A hoard of astragals discovered in the Copper Age settlement at Iepureşti, Giurgiu County, Romania

This article presents the discovery of 25 abraded and perforated ovicaprid astragals in a burned house at the Gumelnita Copper Age settlement at Iepuresti in Southern Romania. They were analysed in terms of their processing, of the taphonomic processes that affected them (burning), and of their spatial distribution. These astragals were also analysed in the wider context of more or less similar discoveries made mainly south and east of the Carpathian Mountains, in Romania, but also south of the Danube, in Bulgaria.V članku predstavljamo odkritje 25 odrgnjenih in preluknjanih gležnjic/astragalov ovce/ koze v požgani hiši na bakrenodobni naselbini kulture Gumelnita pri kraju Lepuresti v južni Romuniji. Preučili smo obdelavo, tafonomske procese (žganje) in prostorsko razporeditev teh najdb. Gležnjice/astragale smo preučevali tudi v širšem kontekstu bolj ali manj podobnih najdb, ki so jih izdelovali v glavnem južno in vzhodno od Karpatov v Romuniji, a tudi južno od Donave v Bolgariji

The emergence of extramural cemeteries in Neolithic southeast Europe: a formally modeled chronology for Cernica, Romania

The emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21 burials in the large cemetery at Cernica, in the Lower Danube valley in southern Romania, which are used to formally model the start, duration of use and end of the cemetery. A further six dates were obtained from four contexts for the nearby settlement. Careful consideration is given to the possibility of environmental and dietary offsets. The preferred model, without freshwater reservoir offsets, suggests that use of the Cernica cemetery probably began in 5355–5220 cal BC (95% probability) and ended in 5190–5080 cal BC (28% probability) or 5070–4940 (67% probability). The implications of this result are discussed, including with reference to other cemeteries of similar age in the region, the nature of social relations being projected through mortuary ritual, and the incorporation of older, Mesolithic, ways of doing things into Late Neolithic mortuary practice

Cernavodă – Columbia D puzzle : the Skull Complex

This paper focuses on the re‐ analysis of a feature from the Late Neolithic Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă – Columbia D (Constanţa County, Romania), excavated at the middle of the last century. The analysis took place in several stages : processing of archaeological information, anthropological re‐ evaluation, combination of the two sets of data, and interpretation. The sample of the re‐ analysed human osteological material includes 11 fragmentary crania and several dozens of other cranial and postcranial remains. Two of the crania present interesting characteristics : one was cut, broken, with a postmortem trepanation, and was polished, while the other bears the traces of a benign tumoral cyst. Another skull fragment bears traces of postmortem burning. In addition to human remains, this feature yielded a pig mandible, freshwater mussel shells, a bolder, a pottery sherd and a fragment of a stalactite/ stalagmite.Lucrarea este concentrată pe reanalizarea unui complex din cimitirul neolitic Hamangia de la Cernavodă – Columbia D (jud. Constanţa, România), cercetat arheologic la mijlocul secolului trecut. Analiza a parcurs mai multe etape : procesarea informaţiilor arheologice, reevaluarea antropologică, combinarea şi interpretarea celor două seturi de date. Eşantionul scheletic uman re‐ analizat este format din 11 calote craniene şi alte câteva zeci de resturi craniene șI postcraniene. Două calote prezintă caracteristici deosebite ; una a fost decalotată, ruptă, trepanată postmortem şi şlefuită, iar alta prezintă urmele unui chist benign tumoral. La acestea adăugăm un fragment cranian cu urme de arsură (incinerare postmortem). Pe lângă resturi scheletice umane, complexul a conţinut şi o mandibulă de porc, scoici de apă dulce, o piatră, un fragment ceramic şi un fragment de stalagmită/ stalactită.Kogălniceanu Raluca, Simalcsik Angela. Cernavodă – Columbia D puzzle : the Skull Complex. In: Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice (Serie nouã), N°14 2018. pp. 33-75

Non-polished lithic artefacts from the Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă – Columbia D. Technological, typological and contextual analysis

The non-polished lithic artefacts from the Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă – Columbia D belong to several technological groups, namely laminar blanks, flakes, cores, hammers and indeterminate fragments, all of them made of various types of chert and limestone. Most of the laminar blanks are represented by proximal and median fragments. Some of the intentionally modified ones are endscrapers, truncated blades, or marginally retouched blades. When available, their archaeological context (inside/ outside of the grave, sex and age of the deceased, etc.) will be discussed.Piesele litice neşlefuite din necropola Hamangia, Cernavodă – Columbia D pot fi încadrate în câteva categorii tehnologice, mai exact suporturi laminare, așchii, nuclee, percutoare și fragmente indeterminabile, obținute din tipuri variate de chert şi calcar. Majoritatea suporturilor laminare este formată din fragmente proximale și meziale. Unele dintre piesele retușate pot fi definite drept gratoare, troncaturi sau lame retușate marginal. În măsura în care informațiile disponibile o permit, contextul descoperirii pieselor (localizarea în cadrul necropolei, sexul/ vârsta defuncţilor etc.) va fi, de asemenea, discutat.Kogălniceanu Raluca, Niță Loredana, Haită Constantin. Non-polished lithic artefacts from the Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă – Columbia D. Technological, typological and contextual analysis. In: Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice (Serie nouã), N°13 2017. pp. 155-170