TRACING THE CHANGES: LATE PALAEOLITHIC AND EARLY MESOLITHIC LITHIC PROJECTILE POINTS IN LATVIA
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 28/03/2021

Projectile points, representing one of the most distinctive tool forms in lithic collections, can serve as an important diagnostic factor to determine the presence of a certain archaeological industry or culture in a region. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to present Late Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic (11th – 9th millennium BC) lithic projectile points from present-day Latvia, focus-ing on both morphological and technological attributes as well as on dating problems.It is possible to divide flint projectile points from Latvia (67 in total) into four main types, all produced from non-local, high-qual-ity  Cretaceous  flint.  Even  though  each  type  has  its  own  specific  characteristics,  some  of  them  share  common  technological  attributes.The first two types – tanged and willow-leaf points – are associated with the banks of two major rivers, the Daugava and Lielupe, representing  the  Swiderian  technological  tradition  (Salaspils  Laukskola  and  Avotiņi  sites).  Both  tanged  and  willow-leaf  points  were produced from the same blank type. Based on similar material in the Baltic region, the tanged type is assigned to the Late Palaeolithic, while the willow-leaf type is dated to the end of the Late Palaeolithic and beginning of the Mesolithic. However, due to  the  lack  of  datable  material  on  sites,  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  the  exact  time  these  points  were  in  use  in  present-day  Latvia. Two other tanged point types – long, regular and smaller forms – are the Pulli types and have been found as stray finds in the River Daugava basin and at Early Mesolithic sites in NE (Zvejnieki II) and SE (Kvapani II) Latvia, dated to the 9th millennium BC. The use of smaller, less regular tanged points continued even later in the Mesolithic. All the points from Latvia are analyzed in the context of all the Eastern Baltic traditions.


Author(s): Kalnins, Marcis (Faculty of History and Philosophy, University of Latvia) - Zagorska, Ilga (Institute of Latvian Histo-ry, University of Latvia)