The Zinken piercer

Found at site No. 5 in Kocierzy near Gryfice in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Zinken piercer (pointed stone tool) was made from a chip from the initial phases of exploitation, as evidenced by mortar negatives and bark fragments visible on the top side of the piece. At the tip, the relic has a point called a stinger, shaped by fine retouching. A chip close to the desired shape was chosen for the tool, and the retouching itself was only to make minor corrections and strengthen the edge. Zinkens are tools with a stinger located distinctively transversely. They were formerly thought to be a type of piercer, which is reflected in the name of this tool. On the basis of traseological studies, i.e. microscopic analysis of traces of use, it is known that Zinkens were used to gouge grooves, preceding the breaking of larger bone and antler fragments into elongated blanks subsequently processed into blades, harpoons and needles. Tools of this type have traditionally been regarded as indicative of the Hamburg culture, whose representatives were pioneers who settled the Central European Lowlands at the end of the last glaciation. Nowadays, an increasing number of such items are found in contexts of other Late Palaeolithic cultures, which makes it significantly more difficult to determine the age of the Kocierza relic. Site 5 in Kocierza belongs to a complex of Palaeolithic workshops and raw material outcrops on the middle Rega River. Flint of excellent quality was extracted and worked there, a rich deposit that is found in the moraine formations cut by the river bed. The sites there were discovered in the 1920s during the construction of a dam on the Red River, leading to the creation of Rejowickie Lake. Michał Adamczyk