Finally, a few very long lines seem to have been produced by children’s play. Children may have carried flints around the site for fun, and there are good indications that knapper 3 (probably a young boy) did exactly that.

5.9. ‘REFITTING CLUSTERS’ Refitting may reveal different kinds of movement of material over the settlement, for example from production centres to activity areas, and from there to dumps. If so, this will add some dynamics to otherwise static archaeological distribution maps. The creation of dynamic reconstructions should be one of our main goals because, as Keeley (1991: 258) notes: ‘Only research devoted to the recovery of dynamics can hope to interpret those distributions as the result of behaviour’. We can only agree with the statement in his next sentence: ‘The study of such dynamics is much easier to prescribe than it is to accomplish’. The possibility to contribute to dynamic pictures is one of the attractive features of refitting analysis. It would therefore be nice to have an instrument especially suited to illustrating movements over the site’s area as reflected by refit lines. For this purpose, the concept of ‘refitting cluster’ was introduced by the first author (Johansen, 1993). Refitting clusters are subareas within the site, composed of one cell or several adjacent cells of a grid, with a relatively large number of refitted artefacts. The cut-off point for defining these clusters is, of course, arbitrary. With the help of refitting clusters it is possible to analyse the refit lines connected to specific areas within the site. This provides us with yet another way of looking at refitting results, in addition to considering the refitted compositions (refit groups), refit types, and refit lengths, as discussed in the above. It has proved useful to compare these clusters in several ways, and to study their relations (for an example, see Johansen, 1998). One way to do this, and to achieve dynamic pictures in the process, is to produce maps showing only refit lines that cross the borders of the clusters. This procedure is available as a facility of the ANALITHIC programme, and will be exploited here. First, the subareas have to be defined. They should be neither too large nor too small, and in fact no formal approach can be advocated; it is largely a question of trial and error to find the optimum level of resolution for any site. In the case of Oldeholtwolde, a small site that saw only a single occupation, the refitting clusters should be rather small. A map showing the numbers of refitted artefacts in cells of 50  50 cm is presented in figure 284; only artefacts with exact coordinates were counted. It was decided to make ‘refitting clusters’ not larger than half a square metre. Cells with at least ten refitted artefacts are included, and also cells with nine refitted artefacts if they are adjacent to cells with higher numbers of refitted artefacts. In this way, ten refitting clusters were created, labelled A–J (see fig. 285). A map was then prepared for each cluster, showing all refit lines crossing its borders (including refit lines to finds from the sieve; these have open symbols in the maps).

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Refitting cluster A This area of 0.5  1 m is situated immediately to the east of the hearth (fig. 286). Cluster A contains 30 refitted artefacts (of which 26 have exact coordinates). There are 32 refit lines crossing its borders, involving 47 artefacts. The pattern of refit lines shows that this area is closely related with the area south of the hearth; there are only two refit lines to the area north of the hearth. Rather few tools (five) are among the 47 artefacts involved in these refits. It seems that this cluster did not arise as a result of domestic activities, but rather reflects a knapping area which became quite scattered secondarily. Most of the knapping in this area was done by knapper 3: probably a young boy (see section 5.3). Refitting cluster A does not clearly show up on density maps of chips (fig. 231), though it can be discerned on the map showing the short refit lines (fig. 232). Knapper 3 probably did not produce many chips. Chips are mainly produced in cresting or in the preparation of platforms, and in the production of tools. Knapper 3 did not do any of these things. The many refit lines to the area south of the hearth, and the scattering of the knapping residues seem to suggest that cluster A was created in quite an early phase of the site’s occupation.

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Fig. 286. Refitting cluster A. The following goes for figs 286–295. All refit lines between artefacts within the areas of the refitting clusters, and the artefacts involved, are omitted. Only refit lines crossing the borders of the cluster area are drawn, with artefact symbols attached to them. Open symbols: finds from the sieve. ‘NSub’: number of artefacts involved; ‘NRefits’: number of refit lines (fig. L. Johansen).

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Refitting cluster B This area of 0.5  1 m is located only 0.5 m southeast of cluster A (fig. 287). Cluster B contains 35 refitted artefacts (30 have exact coordinates). There are 42 refit lines crossing its borders, involving 55 artefacts. The refit lines coming out of this cluster show contacts especially with other areas in the southern half of the find scatter, including cluster A; several lines connect it with cluster D. There are no contacts with the areas northwest and north of the hearth. The cluster is located more or less in the dense scatter A, a flint-knapping location discussed earlier (section 5.2). This scatter contained some chips and a concentration of short refit lines (0–50 cm) is seen here. As in the case of refitting cluster A, knapper 3 has been active here; the long refit line to the northeast connects an unusable blade fragment to cluster B. Some knapping was done here, but the residue became somewhat disturbed afterwards. This suggests that this cluster was created in an early phase of habitation.

