The knapped stone assemblage from Boldogkőváralja in the light of a new statistical evaluation
Norbert Faragó1, Zsolt Mester2, Attila Király3
1 Corresponding author. Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest Email: farago.norbert@btk.elte.hu
2 Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Email: mester.zsolt@btk.elte.hu
3 Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Email: attila@litikum.hu ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4993-8206
Cite as Faragó, N., Mester, Zs., & Király, A. (2020). The knapped stone assemblage from Boldogkőváralja in the light of a new statistical evaluation. Litikum – Journal of the Lithic Research Roundtable, 8 (Studies commemorating Jacques Tixier), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.23898/litikuma0025
Abstract. One of the most famous knapped stone assemblages, the 566 intact blades found in a large vessel at Boldogkőváralja- Tekeres-patak, dated to the Bükk culture (5200–5000 BC) has been at the forefront of the research for decades. Our intention was three-fold when we decided to reevaluate this find. First, with the publication of the conjoining workshop material, we wanted to draw more attention to the whole assemblage and not just only to the depot. Second, the deliberate selection of the artefacts found in the jar has been suggested since the 1960s, which, in our opinion, can be tested by deep statistical analysis. Third, when Vértes applied parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses on knapped stone assemblages, he ventured into a brand new branch of archaeological investigation, not just in Hungary. Unfortunately, the pioneering attempts of Vértes were not followed for many decades. Our results suggest that the intact blades of the depot differed from each other significantly by their butt preparation because the pieces with dihedral butts are significantly wider than the others. On contrary, the length and the thickness of unbroken blades are homogenous, irrespective of preparation techniques. Concerning the different butt types across the whole assemblage, blades with plain butts are the most numerous in the depot and the workshops, but other, more thorough preparation occurred at a decreased rate in the workshops. At the same time, the different preparation types are evenly distributed in the four workshops, there are no significant differences between them.
Keywords: Neolithic, Bükk culture, lithics, statistics, structured deposition
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Funding statement: The author received no financial support for the research and/or the publication of this article.
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