'VUUR-STENEN' IN HET LATE PALEOLITHICUM
Samenvatting
Many finds of flints with one or several rounded ends, often accompanied by pyrites, are known from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, especially from graves. These flints and pyrites were used in combination for kindling fire. In this article some flints with rounded ends from five Late Palaeolithic sites are deseribed. Four sites of the Late Hamburgian (Oldeholtwolde and Sassenhein in the northern Netherlands, Sølbjerg 2 and 3 on the Danish island of Lolland), and a site of the Late Ahrensburgian (Gramsbergen in the eastern Netherlands) produced one to nine such tools. These are mostly sturdy blades (e.g. core preparation blades); in some cases borer-like tools were used for this purpose. Since no engraved stones are known from these sites, the use of these tools as strike-a-lights seems probable. One of the pieces from Oldeholtwolde was studied by a scanning electron microscope. Two small particles containing sulphur and iron (one also has copper) were detected within the rounded part, which could be pyrite dust, though a mineralogical determination was not performed.