Confined Pressure Compression Scratches: A New Observation in Lithic Analysis

During the Late Neolithic in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany, flint daggers reached an exceptionally high quality of craftsmanship. The blades of these daggers were pattern flaked using a pressure technique, which has been replicated by several archaeologists and flint knappers. Observations of scratches caused by the pressure flaking technique can be pointed out on the archaeological finds, and explained as a consequence of the holding position. This grants archaeology a new insight into the techniques of the ancient craftsmen and the interaction between the material and the individual. The “confined pressure compression scratches” suggests that a consistent pressure flaking technique was used throughout the late Neolithic in the region, regardless of the dagger morphology. The observations presented in this article can be extended to other pressure flaked lithics of the world.