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Refitting cluster C This cluster covers an area of 0.5 sq m about 1.5 m south of the hearth (fig. 288). The cluster contains 31 refitted artefacts (30 of which have exact coordinates). There are 43 refit lines crossing its borders, involving 62 artefacts. The cluster shows contacts mainly with areas in its vicinity, south and southeast of the hearth, but not with the area just west of it. A remarkable phenomenon are seven longer refit lines to the northwest and north, ending on the opposite side of the hearth; in all cases, chips and flakes are involved. It seems that the area north of the hearth was in use as a toss zone during the phase in which the southern area was occupied. This cluster is also associated with the dense scatter labelled A (section 5.2); here, however, we are probably dealing with either knapper 1 or knapper 2 (or both), though knapper 3 has been active in the immediate vicinity. Again, the knapping residues seem to have become disturbed afterwards, and therefore this cluster was probable created during an early phase of the site’s occupation. Refitting cluster D This area, a quarter sq m, is located about 2 m southwest of the hearth (fig. 289). The cluster contains 17 refitted artefacts (all with exact coordinates). There are 16 refit lines crossing its borders, involving 28 artefacts. Cluster D has contact mainly with an area a few metres to its east, where two notched tools and a few blades were taken. A core and a blade were displaced towards the south. This cluster coincides largely with the dense flint scatter labelled B (section 5.2). It contains quite a few chips; knapping must have taken place here, but there are not very many short refit lines (0–50 cm). This spot has some characteristics of a dump. On the other hand, it seems probable that flintknapping went on here too, because of the heterogeneous internal structure (see section 5.2). Maybe many useful blanks or tools produced here were carried away; quite a lot of blade fragments were left behind. Moreover, it seems that the residue was disturbed afterwards. Because of this, and its contacts with the area south of the hearth, this cluster seems to have been created during an early phase of occupation. Refitting cluster E This cluster covers an area of 0.5 sq m, just west of the hearth (fig. 290). The cluster contains only 19 refitted artefacts (all with exact coordinates), but there are no fewer than 27 refit lines crossing its borders, involving 40 artefacts. This seems to be a result of the fact that most lines crossing the borders are of the ventral/dorsal type (and that there are several break refits inside the cluster; see for a further discussion: section 5.7). There is no high density of chips in this cluster, nor is there a dense concentration of short refit lines (0–50 cm). Nevertheless, a little knapping must have been going on here, done by knapper 2 (refit group 68; not many chips resulted from this). It is probable that this cluster mostly reflects an activity area, to which also tools and blades were brought from elsewhere—not only a production centre providing other areas with tools. Most

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contacts of this cluster, as indicated by the refit lines, are with the area north of the hearth; there are only a few refit lines connecting this cluster with the area south of the hearth. This cluster was probably created during a later phase in the site’s occupation. Refitting cluster F The area covered by this cluster, 0.25 sq m, is located about 2.5 m west of the hearth (fig. 291). The cluster contains 11 refitted artefacts, and eight refit lines cross its borders (involving 14 artefacts). This area is very close to that of cluster G, and so one may expect them to be related, or even to be parts of the same thing. However, only three refit lines connect cluster F to cluster G. Quite a few chips are found within the area of this cluster, but there are not many short refit lines. The cluster is probably a peripheral part of a knapping location. Refitting cluster G This cluster, with an area of 0.5 sq m, is situated 2.5–3 m northwest of the hearth (fig. 292). The cluster contains 56 refitted artefacts (54 of which have exact coordinates), and no fewer than 77 refit lines cross its borders (involving a total of 97 artefacts). Cluster G is basically the same as dense scatter C (see section 5.2).

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A few of its refit lines connect the cluster with the area south and southwest of the hearth; a few blades and tools produced in G ended up here, as did the residual core. Most refit lines from G, however, go to the east and northeast over a distance of 1–2 m. These indicate transport of quite a lot of blades and tools (mostly notched tools) to that area (see cluster I), which is close to the ring of stones interpreted as a cooking pit. In the area of cluster G, quite a lot of chips are present, and also many short refitlines (0–50 cm). The cluster is in fact totally dominated by the large refit group 170, knapped on the spot by knapper 1. Refitting cluster H This cluster of 1  0.5 m is situated about 1.5 m north of the hearth (fig. 293). The cluster contains 43 refitted artefacts (of which 40 have exact coordinates), and it has 49 refit lines crossing its borders (involving 67 artefacts). This cluster is mostly connected to the adjacent area close to the hearth, at its northwest-northeast, where several notches, borers and blades are present deriving from this cluster. Though this cluster is close to cluster I, there are hardly any contacts between the two. There are not many chips in this cluster, nor many short refit lines (0–50 cm), but nevertheless many tools located elsewhere are connected to this little area. Some knapping was

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done (two sequences here can be attributed to knapper 1), but this was certainly not extensive. Most probably, this area was above all an activity area. Refitting cluster I The area covered by this cluster, 1  0.5 m, is situated about 2 m north of the hearth, and is adjacent to cluster H (fig. 294). The cluster contains 26 refitted artefacts (22 have exact coordinates), and there are 36 refit lines crossing its borders (involving 56 artefacts). This cluster’s refit lines show a very strong connection to cluster G, and it is known that the bundle of lines connecting the two reflects the transport of products made in G (especially blades and notched tools) to the area of this cluster. There is no conspicuous concentration of chips in cluster I, and hardly any short refit lines (0–50 cm). Not much flint-knapping went on here, if any at all. This is an activity area, close to the putative cooking pit. Refitting cluster J This little area, 0.5  0.5 m, is located about 2 m northeast of the hearth (fig. 295). The cluster contains 55 refitted artefacts, all with exact coordinates; it is the spot with the highest density of refitted artefacts on the site.

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There are 50 refit lines crossing its borders (involving 65 artefacts). Only very few are long refit lines; most are quite short and connect this cluster to the area immediately to its south. In the cluster there are many chips and many short refit lines (0–50 cm). Flint knapper 1 was active here and knapped at least two cores; another one was knapped here by either knapper 1 or 2. This knapping area was hardly disturbed afterwards; it remained very compact, which is also evident from the map showing the short refit lines (fig. 232). Some of the blades and tools produced here were used on the site; however, most must have been exported. The knapping episodes here probably took place in the last phase of occupation, the intention being to take away the products, including some cores from which a series of blades had already been taken. Summarizing: clusters A–C are knapping areas which became disturbed afterwards. Cluster D has characteristics of a dump, but it may be a heavily disturbed knapping spot (or both). Cluster E is a knapping location and an activity area close to the hearth. Cluster F was perhaps part of the general knapping area better represented by cluster G. The knapping residue of cluster G is not as disturbed as those in the southern areas of the site. Cluster H is a knapping place and also part of a more general activity area. Cluster I is part of the activity area associated with a small ring of stones interpreted as a cooking pit; hardly or no knapping was done there. Finally, cluster J is a compact knapping residue that was hardly disturbed afterwards, and therefore probably reflects knapping work done just before abandonment of the site. Generally speaking, the clusters north of the hearth are much less disturbed than those in the southern area, and the two areas are not connected by many refit lines. Again, the picture as a whole suggests that the southern area was in use during the early stages of occupation, and the northern area in its later phases.

