Slotted bone point from Tlokowo - rewritten story of a unique artefact from Mesolithic Poland

The article describes the results of the interdisciplinary studies of a unique bone slotted point from Tiokowo, north-eastern Poland. The artefact was discovered in 1989, and indirect dating suggested an Early Mesolithic date. In this article we present the results of direct radiocarbon dating of the point, which shows that it is almost 2000 years younger than previously suggested. In addition, physical-chemical studies of the adhesive used to mount the flint inserts inside the point were conducted. The results of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) analysis indicate that the adhesive is birch tar. Finally, the article presents the results of detailed traceological studies that allow interpretation of the technology of production and possible function of the point. For the analysis, as well as various types of microscopes, optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used. In the discussion the results of all the analyses are considered alongside our current knowledge of this type of Mesolithic points in Europe.