Our paper focuses on an unexpected archaeological finding made during the 2014 excavation campaign at Bir-kot-ghwandai, hereafter BKG, that poses difficult interpretative questions. It concerns, in fact, the contextual association of two bifacial flaked stone objects of very different type, size and function found one aside the other on a living surface exposed immediately outside the Indo-Greek Urban wall of the city. The first object is a biface made of quartzite that typologically can be considered a hand-axe, one of the few so far found in the Swat valley and in the surroundings Northern areas, and ascribed on the basis of the lithic traditions to Middle or Lower Palaeolithic times. The second artifact is a quite unusual large schist disk of unknown function, cut with rhythmic bilateral blows in a perfect circle and without any traces of polishing.
Out of Context, but Part of a Broader Picture. A Hand-Axe from Late Bronze Age Barikot
Massimo Vidale;
2023
Abstract
Our paper focuses on an unexpected archaeological finding made during the 2014 excavation campaign at Bir-kot-ghwandai, hereafter BKG, that poses difficult interpretative questions. It concerns, in fact, the contextual association of two bifacial flaked stone objects of very different type, size and function found one aside the other on a living surface exposed immediately outside the Indo-Greek Urban wall of the city. The first object is a biface made of quartzite that typologically can be considered a hand-axe, one of the few so far found in the Swat valley and in the surroundings Northern areas, and ascribed on the basis of the lithic traditions to Middle or Lower Palaeolithic times. The second artifact is a quite unusual large schist disk of unknown function, cut with rhythmic bilateral blows in a perfect circle and without any traces of polishing.Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
