Bossed Bone Plaque

Objects of unknown function made of bone and carved with a row of adjacent round bosses; incised decoration may occur on the background and sometimes on the bosses themselves. Bossed bone plaques have been found in the eastern and central Mediterranean at Troy, Lerna, Altamura in southern Italy, Castellugcio in Sicily and on Malta. They all date to the later 3rd millennium be (earlier 3rd millenium bc) and because of their close similarity are thought to represent traded objects.

Objects of unknown function made from long animal bones and carved with a row of bosses - circular, square, or oval ornamental motifs. Examples from Lerna, Troy, and Altamira date to the late 3rd millennium bc . The finest have engraved decoration also. A series from Castelluccio, Sicily, with outliers in Italy and Malta, are curved in cross-section and are dated just before 2500 bc .