The commission aims to develop research on siliceous rock mining, discussing and presenting methods and results. It focuses on various aspects, including the different stages of manufacturing, labour specialization, circulation of raw materials and investigation of flint mining sites belonging to pre- and protohistoric settlement networks.
The aim of the commission ‘Flint mining in Prehistory and Protohistory’ is to advance research on the mining of siliceous rocks (flint, chert, hornstone, radiolarite, jasper and obsidian), discussing and presenting methods and results. Key areas of interest include the study of different stages of “chaînes opératoires” of manufacture, the specialization of labour, the circulation of raw materials, as well as the investigation of flint mining sites within pre- and protohistoric settlement networks. The primary objective of the commission is to promote the aforementioned lines of research on flint mining and its methods, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of phenomena and processes related to the mining of siliceous rocks by pre- and protohistoric societies.
The commission undertakes its activities in accordance with UISPP principles. We hold international symposia devoted to research on prehistoric flint mining every three years as part of the UISPP World Congress and, in between, organize workshops devoted to specific areas of research. The latter include visits to pre- and protohistoric flint mining sites whenever possible. The results of the work of the commission are published in the UISPP proceedings series.
Origins of the Commission
A proposal for establishing a commission on “Flint mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times” in the International Union of Pre- and Protohistoric Sciences (Union internationale des Sciences pré-et protohistoriques – UISPP) arose from the tradition of organizing international symposia on flint, established by the Limburg Branch of the Dutch Geological Society in 1969 at Maastricht. The next meetings were organized in 1975 and 1979 in Maastricht, 1983 in Brighton, 1987 in Bordeaux, 1991 in Madrid, 1995 in Warsaw and Ostrowiec. The last symposium took place in Bochum in 1999. Then, J. Lech and some other researchers were informed by Ing. P.J. (Sejuf) Felder from the Limburg Branch of the Dutch Geological Society that there would be no further symposia, due to the retirement of their organizers. Nevertheless, our group felt the need for such meetings, and therefore we came to establish this commission.
The initiative for the creation of the commission in the frame of the UISPP came from discussions among that group of scholars, former participants of “Flint Symposia”, including Françoise Bostyn, Marjorie de Grooth, Jacek Lech, Alan Saville, Andreas Zimmermann and others. The final initiative was undertaken by Jacek Lech and Anne Hauzeur. The formal proposal to the UISPP was underwritten by ca. 40 scholars from seven countries, between the end of June and the beginning of August 2006. The commission was officially created during the meeting of the Permanent Council in Lisbon in September 2006, where the organizers were represented by Anne Hauzeur.
The first inter-congress workshops of the commission were held in 2007 in Paris, 2009 in Madrid and 2010 in Vienna. The first session at a UISPP World Congress formally organized by the commission was in 2011 in Florianópolis (Brazil). Since then, the commission has organized sessions at each UISPP World Congress and has held inter-congress meetings on a regular basis.
