ABSTRACT
In total, the automated artefact file of Oldeholtwolde contains 6884 flint artefacts. Not included in the file are ‘micro-chips’: chips smaller than 0.4 cm (the mesh of the sieves used at Oldeholtwolde). At least 3550 microchips were collected during the excavation; in many cases these tiny chips are even smaller than the sand grains among which they occurred. Their spatial distribution will not be discussed, because they were not collected in a systematic way. It may be noted, however, that their presence implies that the embedding of the artefacts in coversand must have happened gently, without strong winds resulting in erosion. Apart from the micro-chips, the flint material consists of:
Tools or tool fragments: 387 Broken-off borer-tips: 38 Burin spalls: 33 Cores or core fragments: 15 Blades of all types: 545 Flakes: 693 Blocks and nodules: 15 Chips of all types (0.4-1.5 cm): 5158
Total: 6884
Of the total of 6884, 133 are stray finds; most of these were collected prior to the excavation by the discoverer of the site, Mr. Jan Klaas Boschker. The majority of the stray finds came from the disturbed area east of the hearth. All 6751 flints for which we have at least sq m data, are mapped in figure 32. In total, 3899 artefacts have exact coordinates; these are mapped in figure 33, in which grid cells of 50 50 cm were used (employing
the grid position with the richest possible cell). Several dense clusters are clearly visible, in a wide circle around the hearth. These also show up in a map in which all flints with exact coordinates are presented by a dot (fig. 34). These dense clusters can be interpreted as flint-knapping locations (see chapter 5). In this connection, it has to be realized that the pattern shown by figures 33 and 34 is dominated by chips. Of the 3899 artefacts with exact coordinates, 2583 are chips (66.2%). A very different picture is presented by the distribution of the tools (fig. 37 below).