5.10. SUMMARY The refitting analysis of the flint material from Oldeholtwolde has been very rewarding. The work has resulted in valuable insights concerning a multitude of aspects. A total of 850 flint artefacts are involved in refits, which is about 47% of the flints larger than 1.5 cm. In all, 179 refit groups were created. The great majority of these consist of very few artefacts. More than half (96 refit groups: 53.6%) are made up of only two artefacts, and only 17 contain 10 or more artefacts, the maximum number of elements per group being 96. Of the 179 refit groups, 74 do not contain any ventral/dorsal refits, but only break refits or refits between burins and burin spalls; 105 refit groups do include ventral/dorsal refits (58.7%). The Hamburgian chaîne opératoire for blade production could be reconstructed more or less completely on the basis of several large refitted groups. It is of interest that the en éperon technique is not part of it. On the basis of differences in knapping skill, as revealed especially by larger refitted groups, it has been possible to distinguish between probably three flint knappers who were active at Oldeholtwolde: a master knapper (presumably

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an adult man), an advanced learner (probably an older boy) and a totally unskilled knapper (probably a young boy). The last-mentioned knapper ruined several good flint nodules by hammering them unsystematically to pieces. Moreover, he seems to have collected several still usable cores of the other knappers, and hided them from their sight. Finally, he probably transported quite some flint artefacts on the site from one spot to another, maybe also artefacts not made by him. All these behaviours have contributed to the spatial patterns that were finally left behind, and this should make us realise the important role that child’s play may have had. After the refitting of breaks, 98 tools are part of 41 refit groups that include sequences. Not all these tools were manufactured on the site, however. Quite a lot of short sequences with good blades and/or tools had been knapped at a previous encampment and imported to the site. It turns out that only a minority of the tools left at the site are likely to have been manufactured locally, probably not much more than a quarter. Quite a few tools and blades had been imported; among these were all the points and most of the scrapers. Especially notched tools, in addition to Zinken, were made, used and discarded on the site. At the end of the occupation, quite a lot of tools and blades must have been produced that were taken away from the site. On the basis of ring and sector analysis of the tools, the hearth at Oldeholtwolde was most probably located in the open air, not inside a tent. By combining the results of the refitting analysis with ring and sector analysis, it can be shown that people and their activities probably rotated around the hearth, from its southwest to its north, during the period of occupation, as a response to changes in prevailing wind direction. The southern area yielded most of the imported tools, while in the northern half of the site much flint knapping was done during the later phases of occupation. This model could be supported by several other types of evidence, for example by a study of the various length classes of refit lines. At the end of the chapter, an approach using ‘refitting clusters’ is followed. These are small subareas within the site with a relatively large number of refitted artefacts. Maps were prepared, showing refit lines crossing the perimeters of these small areas. This procedure results in quite dynamic pictures. Contacts between different parts of the site become visible in this way, for example transports of blades and tools from production centres to activity areas where they played a functional role.

Note on sector graphs In the original diagrams produced by ANALITHIC, the circle in sector graphs, representing the mean number of artefacts per sector, becomes smaller in diameter as the tendency for the artefacts to cluster in only one or a few adjacent sectors becomes stronger. However, in the editing process of this book, all sector graphs were made to have the same circle diameter, so that this visual reflection of variation in the tendency to cluster is lost. The information contained in sector graphs has remained unchanged.

Acknowledgements This publication about Oldeholtwolde is one of the results of the ANALITHIC project, which started in 1995. This project involved a team consisting not only of two archaeologists working for different universities (Johansen in Copenhagen and Stapert in Groningen), but also two computer programmers in Groningen: Gijsbert R. Boekschoten, and Manfred M. Schweiger of Akili Software. The whole project, involving an extensive refitting operation and the creation of a computer programme to deal with the results at the same time, was an interesting and also rewarding experience, even though the project had to be carried out in unpractical circumstances (in the house of the second author) because the Groningen Institute of Archaeology did not wish to house it (contrary to earlier arrangements). Because of this, the project was almost cancelled before it had even started, and any plans for follow-up projects have been abandoned. Many people and organisations have helped in one way or another; we can only name a few here. First of all, we would like to thank the institutions and foundations that made the ANALITHIC project possible by subsidizing it: ARCHON, Gratama-Stichting, Groninger Universiteits Fonds, Institut for Arkæologi og Etnologi (Copenhagen University), the Stichting Nederlands Museum voor Anthropologie en Praehistorie, and the Groningen Institute of Archaeology. We are grateful to Jan S. Krist and Arnold L. Zandbergen, who as advanced students of prehistory in Groningen did a great deal of work on the material of Oldeholtwolde (they both wrote a master’s thesis, about flint refitting and the stones other than flint, respectively), which we could use as a starting point. Gijsbert Boekschoten was not only one of the programmers of the project, but also a friend, and in the course of the last decade has contributed to the success of this project in many ways. Emily Moss performed an extensive use-wear analysis of the Oldeholtwolde flint material, and we are grateful for her permission to make use freely of her data (work on a detailed report on the results of her functional analysis is in progress). We are grateful to the Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden (Leiden) for permission to study the material from Oldeholtwolde. The first author is grateful to Erik Brinch Petersen of the Institute for Archaeology and Ethnology in Copenhagen, for permitting her to work in Groningen for several years. Finally, we thank Xandra Bardet (Groningen) for expertly correcting our English text in a comradely way.

