Niezwykłe narzędzia kościane z wczesnej epoki żelaza znalezione na osadzie w Żubronajciach

Abstrakt

Osad a w Żubronajciach położona jest na Pojezierzu Suwalskim stanowiącym we wczesnej epoce żelaza pogranicze kultury kurhanów zachodniobałtyjskich na zachodzie i kultury ceramiki kreskowanej (sztrychowanej) na wschodzie. Prace wykopaliskowe na tym stanowisku prowadzone były w latach 1961-63 przez M. Kaczyńskiego. Pozyskano wówczas liczne zwierzęce materiały kostne o charakterze pokonsumpcyjnym* oraz wyroby kościane. Wśród nich znajdowały się niewielkie narzędzia skrobiące, dotychczas nie wyodrębniane na stanowiskach archeologicznych na ziemiach polskich. Stanowią one przedmiot niniejszej pracy.<br>UNUSUAL BONE TOOLS FROM THE EARLY IRON AGE FOUND AT A SETTLEMENT IN ZUBRONAJCIE. The present study focuses on bone scraping tools found at an early Iron Age settlement in Zubronajcie. They are characterised by their small dimensions and rectangular form, less frequently triangular or trapezoidal. One of their shorter sides was sharpened. (Fig. 1) The tools were identified in terms of variety and anatomy and the surface traces of their production and use were described. Sixteen tools were examined under a microscope. To establish their application experiments were conducted using the original tools and specially produced replicas. The production of scraping tools used the bone of mammals, primarily domestic (most frequently horses and cattle, occasionally sheep, goat, pig), less often wild (principally stag, sporadically moose, roe and boar; Table 1). They were made using chips cut from long bones: the tibia, humerus, femur, radius and metatarsals, occasionally making use of the ribs, metacarpals, fibula and antlers. The bone was shaped by grinding against a hard rock to form a single or double-sided blade on one of the shorter edges. Microscope examination revealed numerous long, rather shallow scratches arranged parallel to the edge of the blade (Fig. 2). Traces of the shaping of the bone had a dual character, most frequently the smoothing and polishing of the surface of the blade, no doubt arising through the use of a soft material (Fig. 3). Some of the tools showed signs of shorter, deeper and less regular scratches, compared to the scratches on the blade, situated away from the cutting edge (Fig. 4). The scratching tools most probably served a number of functions. Experiments using the original tools as well as replicas confirmed that they could be used to strip flesh from skins, cleaning fish, smoothing the surfaces of ceramic dishes, filleting meat and working wood. The application of the replicas left markings similar to those that occur on tools from the settlement in Zubronajcie.