Early in the Greek Neolithic period (7000-3000 BC) specialized full-time flintknappers produced prismatic blades of chert, flint, and obsidian using a sophisticated pressure-flaking technique. The knappers made long and narrow prismatic blades with parallel edges and standardized forms and dimensions. They are called “prismatic” because of their distinctive trapezoidal-shaped cross sections. They differ in form and technique of manufacture from stone blades used in earlier or later periods and they are easily identified because of their method of manufacture and standardized form. Prismatic blades continued to be made after the Neolithic and were a regular feature of the Aegean Bronze Age (Carter 2008a). The later blades only differ from the Neolithic ones in small technical details such as the preparation of the striking platform. In sum, prismatic blades are a distinctive cultural form in Aegean prehistory or the better part of 6,000 years, and their manufacture only came to an end at the close of the Bronze Age around 1200 BC (or at least the production slowed down to an archaeologically-invisible trickle; Runnels 1982; Kardulias and Runnels 1995).
Very few Neolithic and Bronze Age lithic assemblages have been documented in detail, yet surveys and excavations show that almost every prehistoric site in the Aegean yields its share of prismatic blades. In my half-century of field research I have rarely taken a country walk without encountering at least a segment or two of a chert or obsidian prismatic blade. In fact, they are encountered even in built-up contexts like the Athenian Acropolis, the streets of Nafplion, or even on the tarmac at the old Hellinikon international airport in Attica.
Yet the primary function of prismatic blades remains a mystery. Very few of them show visible evidence of use wear and attempts to identify use wear microscopically have been largely negative. The evident lack of use wear is a problem that has vexed me from the early 1980s when I studied a lithic assemblage from the Early Bronze Age levels at the site of Lerna in the Argolid (2700-2300 BC). I examined more than 10,000 specimens that were made primarily of Melian obsidian and to a lesser extent imported cherts, and I found few signs of use (Runnels 1985). Some showed evidence of use as sickle elements in the form of silica polish on chert and dull matte surfaces on obsidian, and there were occasional small notches, scratches, and abrasion that pointed to other uses. But the significant majority showed no signs of use at all, even after inspection by an expert (Patrick Vaughan) with a specially prepared microscope. And, unfortunately, our detailed study of the contexts of prismatic blades on the site failed to reveal any significant patterns of deposition that could throw light on the function of prismatic blades in the prehistoric economy (Hartenberger and Runnels 2001).
A decade ago a new idea was suggested by Priscilla Murray based on her inspection of a silver skeuomorph of a stone prismatic blade found in the Late Helladic Tholos Tomb at Kazarma (1500-1200 BC) in the Northern Argolid. The silver skeuomorph faithfully reproduces the platform, bulb of percussion, and central dorsal arris of a prismatic stone blade. It also has regular parallel edges and even the slight curve in the longitudinal profile typical of a pressure-flaked blade. Notably, there were also several segments of obsidian blades found in the Kazarma Tholos. It seems that the silver skeuomorph had a special connection with lithic artifacts and Murray suggests that the skeuomorph and the obsidian blades and blade segments may have served as currency. If so, perhaps the silver skeuomorph was a unit representing collectively a number of blades, in other words a unit of currency with a higher value. The currency hypothesis may be supported by a study of Early Bronze Age lithics in the Southern Argolid from a pedestrian survey 80 km south of Lerna. Kardulias and Runnels (1995) suggested that the production of prismatic blades was controlled by central places in a settlement hierarchy. Specialist knappers produced prismatic blades at the central places where both cores and finished blades are found. Finished blades, however, are the usual finds on smaller settlements in the hinterland where cores are rarely encountered. This pattern was interpreted by Kardulias and Runnels as evidence that the central place specialist knapping sites were under careful control. We did not have an explanation for this control and distribution pattern at the time, but now I wonder if the differential distribution of cores and blades/blade segments could be evidence of the use of blades as a currency.
As far as I know we are the only ones to suggest that stone blades (and perhaps other metal skeuomorphs) might have served as currency in Aegean prehistory. It is a difficult hypothesis to test. After all, prismatic blades could readily be used for a variety of quotidian tasks such as cutting plants or woodworking (Runnels 1982). But it is tempting to think that the blades and segments that show no evidence of use wear may have been used as currency, tokens, or symbols. Evidence for such use may be out there, like the flint blades in the Chalcolithic elite burials at Varna in Bulgaria (4500 BC), or the inclusion of prismatic obsidian blades in Early Bronze Age graves in the Cyclades (2500 BC), which Carter thinks were part of a ritual “performance” where virtuoso knappers produced prismatic blades at the graveside for inclusion in burials (Carter 2008b).
In light of the widespread occurrence of stone blades on Aegean prehistoric sites, their use as a form of currency or commodity money does not seem farfetched. But at present this remains a hypothesis to be tested, not a conclusion to be accepted. Yet it is intriguing to think that certain economic institutions, like money, may have deep and still uninvestigated roots in Aegean prehistory.
Further details can be found in earlier posts on this blog.
Carter, T., 2008a, “The consumption of obsidian in the Early Bronze Age Cyclades,” in N. Brodie, J. Doole, G. Gavalas and C. Renfrew (eds.), Horizons: A Colloquium on the Prehistory of the Cyclades. McDonald Institute Monographs, Cambridge, pp. 225-235
Carter, T., 2008b, “The Theatrics of Technology: Consuming Obsidian in the Early Cycladic Burial Arena,” Special Issue:Rethinking Craft Specialization in Complex Societies: Archaeological Analyses of the Social Meaning of Production, Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 17 (1): pp. 88-107. https://doi.org/10.1525/ap3a.2007.17.1.88
Hartenberger, B. and C. Runnels, 2001, “The Organization of Flaked Stone Production at Bronze Age Lerna,” Hesperia 70: 255-283.
Kardulias, P. N. and C. Runnels, 1995, “The Lithic Artifacts: Flaked Stone and Other Nonflaked Lithics,” in C. Runnels, D. Pullen, and S. Langdon, eds., Artifact and Assemblage. Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 74-139.
Runnels, C., 1982, “Flaked-stone artifacts in Greece during the historical period,” Journal of Field Archaeology 9: 363-373.
Runnels, C., 1985, “The Bronze-Age flaked-stone industries from Lerna: a preliminary report,” Hesperia 54: 357-391.