Bone, antler, and tooth objects from the late bronze/early Iron Age urnfields in south-western Poland

• DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2022.10.014
• Publication Date: 2022-10-28T11:16:46Z
• Authors: Justyna Baron; Marcin Diakowski; Beata Badura; Tomasz Stolarczyk
• Keywords: Antler; Bronze; Iron Age; Human bone

Objects made of osseous materials are extremely rare in the urnfield burial contexts dated SW Poland to late Bronze and early Iron Age (ca. 1300–550 BCE). That may be result cremation process which bone/antler artefacts fragmented difficult distinguish from human bones, usually densely packed ceramic urns. We compare data about 95 specimens four urnfields (Dunino [2], Jarząbkowice [1], Wicina Sękowice [5]) one bi-ritual cemetery (Przeczyce [76]). The analysis micro traces showed that these simple small objects were manufactured both with flint metal tools. observation their colour surface alterations suggests they exposed high temperatures, probably cremated together bodies, then carefully deposited