An attempt to link a lithic complex with the Late Palaeolithic Rangifer tarandus antler axe from the Parupė site in northern Lithuania

• Published in: Archaeologia Baltica
• Main Authors: Rimkus, Tomas, Girininkas, Algirdas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: reindeer; antler axe; lithic technology; Bromme culture; Late Palaeolithic; east Baltic; Rago; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: https://vb.ku.lt/KU:ELABAPDB115783024&prefLang=en_US

The recent intensification of AMS 14C assays of bone and antler artefacts in the east and southeast Baltic region has revealed a number of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) antler axes, and their prevalence in the Late Palaeolithic osseous toolkit. One of the oldest, dating from 11 221–11 048 cal BC, was discovered in 2014 in the village of Parupė, on the left bank of the River Nemunėlis, in northern Lithuania. Until now, no such organic implements discovered in the region in question have been associated with any Late Palaeolithic taxonomic group, but at the location of the antler axe at Parupė between 2015 and 2019, three concentrations of numerous lithic findings have been identified, whose typological and technological features allow for the consideration of their possible association with the dated axe. In this paper, we present three concentrations of lithic finds (sites 1–3) at Parupė village, providing their technological and typological data, and their possible chronology and taxonomy, reflecting the Late Palaeolithic and Early and Late Mesolithic. We conclude that the moderate lithic complex from site 1 should be associated with Late Palaeolithic technology, and can possibly be linked with the antler axe.