[Bonetools] WBRG website updates October 2026

Tue Oct 6 18:35:25 CEST 2026

Dear WBRG members,

this month's bonetool of the month is a so-called „Singnadel“ (literally translated 'singing needle', though it does not make sense in English), a woman's hair decoration of the Sorbian culture, found in a grave near the border between Germany and Poland. It has kindly been provided by Bianca Piper of the Archaeological Department of the German Federal State of Brandenburg (Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum, BLDAM <https://bldam-brandenburg.de/>). You will find the new bonetool here:
https://www.wbrg.net/bonetool-of-the-month-archives/ <https://www.wbrg.net/bonetool-of-the-month-archives/>

Heid Luik informed me that the 2023 book about the Salme Ship burials in Estonia, which contained many bone and ivory artefacts, is available online open access now:
• Lougas, Lembi & Luik, Heidi (2023): The Salme Ship Burials. Two Eighth-Century Mass Graves on Saaremaa Island, Estonia, Budapest
> download: https://doi.org/10.60518/etera/209 <https://doi.org/10.60518/etera/209>
Additionally, a new book on the Salme ships, containing recent research, has just been published:
• Lougas, Lembi & Luik, Heidi (2026): The Salme Ship Burials. Two Eighth-Century Mass Graves on Saaremaa Island, Estonia. Recent Research, Tallinn
 https://www.wbrg.net/biblio-detail?id=5269
The book can be ordered from Tallinn University press:
https://pood.tlu.ee/pood/home/462-the-salme-ship-burials-two-eighth-century-mass-graves-on-saaremaa-island-estonia-recent-research.html
Two individual articles from the book on gaming pieces and combs can be downloaded from the WBRG Website no (see below).

The presentations held at the symposium "Worked Shells in the Ancient World“ in May 2026 in Izmir are now online on YouTube. The links to the presentations are linked on the respective page:
https://www.wbrg.net/meetings/symposium-2026-izmir/

Natascha Mehler sent us bonetool holiday greetings of apotropaic cutlery made of bone exhibited in the Museo Civico Archeologico <https://www.sardegnacultura.it/articolo/ozieri-civico-museo-archeologico-alle-clarisse> „Alle Clarisse“ in Ozieri, Sardinia (see below).

It seems the Museo de Antropología of the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba likes to keep the information about the Taba games on its website. So, I have added a link to the page to the list of various links related to bone working:
https://museoantropologia.unc.edu.ar/2026/05/pieza-tabas <https://museoantropologia.unc.edu.ar/2026/05/pieza-tabas/?fbclid=IwdGRzaARrMHdjbGNrBGswbGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHiY67EnwePP7D5SOMbX8sxsCTzampqzbsPq66wgCsAtl3-DuFFjv609HRjzV_aem_A1S8vbshARAjvwN6Kin68w&utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1demo0e5x6hqi&sfnsn=scwspmo>

The remaining 14 papers from the proceedings of the 15th WBRG meeting in Paris 2024 are now included in the reference database and are also displayed on the Paris meeting page:
• Christensen, Marianne & Goutas, Nejma (2026): Bone, Tools, and Traditions. 15th WBRG meeting Paris, May 13-17, 2024, Séances de la Société préhistorique française 24, Paris
https://www.prehistoire.org/515_p_58681/accEs-libre-seance-24-bone-tools-and-traditions.html
https://www.wbrg.net/meetings/15th-meeting-paris-2024/ <https://www.wbrg.net/meetings/15th-meeting-paris-2024/>

