Identification of a fragment of an Early Bronze bone recovered from the Borownia striped flint mine in the Ostrowiec district (on the centenary of Polish research on prehistoric flint mining)

Abstract

The site was discovered in 1921 and identified as a prehistoric striped flint mine in 1922. It is notable for its excellently preserved prehistoric industrial landscape, particularly discernible in the valley of the Kamienna river. It was excavated for the first time in 2017. In 2018, the site was nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List together with the Krzemionki Opatowskie mine. Flint artefacts and radiocarbon dates set its chronology as the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. No bones have been preserved from that period apart from a fragment of a long bone in two parts. Microscopic analysis of thin sections has identified the fragment as a bone of a red deer (Cervus elaphus). The article concludes with remarks about the 2019 centenary of research on prehistoric flint mining in Poland.