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Flintsbach

Material name: Flintsbach chert
Synonyms: Silex, Hornstein, "Ortenburger Kieselnieren"
Material (geologic): Upper Jurassic (Malm β/Upper Oxfordian) chert

Detail of fine chert from Flintsbach-Hardt
Foto: Matthias Rummer, 2001

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General characteristics

(In part adapted from Weißmüller 1995 and Weissmuller1996
 

Geographical setting: Flintsbach belongs together with Münster-Buchberg in the West and the sites at Maierhof, Dötter and Obermühle further to the East to the so called "Ortenburger Kieselnieren-Kalke" in Lower Bavaria between the cities of Regensburg and Passau in Southern Germany (click here for a map with the sampled sites in the region). The term "Kieselnieren-Kalke" means, litteraly translated, "siliceous kidneys chalk" due to the rounded but irregular chert nodules that occur in banks in these limestones.
Geografically, the region belongs to the valley of the Danube and is bordered in the North by the crystalline Bohemian Massif and limited in the south by the Tertiary Molasses of the Western Alps. During the Alpine Orogenesis most Mesozoic rocks subsided and were covered first with erosional material washed down from the Alps and subsequently by enormous quantities of Quaternary sediment. The deposits of workable chert are limited to very small relicts of the once continuous Jurassic limestones, mostly embedded in residual loams left over by the karstic weathering of the parent rock. Those small patches of limestone that survived this geological onslaught were in recent times exploited for lime burning (see below). Even those patches still represented on older geological maps have now been worked out completely.
Material and colour: N/A
Other information: N/A
Knapping notes: N/A
Archaeological description: N/A


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Flintsbach-Hardt
Locality: Hardt near Flintsbach, Deggendorf district, Bavaria, Germany.
Synonyms: Here some problems have arisen concerning the numbering of mining-sites (mind you, this is not the only example): The site was originally published by the excavator Weißmüller as D 27 (e.g. Weißmüller 1993 ), using the first free number after the 1980 catalogue of the museum in Bochum (Weisgerber et al. (eds.) 1980). This number was again used in the supplement to this catalogue, published in Archaeologia Polona 33, on the occasion of the Seventh International Flint Symposium in 1995.

In the same year, however, Zimmermann's magnum opus "Austauschsystemen von Silexartefakten in der Bandkeramik Mitteleuropas" (Zimmermann 1995) was published, using an independent series of numbers, in which Flintsbach-Hardt was designated as D36. Although the priority (at least of publication) lies with Weißmüller, the 3rd edition of the Bochum-catalogue (Weisgerber et al. (eds.) 1999), uses Zimmermann's list, and Flintsbach-Hardt got D 36. The only reference that is given there is Zimmermann 1995, ignoring the several other publications on the site, like the ones mentioned above and even a small monography ( Weißmüller 1996 ).
But as the Bochum-catalogue is the best known reference, we have to stick to the number D 36, even as D 27 is basically free, as this number is given to one of the locations of Ballendorf, that could have been combined with neighbouring D26 and D28 and probably isn't even a true mining-site.

FlintSource sample 104.

Geographical description: WhereItIs
Geographical co-ordinates: Lat. 48° 43' 12" N
Long. 013° 07' 05" E
(Mapdatum WGS 84)



click on the image for a detailed topographical map (detail from 1:50 000 sheet L7344 Vilshofen, 45 KBytes).
Co-ordinate precision: As usual, the given coordinates were taken with a hand held GPS. They point to the edge of the wooded area where the extensive prehistoric mining took place. This is a good place to leave your car, but beware, we nearly got stuck in the very sticky loam.
Other topographical information: HowToGetThere
Additional information: View to the North at Flintsbach-Hardt
Foto: Rengert Elburg, 2000
  WhatYouSeeAbove
Visitors information: PlacesToEatAndDrink
Sampling information: Sampling location with ample material
Foto: Rengert Elburg, 2000
  SomeText
  Flake of typical chert
Foto: Matthias Rummer, 2001
 
Flake of slightly glassy chert with faint banding
size: 58 mm
Split nodule of flintsbach chert
Foto: Matthias Rummer, 2001
 
Split nodule of flintsbach chert
size: 68 mm
  Piece of opaque chert
Foto: Matthias Rummer, 2001
 
Piece of opaque chert with numerous inclusions
size: 49 mm
Flake with cortex
Foto: Matthias Rummer, 2001
 
Flake with typical weathered cortex
size: 59 mm
Sample description: N/A


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Flintsbach-Ziegelei Museum
Locality: Former Quarry Flintsbach, Deggendorf district, Bavaria, Germany.
Synonyms: FlintSource sample 103. Geological monument ("Geotop") 271A006 of the Bavarian Geological Service.
Geographical description: WhereItIs
Geographical co-ordinates: Lat. 48° 42' 53" N
Long. 013° 06' 29" E
(Mapdatum WGS 84)



click on the image for a detailed topographical map (detail from 1:50 000 sheet L7344 Vilshofen, 45 KBytes).
Co-ordinate precision: Co-ordinates taken with a hand held GPS-receiver. Due to blocking of the horizon in the former quarry, the could be off quite a bit, but they will take you near the spot. With the help of the topografical map it won't be a problem to locate the museum and quarry next to it.
Other topographical information: HowToGetThere
Additional information: View to the North at Flintsbach-Hardt
Foto: Rengert Elburg, 2000
  WhatYouSeeAbove
Visitors information: PlacesToEatAndDrink
Sampling information: SomeText
  Flake of low-grade chert
Foto: Matthias Rummer, 2001
 
Flake of the typical, low-grade chert from the former quarry
size: 48 mm
 
Sample description: N/A

 

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Sometime, 2002
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