Published: 2024-10-14

Flint arrowhead from a hoard in Papowo Biskupie, Chełmno district: comments on the discussion on the sacral function of lithic artefacts from the turn of the Iron Age

Jacek Gackowski
Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
Section: Field Survey and Materials
DOI https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/76.2024.1.3761

Abstract

The article presents a flint arrowhead from Papowo Biskupie, Chełmno district. Hoards from this place and many loose metal finds are interpreted as votive offerings deposited in the water. Numerous objects made in bronze are accompanied by abundant non-cremated human bones unearthed there. The archaeological site is dated back to a period from about 1000 to 400 BC. A traceological analysis of the flint arrowhead showed that it had never been used, and that it found its way into one of the hoards on purpose as an element of a set of many artefacts that were deposited with in a birch bark container. Therefore, it probably served a purpose similar to that attributed to flint artefacts discovered in Lusatian-culture cremation graves. The provenance of the arrowhead can be determined in the context of Scythian-style ornaments that were reaching Kuyavia and Chełmno Land, as they have been found more and more often in the Lusatian culture in the area of Tarnobrzeg.

Keywords:

flint arrowheads, votive hoards, Lusatian culture, Late Bronze age, Early Iron Age

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Citation rules

Gackowski, J. (2024). Flint arrowhead from a hoard in Papowo Biskupie, Chełmno district: comments on the discussion on the sacral function of lithic artefacts from the turn of the Iron Age. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, 76(1), 583–600. https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/76.2024.1.3761

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