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Index [Please note that the listed topics can be discussed several times on the same page. Note on figures and tables: 12F refers to figure(s) on page 12; 12T refers to table(s) on page 12.] abandonment phase of the Oldeholtwolde site, 103, 176, 185, 187F, 217, 218 Achterberg pollen section, 6–8, 7F Ahrensburgian, 1 Akili Software b.v., 1, 219 Allerød Interstadial, ix, 3–6, 5F, 7F, 8 ANALITHIC project, 1, 219 computer package, 1, 13, 15, 25, 26, 111, 173, 210 ARCHON, 1, 219 arrows, arrowshafts, 72, 196 ‘barbs’, see under use-wear analysis Bardet, Xandra, 219 Betula (birch) wood remains from Allerød peat, 5 Binford, Lewis R., 25 Biologisch–Archaeologisch Instituut (BAI), ix, 1, 3, 29 birds, see gastroliths blades (and bladelets), ix, 12, 13F, 23F, 27, 43, 62, 89, 92F, 95–100, 96F–100F, 101, 114, 116, 116F, 176, 177, 180, 183, 188, 190F, 191, 193, 197, 198, 200, 203, 205, 209, 213, 215–217 (see also blades in refitted sequences, crested blades, decortication blades, plunging blades or flakes, retouched blades) blades in refitted sequences, 120, 122–124, 126–128, 127F, 130, 132, 133F, 136–138, 140F, 141, 142F, 146–148, 150, 153, 154, 156F, 158, 160–162, 164, 166, 167F, 168F, 170, 180, 183, 188, 193, 195, 196 blocks, 27 Boekschoten, G.J., 12 Boekschoten, Gijsbert R., 111, 219 Bølling Interstadial, 3, 5, 7F, 8 Boom, G., 51 borer-tips, see tips of borers/Zinken (broken-off) borers/Zinken, ix, 24, 24F, 31T, 50T, 51, 52T, 52F, 55, 56F, 57F, 60, 61F–68F, 62–71, 84, 85F, 115, 171, 180, 180T, 181, 181F, 182F, 188, 189F, 190F, 193, 194F, 196, 197F, 203, 203F, 215, 218 (see also borers/Zinken in refitted sequences, combination tools, tips of borers/Zinken) borers/Zinken in refitted sequences, 118, 119F, 120, 121F, 122, 128, 130, 131F, 133–137, 133F, 134F, 136F–139F, 141, 142F, 144, 145F, 146, 148F, 153, 156F, 158T, 180–182, 180T, 181F, 182F, 193, 195, 197F, 218 Boschker, Jan K., 3, 8, 27, 29, 138, 188 (see also discovery of the site at Oldeholtwolde) boulderclay/bouldersand, ix, 4, 12, 171, 178, 187, 188, 197 brook deposits, 5

Burdukiewicz, J.M., 8 burin/point, see point/burin burins, ix, 24, 31T, 44, 46–48, 46F–50F, 50T, 51, 52T, 53F, 55, 56F, 57F, 58F, 84, 85F, 86–88, 86F, 115, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F, 188, 191, 191F, 200, 205 (see also burins in refitted sequences, combination tools) burins in refitted sequences, 118, 119F, 120, 126, 129F, 130, 132F, 134F, 135–137, 138F, 139F, 141, 145F, 146, 148, 148F, 150F, 158T, 180, 180T, 181F, 182, 182F, 192F, 193, 196, 197F burin spalls, 13F, 23F, 27, 46, 46F, 50, 51, 53F, 70, 86–88, 86F–88F, 120, 136, 137, 146, 148, 188, 189, 191, 191F, 192F, 193, 200, 205 burnt artefacts, 32, 35F, 38F, 39–41, 105–109, 106F–108F, 127, 204, 205, 205F Casparie, Wil A., 6, 8, 16 centrifugal effect, 25, 70, 88, 93, 95F, 135, 145, 179 chaîne opératoire, see under flint-knapping charcoal distribution at Oldeholtwolde, 6, 8, 10–12, 11F, 16, 19F, 20F, 21 in and around Hamburgian hearth, ix, 3, 5, 6, 6F, 8, 10, 11, 11F, 16, 19F, 20F, 21 in and around possible cooking pit, 11, 11F in Mesolithic hearth, 6F, 7, 16, 19F Salix (willow), 5, 6, 6F, 8, 16, 19F Pinus (pine), 6F, 7, 16, 19F in Usselo Horizon at Oldeholtwolde, 4, 6, 6F, 7 children, ix, 93, 164, 177, 203, 209, 210, 218 (see also family, flint-knapping) chips (flint), 1, 13F, 27, 28, 30, 93, 95F, 101, 102–105, 102F–105F, 106, 109, 120, 123, 134, 141, 146, 150, 153, 164, 166, 172, 173, 173F, 175, 175F, 176, 184, 185, 187F, 193, 195, 196, 211–217 (see also microburins of Krukowski type, microchips) combination tools, ix, 24, 24F, 30, 31, 31T, 46, 48–55, 50T, 52T, 52F–58F, 68, 84, 85F, 86, 86F, 87, 115, 180, 180T, 181F, 188, 191F, 200, 203, 203F (see also combination tools in refitted sequences) combination tools in refitted sequences, 119F, 120, 121F, 122, 126, 129F, 134F, 135–137, 138F, 139F, 153, 156F, 158T, 180, 180T, 181F, 182, 192F, 193, 195, 196, 197F cooking pit(s) at Gönnersdorf, 11 at Oldeholtwolde, 10–12, 11F, 15, 15F, 16, 17F, 18, 19F, 78, 91, 107, 108F, 109, 157, 176, 196, 215–217 cooking stones, see under stones (cooking stones, quartzes) Copenhagen university, 1, 219

