Macrolithic flint products from inventories of adult male graves of the Lublin-Volhynian culture – prestige goods or everyday use items – by the example of grave No. 2/1987 from site 1C in Gródek, Hrubieszów District (Poland)

Abstract

Abstract A research project aiming to determine the functional aspects of flint-knapping of the Lublin-Volhynian culture (ca. 4200–3650/3600 BC) has been conducted for several years in the Institute of Archaeology at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. This article presents deliberations on the functions of tools discovered in a rich male grave, at site 1C in Gródek. The subject of the functional research are nine artefacts deposited near the buried person. Among them, noteworthy are two retouched blade daggers found on the buried man’s rib cage. Other items – blades and tools – were discovered in different parts of the burial pit. When conducting microscopic analyses, attention was paid to the fact that the discovered forms represent two categories – used artefacts and those that do not have marks of utilisation on their edges. Spectrometric analyses (SEM-EDS) of residual substances recorded on the surfaces of certain artefacts supplemented the performed research.