Late Bronze Age Bone Crafting in the Eastern Baltic: Standardization of Artefact Types and Individual Ingenuity

Abstract

The aim of the article is to discuss some exceptional finds among Late Bronze Age bone and antler artefacts in the eastern Baltic. A certain standardization of selected material and shape is characteristic of many bone tool types of discussed period. Some foreign bronze artefacts have been replicated in more easily available local materials -bone and antler. But sometimes an ancient craftsman tried to make some local standardized artefact from some other available substance. Spearheads made from goat/sheep tibiae constitute a very standardized tool type in eastern Lithuania. From Narkūnai a spearhead was found copying the shape of these spearheads, but made from elk antler. Scapular tools with a notched edge are known from Estonian fortified settlements; only one notched-edged tool from Iru has been carved from a rib. The bone pins with round head are characteristic pin type in Ķivutkalns, Latvia. Almost all such pins were made from long bones diaphysis but for one pin with similar shape a rib has been chosen. Why did the maker of bone artefact not use the traditional material in some cases? Perhaps the required bone was not available, or unskilled bone-carver picked the other material which was easier to carve. Although such examples are quite few they still attest the ingenuity of individuals who made them.

Bone spearheads from the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Cordoba (Argentina)

“…Outes (1911), Aparicio (1928), Lothrop (1932), and Serrano (1946) classified hollow points as spearheads. Olsen (1981), Luik (2013), Kühlem (2017), Gates St‐Pierre (2010), and Ferrari (2014) reinforced this hypothesis using ethnographic analogies. However, use‐wear analysis carried out by Buc (2012) indicates that they were versatile tools used to accomplish different activities.…”