• Goutas, Nejma / Tejero, José-Miguel / Christensen, Marianne / Blasco Martin, Marta / Goret, Jean-Francois / Legrand, Alexandra / Peschaux, Caroline / Rodet-Belarbi, Isabelle (2026): Hard animal material industries, archaeometry, and ethics: Towards a collective reflection on the judicious use of analyses and sampling 
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B19%2BGoutas%2Bet%2Bal%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Chevallier, Aude / Gravina, Brad / Cretin, Catherine / Rolland, Pauline / Fourment, Nathalie: Advancing while curating: Protecting archaeological heritage while furthering our understanding of the past
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B20%2BChevallier%2Bet%2Bal%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Sabbini, Claudia & Choyke, Alice M.: Passing the baton: The bone tool materials from the archaeological site of Arslantepe Tell in Türkiye
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B21%2BSabbini%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Delassus, Marie: Bone carvings in Late Antique Egyptian furniture: From standardisation to inventiveness
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B22%2BDelassus%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Martínez-Polanco, María Fernanda / Micó, Cristian / Diaz, Claudia / Sánchez-Herrera, Luis Alberto: Investigating trapezoidal plaquettes crafted from white‑tailed deer bone at Cerro Juan Díaz (LS-3), Greater Coclé Culture Area (Panama)
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B23%2BMartEDnez-Polanco%2Bet%2Bal%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Font, Ágnes & Daróczi-Szabo, Márta: Medieval and Early Modern ivory objects from the excavations of the Budapest History Museum, Hungary
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B24%2BFont%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Küchelmann, Hans Christian: Bone, antler and ivory artefacts in the Hanseatic North Atlantic trade
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B25%2BKFCchelmann%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Altamirano, Manuel / Herrero-Otal, Maria / Piqué, Raquel / Palomo Pérez, Antoni / Homs, Anna / Maicas, Ruth / Martínez, Rafael M. / Martínez-Sevilla, Francisco (2026): Approaches to the osseous industry from Cueva de los Murciélagos in Albuñol (Granada, Spain) and its possible relationship with plant-based technologies
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B26%2BAltamirano%2Bet%2Bal%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Chondros, Konstantinos: A fresh look at the Thessalian Neolithic osseous tools: The study from Mandra (Northern Greece, fifth millennium cal. BC)
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B27%2BChondros%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Zarka, Quentin: The manufacture of the Aegean boar’s tusk helmets: A case study from Middle Bronze Age Kolonna on Aegina, Greeces
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B28%2BZarka%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Bravo, Gabriela: Bone technology among archaic fishers, hunters, and gatherers of the northern and central coasts of Chile’s Semi-Arid region
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B30%2BBravo%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Spithoven, Merel: Archery and quiver experiments with barbed bone and antler points
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B31%2BSpithoven%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Luciañèz-Triviño, Miriam & Moreno Megías, Violeta: Sumptuary crafts from a technological perspective: Initial observations on Punic ostrich eggshells from Villaricos (South East Iberian peninsula) and Puig des Molins (Ibiza)
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B32%2BLuciaF1ez-TriviF1o%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

• Kromotaroeno, Cynthia: It looks fishy! The role of bone needles and pins in fish processing at the early medieval riverine settlement of Dorestad (The Netherlands) 
> download: https://www.prehistoire.org/offres/doc_inline_src/515/SPF%2B-%2BWBRG-%2B33%2BSatinem%2BKromotaroeno%2BV003%2BBAT%2BBD.pdf

Besidesh, only a few new references have been added to the WBRG reference database this month:

• Cleminson, Emma / Reynard, Jerome P. / Bradfield, Justin (2026): Processing and Production: A Comparative Technological and Functional Study of Worked Bone from 14–8 ka in South Africa. – Heritage 9(9)
> download: https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9090348 <https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9090348>

• Gutiérrez-Marco, Juan Carlos / Ruano, D. Serrano / Romero, Sara (2026): A Jurassic bivalve from Morocco with a religious Islamic inscription. – Journal of the Geological Society 183, 1-10
> download: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2026-014?ref=pdf&rel=cite-as&jav=VoR

• Luik, Heidi / Hennius, Andreas / Ljungkvist, John (2026): Gaming Pieces and Dice from Salme Ship Burials. in: Lougas, Lembi & Luik, Heidi (eds.): The Salme Ship Burials. Two Eighth-Century Mass Graves on Saaremaa Island, Estonia. Recent Research, 91-110, Tallinn
> download: https://www.wbrg.net/wp-content/uploads/Luik-etal-2026-Salme-gaming-pieces.pdf

• Luik, Heidi & Ljungkvist, John (2026): Combs and other Antler and Tooth Artefacts from the Salme Ship Burials. in: Lougas, Lembi & Luik, Heidi (eds.): The Salme Ship Burials. Two Eighth-Century Mass Graves on Saaremaa Island, Estonia. Recent Research, 111-129, Tallinn
> Download: https://www.wbrg.net/wp-content/uploads/Luik_Ljungkvist-2026-Salme-combs.pdf

• Prummel, Wietske / Koopstra, C. G. / Nijboer, Albert J. / Kooi, P. B. (1999): Een beenbewerker en een smid, bewoners van de wierde Tolweg-Zuid/Kinkhornsterweg (Gr.). – Paleo-Aktueel 10, 48-53
> download: https://ugp.rug.nl/Paleo-aktueel/article/view/36529/33978

• Vretemark, Maria (1997): Raw materials and urban manufacturing in medieval Scandinavia. – Anthropozoologica 25-26, 201-206
> Download: https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/az1998n25-26a24.pdf

• Wallebom, Björn / Rosengren, Erika / Jörgensen-Lindahl, Anne / Leffler, Joen / Wathen, Crista / Macāne, Aija / Gummesson, Sara (2026): On the Trail of Preboreal Forest Dwellers: Rediscovering Three Eurasian Moose Antler Axe/Adze Heads in the Collections of the Historical Museum at Lund University, Sweden. – Heritage 9(10)
> download: https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9100407

Best wishes.

Christian

-- 
Knochenarbeit 

Hans Christian Küchelmann 

Speicherhof 4, D-28217 Bremen, Germany 
tel: +49 - 421 - 61 99 177 
mail: info at knochenarbeit.de <mailto:info at knochenarbeit.de> 
web: www.knochenarbeit.de <http://www.knochenarbeit.de/>
ORCID-ID: 0000-0003-0207-3804

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