The problem of flint in the Mesolithic of the Vistula and upper Warta basins

This paper is an abridgement of the Ph.D. dissertation that under the same title has been written at the University of Warsaw. In view of the character of the Symposium special emphasis has been put on such problems as the occurrence and characteristic of raw materials as well as their exploitation and distribution, whereas the technique of flint working, cultural differentiation of raw material economy and socio-economic interpretation of these processes have been marginally treated. The basic object of the study undertaken by this writer was to determine which varieties of flint were used in the production of particular artifacts and to examine the raw material structure of closed assemblages. As a result it has been posible to establish the varieties of flint that were used by Mesolithic communities in the area under discussion. Consequently, other questions arose, namely: – where did the outcrops of these materials lie and in which way were they exploited? – how far and in which direction did the distribution of particular raw materials reach? – is it possible to speak about provinces of raw materials in the Mesolithic? (i.e. about zones characterized by a specific structure of the materials used).