Towards an understanding of Early Neolithic populations: a flint perspective from Bulgaria

The evidence from the Bulgarian Early Neolithic chipped stone industry reveals coherent and diagnostic flint assemblages for the vast Karanovo I and II cultural area, characterized by high quality yellow-honey coloured flint, quite long and regular blades, with (bi)lateral semi-abrupt high retouch and sometimes with rounded or pointed ends, as well as highly (re-)used sickle inserts. These assemblages possess many characteristics of so-called ‘formal tools’ (as distinct from expedient ones), the production of which required a special raw material, advanced preparation, anticipated use, and transportability. The wide geographical distribution and circulation of this formal toolkit implies that lithics could be conceived as a factor in identity and social cohesion, and as an important aspect of the Neolithic mentality for ‘doing things’.Bolgarski zgodnjeneolitski zbiri kamnitih orodij kažejo koherentno sliko diagnostičnih tipov, značilnih za kulture Karanovo I in II. Značilna je uporaba visoko kakovostnega kremena rumeno-medene barve, dolge in pravilne kline z (bi)lateralno polstrmo retušo, občasno zaobljene konice in preuporabo armature za srpe. Ti zbiri kažejo značilnosti ‘formalnih orodij’ (za razliko od ad hoc orodij); za njihovo proizvodnjo so potrebne posebne surovine, zahtevna priprava, načrtna uporaba in prenosljivost. Veliko geografsko območje kroženja teh formalnih orodij kaže, da lahko kamnita orodja razumemo kot element identitete, družbene kohezije in pomemben vidik neolitskega pristopa k ‘delanju stvari’

‘Pre-Neolithic’ in Southeast Europe: a Bulgarian perspective

 This paper discusses why large areas of the central and northern Balkans lack evidence of Mesolithic settlement and what implications this holds for future research into the Neolithization of the region. A marked shift in site distribution patterns between Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic is interpreted as a response to changing environmental conditions and resource availability. It is suggested that some important questions of the pattern, processes and timing of the transition to farming across the Balkan Peninsula may only be answered through new archaeological surveys of the Lower Danube valley and exploration of submerged landscapes along the Black Sea, Aegean and Adriatic coasts.V članku razpravljamo o vzrokih za pomanjkanje dokazov o mezolitski poselitvi velikega dela srednjega in severnega Balkana ter o posledicah, ki jih lahko imajo te ugotovitve za prihodnje raziskave neolitizacije v regiji. V poselitvenih vzorcih med poznim paleolitikom in mezolitikom smo prepoznali premik, ki ga razlagamo kot odziv na spremembe v okoljskih pogojih in razpoložljivosti naravnih virov. Predlagamo, da je mogoče na nekatera pomembna vprašanja, povezana z vzorci, procesi in ritmom prehoda h kmetovanju na Balkanskem polotoku, odgovoriti le z novimi arheološkimi pregledi Spodnjega Podonavja in z raziskovanjem potopljenih pokrajin ob obalah Črnega, Egejskega ter Jadranskega morja

Connotation fonctionnelle du mobilier funéraire en silex

This paper focuses on an issue evoked by one of the well-known cemeteries in northeast Bulgaria, at Durankulak, and so far the only one to be studied and published in detail. On the empirical basis of the functional determination of flint grave-goods, based on use-wear analysis of artifacts, some observations and interpretations are presented regarding the cognitive value of ritual flint objects from a ‘sacred’ context. Functional data provide the interpretative framework, and a clear dichotomy of functional meanings is revealed. The decoded utilitarian (profane) feature of flint grave-goods is only a first step towards a better understanding of the semiological value of lithics charged with the symbolic patterns of the mortuary context.L’article fait le point sur la problématique dévoilée par une des nécropoles bien connues de la Bulgarie du nord-est, celle de Durankulak, l’unique qui soit étudiée et publiée entièrement. Sur la base empirique de la détermination fonctionnelle des mobiliers funéraires en silex, fondée sur l’analyse des traces d’utilisation des artefacts, quelques observations et réflexions sur la valeur cognitive de mobilier en silex sont présentées à propos d’objets de silex rituels provenant d’un contexte ‘sacré’. Ces résultats sont intégrés dans le contexte des données interprétatives et révèlent la dichotomie des connotations fonctionnelles des offrandes lithiques dont la partie évidente — la fonction utilitaire et profane — représente seulement une des trajectoires vers la considération adéquate de la valeur sémiologique du mobilier en silex dans le contexte mortuaire global

