The Chocolate Flint Mines in the Udorka Valley (Częstochowa Upland) – a Preliminary Report on the Field and Lidar Surveys

Abstract

An important role in the extraction and utilisation of siliceous rocks was played by the Udorka Valley region, situated in the south-eastern part of the Ryczów Upland. In this region, numerous outcropsof various siliceous rocks are located including outcrops of chocolate flint, and many sites with artefacts from chocolate flint dated from the Middle Palaeolithic. In Udorka Valley, in the area of chocolate flint outcrop, a number of small depressions in the ground with unfinished flint artefacts were encountered and which have been tentatively considered to be remnants of the activities of prehistoric miners. The area under scrutiny was investigated using airborne laser scanning methods (LiDAR, ALS). This paper presents the preliminary results.

Striped Flint in Archaeological Materials Around the Outcrops of the Kraków-Częstochowa Striped Flint Variety

“…Although these zones have not yet been verified through excavations, there are certain premises which allow us to believe that these were the raw material acquisition points. First, the relief anomalies resemble pits analogical to e.g., chocolate flint mining pits from Udorka Valley (Sudoł-Procyk et al, 2018). Here, the relief occurs in the closest surroundings of the striped flint outcrops.…”

Mining field "Dąbrówka-I". Neolithic Jurassic flint mine with vestigially preserved mine relief

“…Airborne laser scanning has already demonstrated its usefulness in remote sensing of mining fields (Budziszewski et al 2018(Budziszewski et al , 2019Sudoł-Procyk et al 2018) and in their analysis (Jakubczak 2012;Radziszewska 2015;Szubski 2016).…”

One century of studies on chocolate flint. And what do we really know about it ...?

“…These investigations proved a great variability of flint materials and an existence of new outcrops. Amongst these outcrops there are distinctive deposits of high quality chocolate flint located in the region of the Udorka Valley (Krajcarz et al 2012;Sudoł-Procyk et al 2018;Sudoł-Procyk and Krajcarz 2021;Sudoł-Procyk et al 2021a;2021b). The studies, aimed at determination of the extent of outcrops of this raw material in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland and its extraction points outside of the Holy Cross Mountains region, are presently being continued by an interdisciplinary research team headed by the author of this paper within the five-year grant financed by the National Science Centre.…”

“…Later on, fragments of this raw material were also recognised in other areas in the vicinity of this valley. In the area of outcrops in the Udorka Valley, namely near the site Poręba Dzierżna 24, pits of anthropogenic origins and the remains of mine workshops related to the initial processing of raw materials were an extraordinary discovery (Sudoł-Procyk et al 2018).…”

“…Until present, the best recognised site is the extraction point of chocolate flint in Poręba Dzierżna 24, which was firstly investigated in the scope of its landform, using the LiDAR survey data (Sudoł-Procyk et al 2018). The terrain in question is highly diversified due to the width and the depth of relics of quarry pits and their location in relation to the slope of the Udorka Valley.…”