Abstract

The tradition of using stone tools as grave goods is believed to have originated in the Paleolithic period. However, due to limited evidence of earlier burials, this practice becomes more apparent primarily from the Neolithic period onwards. During this time, various types of stone tools began transitioning from domestic to non-domestic contexts. Among these, flint knives stand out as a distinct class, with their presence in funerary context emerging as early as the Neolithic in Egypt, predating the luxurious forms characteristic to the Predynastic period. This paper explores the earliest stages in the transition of flint knives from domestic to non-domestic contexts, analyzing the ancestral types found in both contexts and investigating the early processes that imbued these tools with symbolic significance.

Keywords

domestic knives, multi-functional tools, grave goods, prehistoric Egypt, funerary knives.