<html><head></head><body><div style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div>Dear Selena, dear colleagues,</div><div>There were proposed some very serious suggestions about the possible use of these bone sticks and I learned a lot from them. </div><div><br></div><div>However, I also remembered the opening paragraph of J. Huizinga's "Homo Ludens", where he writes </div><div> "<i>A happier age than ours once made bold to call our species by the
name of <b>Homo Sapiens</b>. In the course of time we have come to
realize that we are not so reasonable after all as the Eighteenth
Century, with its worship of reason and its naive optimism, thought
us; hence modern fashion inclines to designate our species as
<b>Homo Faber</b>: Man the Maker. But though faber may not be quite
so dubious as sapiens it is, as a name specific of the human being,
even less appropriate, seeing that many animals too are makers.
There is a third function, however, applicable to both human and
animal life, and just as important as <b>reasoning </b>and <b>making</b> - namely,
<b>playing</b>. It seems to me that next to Homo Faber, and
perhaps on the same level as Homo Sapiens, <b>Homo Ludens, Man
the Player, deserves a place in our nomenclature</b>.</i>"</div><div> (For those who would be interested to follow his arguments there is a pdf of the whole book online at the Yale University website - <a href="http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/1474/homo_ludens_johan_huizinga_routledge_1949_.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/1474/homo_ludens_johan_huizinga_routledge_1949_.pdf</a>)</div><div><br></div><div>In that spirit, I suggest an alternative use of Selena's objects could be - game / divination sticks. I am sure that you could all think of suitable examples and I will be happy to see some.</div><div>Here is a link to a video of one traditional Chinese I-Ching application of such bundles of sticks - <a href="https://youtu.be/ydNiskT67yA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ydNiskT67yA</a> - showing that it could be rather impossible to reconstruct the rules and their importance if we find some of the sticks alone without the cultural context and its cognitive framework. </div><div>Therefore, I am a little sceptical whether we will ever find out whether some occasional finds of rod shaped objects were used as tallies or for divination, but I hope that our experienced experimenters could at least decide on the flint working option, given it should leave noticeable marks.</div><div><br></div><div>With best wishes,</div><div>yours Petar</div><div><br></div><div class="ydp4e2ce02bsignature"><div>-- </div><div>Petar Zidarov </div><div>Lab of Archaeometry & Experimental Archaeology</div><div>Department of Archaeology, New Bulgarian University</div><div>21 Montevideo Str., Building 2, office 219</div><div>1618 Sofia, BULGARIA</div><div>cell phones: +359 898 347 252, +359 886 749 458 </div><div><br></div><div>https://newbulgarian.academia.edu/PetarZidarov</div><div>https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Petar_Zidarov2</div><div><br></div><div>Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen</div><div>Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Jüngere Abt.</div><div>Schloss Höhentübingen</div><div>72070 Tübingen, GERMANY</div><div>Phone: 01520 7272 594</div></div></div>
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On Thursday, April 5, 2018, 5:15:31 PM GMT+2, Selena Vitezović <selenavitezovic@gmail.com> wrote:
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<div><div id="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Hello, everyone, </div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br clear="none"></div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Here are few more photos, now of all 6 pieces I found so far. </div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">As far as I can see, they do not seem to have been pointed, but rather the ends were originally flat like this. </div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br clear="none"></div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">best regards, Selena </div></div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_extra"><br clear="none"><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_quote">On 5 April 2018 at 16:49, <span dir="ltr"><<a shape="rect" href="mailto:Grzegorz.Osipowicz@umk.pl" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Grzegorz.Osipowicz@umk.pl</a>></span> wrote:<br clear="none"><blockquote class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><span class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843im ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843HOEnZb">Hi again<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
I’ve noticed clear rounding of the tips of the artefacts. Would it be<br clear="none">
possible that it is the result of use? I’ve analyzed a similar<br clear="none">
artefact (only longer, what is perhaps important here) from Corded<br clear="none">
Ware Grave from Biržai (Lithuania – photo attached), that was used as<br clear="none">
a kind of grinder/pounder. Similar artefacts are known also from other<br clear="none">
graves of this culture (for example Krasnasieĺski, Bielarus – photo<br clear="none">
attached). They ware also primary considered to be needles.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
All the best<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Grzegorz<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Cytowanie Selena Vitezović <<a shape="rect" href="mailto:selenavitezovic@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">selenavitezovic@gmail.com</a>>:<br clear="none">
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</span><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843HOEnZb"><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843h5"><blockquote class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Dear colleagues,<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
I hope you're all doing fine.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
I have several strange objects from a Vučedol culture (final Chalcolithic /<br clear="none">
early Bronze Age) site in Pannonia - 2 on photos in attachment. They are<br clear="none">
all in shape of thin, short rods, they are complete, so they are not broken<br clear="none">
pins or needles. Some are made from bone, some from antler, some have<br clear="none">
incisions, some are just polsihed.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Any thoughts?<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
thank you!<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
best regards,<br clear="none">
Selena<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
--<br clear="none">
Selena Vitezović<br clear="none">
Arheološki institut<br clear="none">
<a shape="rect" href="http://www.ai.ac.rs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ai.ac.rs</a><br clear="none">
</blockquote>
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<br clear="none"></div></div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843HOEnZb"><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843h5">
-- <br clear="none">
Dr Grzegorz Osipowicz<br clear="none">
Instytut Archeologii<br clear="none">
Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika<br clear="none">
ul Szosa Bydgoska 44/48<br clear="none">
87-100 Toruń<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Grzegorz Osipowicz, PhD<br clear="none">
Institute of Archaeology<br clear="none">
Nicolaus Copernicus University<br clear="none">
Szosa Bydgoska 44/48 Street<br clear="none">
87-100 Torun<br clear="none">
Poland<br clear="none">
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<br clear="none"></div></blockquote></div><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843yqt9826255421" id="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843yqtfd15466"><br clear="none"><br clear="all"><div><br clear="none"></div>-- <br clear="none"><div class="ydpdbdec34yiv6371675843gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Selena Vitezović <br clear="none"></div><div>Arheološki institut <br clear="none"></div><div><a shape="rect" href="http://www.ai.ac.rs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ai.ac.rs</a><br clear="none"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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