Swieciechow in the south - geochemical provenance of a "flint" axe from Austria.

Abstract

Provenance analyses of prehistoric far distance imports hold a great potential for tracing past human behaviour. This involves the reconstruction of trade and exchange networks revealing connections between different communities, and charting trends of raw material versus finished tool procurement at a macro scale. Especially lithic materials are ideally suited for such undertakings due to their abundance, durability and oftentimes wide distribution in the past. Here we demonstrate how the application of a multi-technique analytical procedure including stereomicroscopic microfacies analysis and geochemistry using LA-ICPMS enables a clear assignment of the so-far only known Świeciechów silicite (flint) axe head from Austria to its source location over 500 km to the northeast in the central Polish Holy Cross Mountains. Our study also provides new geochemical data on the eponymous white spots for which this silicite is best known. Our geochemical results contribute to the already impressive body of knowledge about this unique raw material type, which can be regarded as one of the most important for prehistoric – and predominantly Neolithic – chipped stone production for large scale distribution.