Europäisches Neolithikum Feuerstein Pfeilspitze mit Zapfen und Widerhaken - 25 mm (Ohne mindestpreis)

European Neolithic Flint Tanged and Barbed Arrowhead
Culture / Period: European Neolithic
Date / Period: Late Neolithic, approximately 3000–2000 B.C.
Material: Flint
Dimensions: Not provided
Condition: Good condition, with age-related surface wear and minor irregularities along the worked edges. The pointed blade, central tang and both lateral barbs are preserved.

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Provenance information:
Object Registration ID: 1001
The current owner (S.N.J. S.) purchased the tanged and barbed arrowhead from H.T. in Emmen, the Netherlands.
The previous owner, H.T. from Emmen, stated that the object had been in his collection since the 1990s.
According to the previous owner, the object had previously been part of a private collection in the Netherlands since the 1990s.
No further information concerning the earlier ownership history of the object was available from the previous owner.

Background Information:
This finely worked flint arrowhead belongs to the later prehistoric tradition of tanged and barbed projectile points found across parts of Europe. Its characteristic form consists of a pointed triangular blade with two projecting barbs and a central tang. The tang allowed the point to be inserted into a wooden arrow shaft and secured with binding and possibly an adhesive, creating an effective composite weapon.

The development of specialised projectile points should be understood within the broader changes that transformed European society during the Neolithic. Communities increasingly depended on agriculture and animal husbandry, established more permanent settlements and participated in networks through which raw materials, tools and ideas circulated over considerable distances. Hunting nevertheless remained part of subsistence and social life, and the bow and arrow continued to be an important technology.

The manufacture of an arrowhead of this form required careful selection of the raw material and considerable knowledge of flint working. Controlled flaking and fine retouch were used to create the converging cutting edges and to form the two recesses separating the barbs from the tang. The workmanship reflects a long-established lithic tradition in which experienced knappers could transform a small piece of stone into a precisely shaped functional implement.

Flint was one of the fundamental raw materials of prehistoric Europe. Particularly suitable deposits were exploited systematically, and high-quality flint could be transported or exchanged far beyond its geological source. Finished tools and projectile points therefore formed part of a wider prehistoric landscape of production, exchange and communication between communities.

Tanged and barbed arrowheads became especially characteristic during the later Neolithic and subsequent transition towards the Copper and Early Bronze Ages, although their chronology and form varied considerably between regions. Without a documented archaeological find context, a more specific regional attribution for this example cannot be established.

As a carefully manufactured component of a prehistoric weapon, this arrowhead provides a direct and tangible connection to the technological knowledge, hunting practices and changing societies of later Neolithic Europe.