226 cores (flint), ix, 13F, 27, 90, 93–95, 93F–95F, 100, 114, 118, 130, 135, 136, 178–180, 179F, 196, 200, 210, 213, 214 (see also cores in refitted sequences) cores in refitted sequences, 141, 144–165 (with many figs), 158T, 178–180, 179F, 195, 214, Colour Plates I–V core-preparation, see cresting, crushing of dorsal ridges core-rejuvenation, 134, 153, 154 (see also flint-knapping) core-reparation, see under flint-knapping core specialisation, see serial production cortex blades, see decortication blades coversands, ix, 3–5, 4F, 5F, 8, 27 (see also Younger Coversand I, II) crested blades, 62, 64F, 98, 99, 99F, 100, 100F, 118, 120, 122, 130, 135, 137, 153 cresting, 99, 120, 122, 130, 134, 135, 141, 146, 150, 153, 154, 157, 158, 171, 211 Creswellian, 171 crushing of dorsal ridges, 122, 137, 171 crushing of platform edges, 171 dating of Oldeholtwolde, ix, 3, 5, 6–8, 6F, 7F (see also radiocarbon dating, stratigraphy) daughters, archaeological visibility of, 178 decortication blades, 43, 98, 98F, 99, 100F, 141, 191 dense flint clusters 28, 29F, 93, 95F, 102, 157, 172–177, 173F–176F, 179, 212–214, 217 (see also dumping/dumps, flint-knapping locations) density analysis class division in density maps, 13, 15, 113 general information, 1, 13, 15, 25 optimising density maps, 13, 15, 30, 41 (see also proportion maps) discovery of the site at Oldeholtwolde, ix, 3, 9F, 27, 29, 138 (see also Boschker) disturbances in excavated area, ix, 8, 9F, 12, 27, 138, 188 division of labour by sex, 177 door dumps, 25 drawings of artefacts, information about, ix, 28, 38F, 39F, 105, 111, 119F drop and toss zones, 12, 25, 213 Dryas 2 Stadial, ix, 3–5, 5F, 7F, 8 Dryas 3 Stadial, ix, 5, 5F, 7F, 12, 30, 204 dumping/dumps, 16, 96, 109, 172–177, 213, 217 (see also dense flint clusters, door dumps) dwellings, establishing presence or absence at Etiolles, 25 at Gönnersdorf, 25 at Niederbieber, 25 at Oldeholtwolde, 11, 25, 31, 218 at Pincevent, 25 at Verberie, 25 (see also ring and sector analysis) Emmerhout, Creswellian site, 180, 197, 206F, 207 en éperon technique, see under flint-knapping Etiolles, Magdalenian site, 25, 177, 179

Index experiments in flint-knapping, 172, 173 export of flints, see import/export of flints family living at Oldeholtwolde, ix, 3, 177–179 (see also children) Federmesser Group, ix firemaking tools pyrite/marcasite, ix, 24, 50, 51, 189 tools with ‘rounded ends’ (strike-a-lights?), ix, 24, 31, 31T, 50, 50T, 51, 52T, 53F, 58F, 59, 61F, 134F, 135, 180, 180T, 181F, 189, 191, 191F (see also combination tools, and under use-wear analysis) fish, see under use-wear analysis flakes, 13F, 23F, 27, 62, 64F, 100, 101, 101F, 102F, 171, 193, 205, 213 (see also flakes in refitted sequences, plunging blades or flakes, retouched flakes) flakes in refitted sequences, 120, 123, 126, 127, 130, 133F, 136, 137, 141, 144, 146–148, 150, 153, 154, 156F, 158, 160, 162, 164, 166–170, 169F, 193, 195, 196 flint artefacts at Oldeholtwolde distribution, 12, 13F, 21, 27, 28, 27F–30F general information, 12, 27, 27T raw material types, distinctive (nos 1–7), 187–197, 189F–197F source, 4, 187, 188 (see also boulderclay/bouldersand) weight, 4 (see also separate classes of artefacts: points, scrapers, blades, etc.) flint-knapping chaîne opératoire, 117, 151, 157, 171, 172, 177, 217 en éperon technique, 171, 172, 217 gender of flint-knappers, 177 individual knappers, ix, 93, 117, 118, 120, 122, 132, 134–138, 141, 146–149, 151, 157, 158T, 160, 161, 163–165, 171, 172, 176–179, 178F, 179F, 182, 188, 196, 210–213, 215–218, Colour Plates I–V (see also family, children) locations, 28, 29F, 93, 95, 95F, 99, 100–103, 157, 172–177, 178F, 179, 179F, 200, 202, 205, 209–214, 217, 218 (see also dense flint clusters) percussion technique, 172 (see also under stones-hammerstones) teaching locations, 179 technology (including core-preparation and reparation), 99, 122, 126, 130, 132, 134–137, 141, 145, 146, 150, 151, 153, 154, 157, 158, 160, 161, 164, 165, 171, 172, 177, 181, 182, 195, 211, Colour Plates I–V founding toolkit, see import/export of flints frostcracks in flint, see frostsplitting of flints and stones frost fissures (in sediment), 5, 5F, 204 (see also Dryas 3) frostsplitting of flints and stones, ix, 5, 12, 14F, 30, 51, 116, 123, 126, 147, 149, 150, 153, 154, 157, 164, 171, 177, 178, 182, 188, 204, 204F

