De afgeronde vuurstenen artefacten van Swifterbant (Fl.). Vuurmakers, boren of toch iets anders?

Samenvatting

Flint artefacts with rounded ends from Swifterbant (province of Flevoland). Strike-a-lights, borers, or something else? Analysis of lithic artefacts from the Neolithic site of Swifterbant yielded some fifty flint artefacts of whose proximal and/or distal ends show a distinct rounding. Two teams of use-wear analysts interpret these traces in two different ways. The Groningen team regards them as strike-a-lights, while the Leiden team is inclined to think along the lines of a hafting method. One tool however, a borer used on hide, proves that yet more activities can produce the phenomenon of rounding. To resolve this apparently serious discrepancy, it is hoped that the two teams will collaborate in a new and more detailed experimental and microscopic study.