Lyngby type artefacts of Lithuania in the context of the Stone Age in Europe: multidisciplinary study

An axe of Lyngby type made of antler of male adult reindeer was recovered in 2014 in the Parupė settlement of Biržai District, northern Lithuania. Archaeological investigations were carried out at the Lateglacial (Allerød) site near the Mūša–Nemunėlis Basin during which the stratigraphic context of the find was established. Pollen analysis, loss-on-ignition (LOI), magnetic susceptibility, and grain-size measurements were applied in case of accommodating layers. It was determined that reindeer hunters made the Parupė axe in the Late Allerød, which is confirmed by the radiocarbon dating: 11145 to 11045 cal. BC. This is the first find of this kind uncovered in the territory of Lithuania. The artefacts of Lyngby type recovered in Lithuania and in the Baltic area are typologically, technologically, and chronologically identical and coeval with the artefacts discovered in South-West Europe. The use-wear analysis of the Lithuanian artefact allowed identifying its function and manufacturing technology. This tool was used for felling trees. Analysis of stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes of the uncovered antler axe produced values similar to those obtained of the antlers of all reindeer inhabiting the East Baltic area at that time