Collection-and-database approach in the study of lithic raw material provenance
Katalin T. Biró
Hungarian National Museum
The study of the raw material of chipped stone artefacts is one of the most efficient means for the investigation of the action radius and the system of connections of Palaeolithic and Prehistoric communities. Our ancestors had an excellent knowledge on their environment and the availability and physical qualities of the raw materials suitable for producing their tools. The relevant knowledge formed part of the basic intellectual wealth concerning subsistence.
The surface morphology and, as a consequence, accessibility of the sources has changed essentially. Only part of the former sources of raw materials can be reached and even the existing sources are seemingly disappearing. It was in the last of minutes that a team in the Hungarian Geological Institute lead by József Fülöp started a general survey for the collection of applicable prehistoric raw material sources in the 1980-ies. As a result of this survey, most of the raw materials sources previously unknown to international petroarchaeological research were spotted and mapped, reference samples collected. In 1986, on the basis of the collected material, a special reference collection was founded in the Hungarian National Museum called Lithotheca. The collection is systematically increased ever since. In the first years, the collection supported almost exclusively chipped stone raw material studies that was extended first towards polished stone tools and recently also other stone utensils. Regionally, the focus of interest is basically the Carpathian basin and raw materials used within this geographical unit, but in the case of high quality raw materials important in prehistoric trade, the scope extends world-wide.
So far, several articles, two printed catalogue volumes, an illustrated bilingual homepage and database on several platforms has been made. The collection serves as an established reference tool, offering valuable material also for different exhibitions. We are gradually increasing the applied instrumental analyses on the material of the collection and control samples of petroarchaeological projects on selected archaeological finds also contribute to the increase of the Collection.