Скачать или смотреть Wooden sleeves from Subneolithic sites in Šventoji, Lithuania. What was their function?

by Grzegorz Osipowicz (1), Justyna Orłowska (1), Gytis Piličiauskas(2), Giedrė Piličiauskienė (3), Grzegorz Skrzyński (4)
1 Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
2 Archaeology Department, Lithuanian Institute of History
3 Department of Archaeology, Vilnius University
4 Independent researcher

At EAC13, we presented preliminary results of experimental studies and related traceological analysis conducted as part of the study of one of the largest collections of wooden artefacts in Europe dating back to the Stone Age. It comes from the Subneolithic sites in Šventoji in Lithuania. One of the most exciting categories of objects discussed in this talk was the so-called sleeves, i.e. pairs of artefacts considered (due to their form) to be holders of axes and other types of tools. In our talk, we would like to present the results of the latest research on the function of these products, which were conducted as part of the international research project entitled "PlAnt Raw maTerialS in the life of middle Holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher communities of the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea (PARTS project)". The studies included the results of dendroarchaeological, technological and traceological analysis of these artefacts. They became the basis for planning and implementing the experimental research program, with the primary goal of creating a reference base of use-wear traces forming on wooden objects due to their use as sleeves. During these experiments, replicas of sleeves made of wood species used for this purpose in Šventoji were applied, which were used to mount tools of several types (axes, axes, hoes) made of different raw materials (stone, flint, antler and bone). These replicas were used for a series of activities, the most important of which was woodworking. The reference base of hafting traces created on sleeves was used for comparative studies with use-wear traces observed on artefacts, which enabled the interpretation of their actual function.