DOI: 10.33547/BMAK.10.5
Bębło, stan. 4, pow. krakowski. Badania traseologiczne materiałów krzemiennych / Site 4 in Bębło, Kraków district: microwear analysis of the flint material
by Katarzyna Pyżewicz 
1
1 – Wydział Archeologii, Uniwersytet Warszawski; ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927 Warszawa
In: E. Trela-Kieferling (ed.), Nakopalniane pracownie krzemieniarskie z okresu neolitu w Bęble, stan. 4, woj. małopolskie / Neolithic flint workshops at the mine in Bębło, site 4, Małopolska (Biblioteka Muzeum Archeologicznego w Krakowie 10), Kraków: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Krakowie, Profil-Archeo, 2021, pp. 169-186.
Microwear analysis of flint materials recovered from sites related to flint mining poses several problems. The artefacts have been exposed to post-depositional destructive factors: to the pressure of surrounding fragments of rock, debris or other flint products, to subsequent human activity or natural processes. Moreover, it is unlikely that the artefacts were used in everyday life, so there might be few microwear traces to identify. Microscopic examination of a selected group of artefacts from Site 4 in Bębło has been carried out with these limitations in mind. The presented examination corresponds to microwear analyses concerning other sites related to prehistoric mining. Detailed microwear studies of flint items recovered from mines often reveal pseudo-retouch and random chipping caused by human activity or natural forces both when the flint was mined and in later periods. The Bębło material does not seem to include many functional tools, though some artefacts were possibly used to make a fire or to process antler/bone, hide and plants, or served as hammers, grinding stones and rabbles.