Connotation fonctionnelle du mobilier funéraire en silex

This paper focuses on an issue evoked by one of the well-known cemeteries in northeast Bulgaria, at Durankulak, and so far the only one to be studied and published in detail. On the empirical basis of the functional determination of flint grave-goods, based on use-wear analysis of artifacts, some observations and interpretations are presented regarding the cognitive value of ritual flint objects from a ‘sacred’ context. Functional data provide the interpretative framework, and a clear dichotomy of functional meanings is revealed. The decoded utilitarian (profane) feature of flint grave-goods is only a first step towards a better understanding of the semiological value of lithics charged with the symbolic patterns of the mortuary context.L’article fait le point sur la problématique dévoilée par une des nécropoles bien connues de la Bulgarie du nord-est, celle de Durankulak, l’unique qui soit étudiée et publiée entièrement. Sur la base empirique de la détermination fonctionnelle des mobiliers funéraires en silex, fondée sur l’analyse des traces d’utilisation des artefacts, quelques observations et réflexions sur la valeur cognitive de mobilier en silex sont présentées à propos d’objets de silex rituels provenant d’un contexte ‘sacré’. Ces résultats sont intégrés dans le contexte des données interprétatives et révèlent la dichotomie des connotations fonctionnelles des offrandes lithiques dont la partie évidente — la fonction utilitaire et profane — représente seulement une des trajectoires vers la considération adéquate de la valeur sémiologique du mobilier en silex dans le contexte mortuaire global

Chert raw materials and artefacts from NE Bulgaria: A combined petrographic and LA-ICP-MS study

In the present study two analytical methods are applied to characterize chert artefacts and raw materials from northeastern Bulgaria (Ludogorie region): petrographic observation and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). Archaeological samples from 12 Chalcolithic sites from Bulgaria are analyzed as well as raw material from 6 outcrops in northeastern Bulgaria are identified and documented during a survey in 2012 when many raw material samples were collected. The chert raw material mostly occurs in various Quaternary secondary deposits, originating from destruction and disintegration of the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) limestones in the area. The paper is aimed at tracing the provenance of the artefacts based on their petrographic characteristics and geochemical composition. The archaeological evidence shows a wide distribution of the Ludogorie chert throughout the country.On the basis of micropetrographic observations, Gurova and Nachev (2008) described two main chert types (Ravno and Kriva Reka). Our petrographic study confirmed the previous results and an additional chert type was distinguished, originating from primary and secondary deposits (quarries in Koprivetz and Krasen villages) and is represented by silicified limestones (bioclastic-peloidal packstones or grainstones). It is noteworthy that the first two types of chert were largely used for prehistoric artefact manufacturing while the last one is not attested among studied assemblages at all

Bronze Age and Early Iron Age sickles in the evolution of the prehistoric аgricultural toolkit from Bulgaria

Use-wear studies have identified a long-lasting system of agricultural practices (harvesting) from the very beginning of the Early Neolithic in Bulgaria. For almost two millennia during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic (6th and 5th millennia BC), the archaeological evidence suggests the use of sickle elements based on blade segments and tools on blades inserted obliquely in a curved handle – the well-known Karanovo type of sickle. Post-Chalcolithic times are marked by a shift in the harvesting toolkit. This paper focuses on agricultural toolkits from three recently discovered and excavated sites in north Bulgaria: Oreshets near Belogradchik, Rasovo near Montana, and Chavdartsi in Lovech district. The sites are multilayered, the flint assemblages presented here belong to the LBA (Oreshets and Chavdartsi) and LBA/EIA (Rasovo). No structures or features directly associated with the flint artefacts were identified, but the assemblages exhibit most (if not all) of the characteristics of the BA and post-BA agricultural repertoire. This repertoire includes varieties of denticulates (mainly blades) which from the beginning of the BA became diagnostic finds and marked a momentous shift from the preceding style of sickle. During the BA sickle inserts and blades were increasingly shaped through truncation and backing, both of which aided the accommodation of the implements in grooved handles and handheld tool manipulation. As an innovation, the emergence of which is difficult to fix chronologically within the BA, large, curved blades (ca 15 cm) appear in the agricultural toolkit during the LBA, with reminiscent use in the EIA as well