Semi-precipitated leaf

The unfinished leaf point found at the site of Szczecin-Śmierdnica 9 originates from amateur excavations carried out in the late 19th century. It was donated by Mr Dietert of Szczecin to the collection of the Gesellschaft für Pommersche Geschichte und Altertumskunde (Society for Pomeranian History and Antiquities). This collection was later transferred to the Provinzialmuseum Pommerscher Altertümer, which opened in 1927 and operated under the name Pommersches Landesmuseum in Stettin from 1934 until 1945. The object is a short flake in the shape of an elongated triangle, detached from a larger core using a soft hammer – likely made of antler. A key feature is the pattern of flake scars on the upper side, suggesting that the overall shape was preformed before the flake was struck. This method of working flint is known as predetermined debitage. The production of such flakes, which were then shaped into leaf points – used as spear, javelin or arrowheads – is characteristic of late Palaeolithic cultures. The Śmierdnica example lacks the retouching that would have formed a short tang, but based on its size, it was likely intended as a spearhead. The object can be linked to the Bromme culture, which existed in Western Pomerania during the second half of the Allerød period (around 11,500–10,800 BC). These were hunter-gatherer communities living in sparse birch and pine forests and settling near broad, marshy valleys. Their subsistence relied mainly on hunting elk and giant deer. The end of the Bromme culture came with climatic changes at the beginning of the Younger Dryas, which forced shifts in subsistence strategies and gradually led to the emergence of the Swiderian and Ahrensburgian cultures. Michał Adamczyk