Index gastroliths, 12, 16, 19F Gøngehusvej, Mesolithic site, 207F Gönnersdorf, Magdalenian site, 12, 25 Gramsbergen, Epi-Ahrensburgian site, 103, 135, 180, 206F, 209 (see also Ahrensburgian) Gratama-Stichting, 1, 219 Greenland, 25 Groningen Institute of Archaeology, 111, 219 Groninger Universiteits Fonds, 1, 219 hafting, see under use-wear analysis Halsskov, Mesolithic site, 207F Havelte Group, Hamburgian, ix, 3, 5, 41, 146, 153, 157, 164, 171, 172 Havelte(-Holtingerzand), Hamburgian site, ix, 40 hearth from the Hamburgian at Oldeholtwolde, ix, 1, 3, 5F, 6–8, 6F, 9F, 10–13, 10F, 11F, 15, 16, 16F, 18, 19F, 21, 24, 105–107, 108F, 109, 204 (see also under charcoal, stones) hearth from the Mesolithic at Oldeholtwolde, 3, 6F, 8, 16, 19F (see also under charcoal) hearth model of Binford, 25 hearths in Alaska, 25 hearths as focus of settlement, 24, 25, 25F hearths at the Magdalenian site of Pincevent, 8 Hengistbury Head, Late Upper Palaeolithic site, 179 hide-drying structure(?), 12 Historical-Archaeological Experimental Centre, Lejre, Denmark, 172, 173 import/export of flints, ix, 41, 42, 50, 51, 54, 90, 91, 103, 114, 116, 118, 120, 126, 130, 132, 134, 135, 138, 140, 141, 146, 148, 153, 158, 158T, 160, 164, 166, 170, 172, 180–188, 180T, 181F, 182F, 191, 196–198, 200, 217, 218 (see also occupation-phases) individuals, see flint-knapping (individual knappers) Jels, Hamburgian site, 40, 41 Keeley, Lawrence H., 22 Kettig, Federmesser site, 172 Krist, Jan S., 1, 111, 207, 219 Krukowski ‘micro-burins’, see microburins of Krukowski type Leroi-Gourhan, André, 171 loamy bands in coversand, 5 location of Oldeholtwolde in the landscape, ix, 3, 4, 4F in the Netherlands, 3, 3F Luttenberg, Hamburgian site, 5, 10, 40, 41 Magdalenian, 171, 202 marcasite, see firemaking tools Mesolithic hearth at Oldeholtwolde, 3, 6F, 8, 16, 19F (see also charcoal, Pinus, radiocarbon dating)

227 microburins of Krukowski type, 42, 103, 105F, 173, 184, 185, 187F microchips, 5, 12, 21, 27, 102 micro-chronology, see occupation-phases moraines, see boulderclay/bouldersand Moss, Emily H., ix, 1, 22, 219 (& passim) multiple tools, 30, 46, 51, 60, 62, 65F, 67F, 180, 180T, 181F (see also under separate tool types) Niederbieber, Federmesser site, 25 nodules (flint), 27, 95, 114, 153, 163, 171, 177, 178, 181–183, 188, 218 notched tools, ix, 12, 24, 24F, 31T, 50T, 51, 52T, 52F, 53F, 56F–58F, 66, 70–78, 70F–77F, 84, 85F, 98, 105, 106F, 115, 171, 176, 180, 180T, 181, 181F, 182F, 188, 189F, 215, 216, 218 (see also combination tools, notched tools in refitted sequences, points) notched tools in refitted sequences, 119F, 120, 122–124, 124F, 125F, 126, 127, 127F, 129F, 130, 132F–133F, 133–137, 136F, 138F, 139F, 141, 142F, 145F, 146, 148F, 153, 156F, 157, 158T, 180–182, 180T, 181F, 182F, 192F, 193, 195, 196, 197F, 218 Nunamiut (Alaska), 12, 25 numbering system of flint artefacts, 28–30 occupation at Oldeholtwolde duration, ix, 3, 11, 12, 16, 106, 114, 178, 202, 207 phases, 54, 114, 118, 146, 172, 176–178, 180–188, 184F–187F, 196, 197, 200, 202, 209–214, 217, 218 (see also import/export of flints, rotation of activity areas around the hearth, wind) season, 179 ochre, ix, 21, 21F Oudehaske, Epi-Ahrensburgian site, 103, 135, 180, 206F (see also Ahrensburgian) Palaeo-Eskimo site, Greenland, 25 palimpsest artefact scatters, 182 patination of flint, 171 peat at Oldeholtwolde Holocene, 4, 4F, 5F Allerød, 4, 5, 5F, 6F, 7, 8 Pelegrin, Jacques, 177 Petersen, Erik Brinch, 219 phases of occupation, see under occupation piercers, see borers/Zinken Pincevent, Magdalenian site, 8, 10, 16, 25, 177 Pinus (pine), charcoal from Mesolithic hearth, 6F, 7, 16, 19F platform-rejuvenation, see core-rejuvenation Pleniglacial, 5 plunging blades or flakes, 62, 135, 141 point/burin, 38F, 39, 41 points, ix, 24, 24F, 26, 31T, 32–42, 34F–39F, 71, 77, 81, 81F, 84, 85F, 89, 91, 92F, 93, 103, 105, 106F, 115, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F, 188, 189F, 190F, 196, 197F, 204, 205F, 218 (see also points-absent in refitted sequences)

