From Polishing to Burning: Deciphering a Middle Neolithic Hoard from Koersel "Beringen Brouwers huis" (Belgium) through Functional Analysis JNA JNA From Polishing to Burning: Deciphering a Middle Neolithic Hoard from Belgium

The Koersel “Beringen Brouwershuis” hoard, distinguished by its well-docu-mented and radiocarbon-dated context, offers a unique opportunity to explore the hoarding practices of the Middle Neolithic period in the Cam-pine region of Belgium. As one of the few excavated hoards from this peri-od, it provides rare contextual information about these hoarding practices. This study aims to provide new insights into the life cycles of buried lith-ic artefacts through a detailed functional and contextual analysis. By em-ploying macro- and microscopic analytical methods, we examined residues and use-wear traces on 17 artefacts, including six polished axes, seven end-scrapers, and four smaller tool fragments. The detailed functional analysis of these stone tools confirmed that they were hafted, used, and resharp-ened before being deposited. Moreover, it enabled the reconstruction of a unique biography for each individual artefact, demonstrating that each had a distinct life encompassing own set of lifecycles stages.