ARROWHEADS OF THE SOŚNIA TYPE – A TECHNOLOGICAL AND TYPOLOGICAL PHENOMENON IN PARA-NEOLITHIC FLINTWORKING

The Sośnia-type arrowheads are an extremely interesting example of combining distinct chronological and technological elements in a single item. These arrowheads integrate technology drawing from the Mesolithic traditions and the Neolithic way of shaping the surface, which suggests that these blades should be placed between the Mesolithic trapezoids and the Neolithic arrowheads. The function of these tools remains unknown, so the name “arrowheads” is based on a functional image derived from the Neolithic traditions. Until recently, the Sośnia-type arrowheads were considered to have been related exclusively to para-Neolithic flintworking known from sites in Podlachia, Lithuania, and Belarus. This view was verified in result of archaeological research conducted in the first decade of the 21st century on Eneolithic sites from southeastern Poland, for example at the cemetery of the Lublin-Volhynian Culture in Książnice. The presence of para-Neolithic elements in the Lublin-Volhynian environment is not limited to the Sośnia-type arrowheads but represented also by other categories of insets with Mesolithic features. In addition, traces of mutual influences have also been observed in ceramic vessels.