228 points, absent in refitted sequences, 158T, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F proportion maps burnt artefacts, 107F, 108F chips, 173, 175, 175F, 176F refitted artefacts, 113F, 173–176, 174F general information, 15, 25, 84 optimising proportion maps, 15, 25, 84 tool types, 84, 85F (see also density analysis) pyrite, see firemaking tools radiocarbon dating Achterberg pollen section, 7F, 8 Allerød peat at Oldeholtwolde, 6, 6F, 8 Hamburgian hearth at Oldeholtwolde, ix, 1, 3, 6, 6F, 7F, 8, Mesolithic hearth at Oldeholtwolde, 6F, 8 Usselo Horizon at Oldeholtwolde (charcoal), 6, 6F, 7 Usselo pollen section, 7, 7F, 8 wiggles, 7, 7F, 8 randomizing map locations of sifted artefacts, 29, 30, 34F, 112, 112F, 118F refitting of flint artefacts borer-tips to borers, 68, 68F, 69, 111, 120, 128, 130, 137, 141, 144, 146, 203, 203F, 208T breaks, 22, 30, 31T, 32, 33, 34F, 35F, 36, 36F, 38F, 39–42, 42F, 46, 46F, 50, 52F, 53F, 55, 59F, 62, 62F, 70, 70F, 71, 78F, 81, 82, 82F, 86, 86F, 87, 89, 90, 93, 93F, 95, 95F, 96, 105, 111, 114–116, 115F–117F, 119F, 180T, 188, 197–199, 202, 202F, 205F–207F, 206–208, 208T, 213, 217, 218 burin edges to burins, 46, 115, 208T burin spalls to burins (or combination tools), 46, 46F, 50, 53F, 86, 86F, 111, 115, 120, 136, 137, 146, 148, 189, 191, 192F, 193, 200, 201F, 202, 205, 205F, 206F, 207, 207F, 208, 208T, 217 (dorsal/ventral refitting, see production sequences) frostsplitted artefacts, 30, 51, 111, 116, 123, 126, 153, 154, 157, 164, 182, 188, 204, 204F, 208T general information, ix, 1, 22, 28, 30, 39F, 111–114, 111F–114F, 118F, 119F, 183, 197–207, 210, 217 heat fractures, 32, 40, 105, 111, 115, 204, 205, 205F, 208T production sequences (ventral/dorsal), 32, 41, 42, 46, 50, 51, 54, 62, 90, 90F, 91, 93, 95F, 100, 114, 116–170 (with many figs), 158T, 171, 172, 177–183, 179F, 180T, 181F, 182F, 188, 191, 192F, 193, 195–200, 197F, 205–207, 205F–207F, 208T, 209, 217, 218 (see also under separate tool types) refitting clusters, 210–218, 211F–217F refit lines, 111, 112, 115, 115F, 122, 126, 157, 173, 174F, 175, 176, 198–200, 200F–205F, 202–205, 207–218, 208T, 208F, 209F, 211F–217F scraper-edges to scrapers, 43, 111, 115, 203F refitting of stones, 12, 13, 14F, 15F Rekem, Federmesser site, 107, 179

Index residues ochre, 21 pyrite/marcasite(?), 51 resin(?), 67 resin, 91 retooling, 40, 41, 93, 105 retouched blades, 24, 24F, 31T, 78F–81F, 81, 82, 98, 105, 106F, 115, 180, 180T, 181F, 182, 182F, 188, 196, 198F (see also retouched blades in refitted sequences) retouched blades in refitted sequences, 119F, 135, 136F, 138, 141, 142F, 146, 148F, 150, 152F, 158T, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F retouched flakes, 24, 24F, 31T, 82, 82F–84F, 171, 180T, 181F, 182F (see also retouched flakes in refitted sequences) retouched flakes in refitted sequences, 120, 146, 148, 148F, 150F, 158T, 180T, 181F, 182F right-handedness, 43 Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden, Leiden, 219 ring and sector analysis general information, ix, 1, 18, 20F, 24, 25, 25F, 30, 33F optimising options, 25, 26F, 31 optimum level of resolution, 25 of refit categories, 183–187, 186F of tools and blades, 11, 31, 32, 33F, 34F, 183, 218 of used artefacts, 25F, 26F (see also separate type groups) RINGS & SECTORS computer package, 1 rings of stones, see cooking pits rotation of activity areas around the hearth, 114, 172, 182–187, 184F–187F, 210, 218 (see also occupation-phases, wind) ‘rounded ends’, see firemaking, use-wear analysis Saalian, 171, 187 Salix (willow) charcoal from Hamburgian hearth, 5, 6, 6F, 8, 16, 19F wood remains from Allerød peat, 5 Sassenhein, Hamburgian site, 5 Schweiger, Manfred M., 111, 219 scrapers, ix, 24, 24F, 31T, 42–44, 42F–45F, 50, 50T, 51, 52T, 56F, 58F, 81, 81F, 84, 85F, 87, 115, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F, 188, 190F, 197, 200, 203F, 218 (see also combination tools, scrapers in refitted sequences) scrapers in refitted sequences, 130, 132F, 138, 141, 145F, 146, 158T, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F season of occupation, see under occupation seating locations, 10, 16, 102 serial production, 62, 146, 182 sifting of soil at Oldeholtwolde, 3, 27, 28, 29, 30, 112 Slotseng, Hamburgian site, 40 Sølbjerg (1), Ahrensburgian site, 206F Sølbjerg (2 & 3), Hamburgian site, 40, 41, 171, 172, 206F, 207 Stichting Nederlands Museum voor Anthropologie en Praehistorie, 1, 219 stones at Oldeholtwolde blades under stones, 12

