2018

redakcja monografii naukowej

polski

EN Flint played very important role in everyday life of the oldest communities of the Stone Age. Together with other hard rocks was the main material for production of tools. It served for hunting, gathering, fishery, food preparation, making clothes or preparation of tools made of wood and other raw materials. For this reason access to the good quality raw materials, such as chocolate flint, was a priority for the Stone Age communities. In the territory of Poland the most important resources were good quality flints, that occur here in several variations. One of the best is a chocolate flint. It was widely used during the Stone Age in Poland, which is indicated by a huge number of collections made of this raw material in archaeological sites located not only in the vicinity of its outcrops, but also several hundred kilometers away. Chocolate flint occurs in Mesozoic limestone rocks in the Northern Margin of the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains, extended for 90 km. Presently, twenty six points of exploitation of this raw material are known, which forms the largest mining region in Poland. The deposits start in the area of Chronów Kolonia Górna, Guzów, Orońsko. Next they pass through Tomaszów in the Orońsko Commune, in the neighborhood of Wierzbica, Polany and Iłża in the central part and end in the area of Zawichost in Vistula river basin, in the south-east. Chocolate flint occurs in several color variations - black, dark brown, light brown and grey. It could be transparent and glossy, waxy or matt. It occurs in the form of flat concretions as well as irregular or oval nodule. It was mined from the Final Paleolithic in the Orońsko II site, throughout Neolithic in Tomaszów, until the end of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (in the position of Wierzbica „Zele”), but it was already used since Middle Paleolithic. This raw material was acquired from the shafts as deep as 7 meters or shallow pits. The nature of these objects was dependent on the depth of the flint deposit. The raw material was initially processed in flint workshops located near the mines. Orońsko is located in the northernmost part of the chocolate flint outcrops, where in the 1920s Stefan Krukowski – polish archaeologist, found flint mine complex in Orońsko, Guzów and Chronów Kolonia Górna. All mentioned sites were named together by him with the term “Orońsko mines”. But, there are also remains of other site types in Orońsko Commune, such as processing workshops and camps or settlements. In fact, there are more than 250 identified archaeological sites in the region. Most of them are dated to the Stone Age and are associated with the extraction and processing of chocolate flint in Final Palaeolithic Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Early Bronze Age. The area is unique on the European scale. Thus, it is very important to protect this historic complex and use its potential for scientific, educational and promotional purposes.

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

2018

9788363760991

https://katalogi.bn.org.pl/discovery/search?query=isbn,exact,9788363760991&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=NLOP_IZ_NZ&vid=48OMNIS_NLOP:48OMNIS_NLOP&lang=pl&offset=0

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