Index burning traces on stones (black staining), 10, 11F, 12, 13, 14F, 15, 16F in possible cooking pit, 11, 11F, 15, 15F, 17F cooking stones, 10–12, 11F, 17F, 107, 157, 176 distribution of stones, 8, 9F, 10–13, 10F, 11F, 15, 16, 15F–18F gastroliths, 12, 16, 19F general information, 12 gneisses, 12 granites, 12 hammerstones, 11 in Hamburgian hearth, ix, 5F, 6, 8, 9F, 10–13, 10F, 11F, 14F–16F, 15, 16, 18 in possible hide-drying structure, 12 quartzes, 10, 12, 15, 15F, 17F, 157 in a row, 12 rubbing stone, 11 sandstones (slabs), ix, 4, 8, 9F, 10–13, 10F, 11F, 14F, 21 ‘sitting stones’, 10 source, 4, 12 ‘table stones’, 10 weight, 4 stratigraphy at Oldeholtwolde, ix, 1, 3–6, 5F, 6F, 8 (see also dating, radiocarbon dating) strike-a-lights, see firemaking Swalmen, Early Mesolithic site, 207F tablets, see core-rejuvenation Texel, Hamburgian site, 5 tips of borers/Zinken (broken off), 27, 28, 55, 61F, 62, 66–70, 68F–70F, 120, 121F, 122, 128, 130, 137, 141, 144, 146, 203, 203F (see also borers/Zinken, combination tools) Tjonger, River, ix, 3, 4, 5 Tjongerian, see Federmesser Group tools (of flint) distribution, 12, 13F, 21, 23F, 28–31, 32F–34F, 84, 85F, 115F, 177 general information, 27, 28, 30, 31T, 114, 115 tools in refitted sequences (overview), 157, 157T, 158T, 180–182, 180T, 181F, 182F under stones, 12 (see also the separate tool types) tossing, 70, 90, 93, 95F, 135, 144, 145, 150, 157, 161, 179, 200, 210 trampling, 116, 171, 209 transverse arrowheads, 92F, 93 travel, artefacts carried in, see import/export of flints truncated tools, ix, 24, 24F, 31T, 50T, 51, 52T, 55, 56F, 58F, 58–60, 59F– 61F, 89, 92F, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F (see also combination tools, truncated tools in refitted sequences) truncated tools in refitted sequences, 119F, 120, 121F, 122, 134F, 135, 137, 140F, 141, 142F, 143F, 145F, 146, 158T, 180, 180T, 181F, 182F, 188, 189F use-wear analysis antler, ix, 39, 42, 44, 48, 51, 66, 67, 69, 72, 88, 130, 133, 136, 148, 153, 195

229 antler or wood, 67, 72 ‘barbs’ (transverse MLITs), 24, 40–42, 59, 60, 88–93, 89F–92F, 96, 140, 153, 188 bone, ix, 42, 66, 81, 82, 122 bone or antler, 24, 44, 48, 51, 66–69, 72, 77, 82, 88, 96, 120, 122, 130, 136, 148, 153, 193 bone, antler or wood, 72 butchering, 24, 72, 77, 81, 82, 98, 101, 141, 153, 166, 188 curation, 24, 51, 67, 80F, 81, 82, 196 distribution of artefacts with use wear, 23F, 25F, 26, 26F fish, ix, 4, 10, 24, 40, 42, 51, 66, 72, 77, 188 general information, ix, 1, 22, 22T, 23F, 24, 24F, 26, 111 hafting, 24, 35, 40, 42–44, 48, 51, 60, 66, 67, 77, 82, 91, 92F, 93, 153, 180, 191 hide, ix, 24, 42–44, 48, 51, 59, 66, 67, 69, 72, 81, 82, 96, 101, 116, 120, 122, 138, 141, 144, 153, 178, 188, 196 meat, ix, 24, 42, 98, 101, 153 microscopic linear impact traces (MLIT), longitudinal, 35, 36, 40–42, 77, 89, 96, 116 microscopic linear impact traces (MLIT), transverse, see use-wear analysis—‘barbs’ ‘notch traces’, 24, 44, 51, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 77, 81, 82, 98, 101, 120, 123, 126, 127, 130, 135, 141, 144, 146, 153, 170, 196 plant, 24, 44, 66, 81, 82, 98, 116, 126, 188 projectiles, 24, 39 rounded ends, ix, 50–52, 52T, 53F, 58F, 59, 61F, 134F, 135, 180, 180T, 181F, 189, 191, 191F (see also firemaking tools) soil, 42, 60 stone, 24, 51, 67, 122, 189 wood, ix, 24, 51, 59, 60, 66, 69, 72, 77, 81, 82, 96, 116, 122, 124, 130, 136, 138, 140, 141, 153, 166, 188, 195 Usselo Horizon, 4–8, 5F, 6F Usselo pollen section, 5, 7F, 8 Vænget Nord, Mesolithic site, 207F ventral/dorsal refitting, see refitting of flint artefactsproduction sequences Verberie, Magdalenian site, 25 Vledder, Hamburgian site, 43 white flint, 80F, 82, 196, 197, 198F wind, ix, 21, 25, 26, 114, 182–187, 184F–187F, 218 (see also rotation of activity areas around the hearth, occupation-phases) windgloss, 171, 188 Younger Coversand I, 4, 5, 5F, 8 Younger Coversand II, 4, 5, 5F Zandbergen, Arnold L., 12, 219 Zinken: see borers/Zinken (see also combination tools, tips of borers/Zinken)

Colour plates

2 cm

170

Plate I. Refit group 170: knapper 1. Key for plates I–V: Yellow: residual core; Red: blades; Green: flakes resulting from cresting the core-front; Blue: flakes resulting from creating or repairing platforms; White: unknown (fig. L. Johansen).

72

91

2 cm

95

Plate II. Refit group 72: knapper 3; refit group 91: knapper 1 or 2; refit group 95: knapper 2 (fig. L. Johansen).

4

46

2 cm

50

Plate III. Refit group 4: knappers 1 and 2; refit group 46: knappers 1 and 2; refit group 50: knappers 1 and 3 (fig. L. Johansen).

10

30

2 cm

58

Plate IV. Refit group 10: knapper 2; refit group 30: knapper 1 or 2; refit group 58: knapper 1 or 2 (fig. L. Johansen).

68 2 cm

Plate V. Refit group 68: knapper 2 (fig. L. Johansen).