Specialist on chipped stone assemblages from Holocene sequence in the Balkans, SW Anatolia and southern Levant. Raw material procurement, techno-typological features and functional connotation of flint artefacts. Sacred vs. profane/utilitarian in artefact interpretation Address: NIAM-BAS, 2 Saborna Str. , 1000 Sofia Bulgaria
Abstract: Ropotamo is a multi-period archaeological site located on the southern Bulgarian Black ... more Abstract: Ropotamo is a multi-period archaeological site located on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, in a small bay where the Ropotamo River flows into the sea. Due to the unique natural habitat, the site has preserved the stratigraphy left by millennia of human activity in the bay. In 2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone, bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established. The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.
Artefacts biographies from Mesolithic and Neolithic Europe and beyond, 2024
An impressive example of high technological skill in prehistoric knapping technology in Bulgaria ... more An impressive example of high technological skill in prehistoric knapping technology in Bulgaria is the extra-long or so-called superblades (over 25 cm long) found mainly in mortuary contexts (as burial goods) or in hoards from domestic contexts. In the first case, the blades play their votive ritual role as grave goods, in the second – they are grouped in sets of so-called caches/hoards and are kept as reserves of precious items for future use. The superblades exhibit a peculiar artefact biography, which requires a multi-faceted study: characterisation of the raw material demands knowledge of flint resources and their technical properties; the reconstruction of technical knapping skills necessitates meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata; while functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Finally, the interpretation of these representative finds requires careful contextual analysis, bringing together empirical data and conceptual premises. This paper focuses on the author’s study of superblades from three Chalcolithic cemeteries on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria: the Varna, Durankulak and Kozareva Tell cemeteries. Several hoards of superblades from two tell settlements are also included, thus encompassing the contextual niches of such finds. Various observations and research questions are formulated starting with the initial stage of the chaîne opératoire then moving on to the indices of real vs anticipated/ritual values and functions of these exceptional finds.
The chipped-stone assemblages from the Tash Bair investigation, submitted to me for study, includ... more The chipped-stone assemblages from the Tash Bair investigation, submitted to me for study, includes 1426 artefacts. The lithic finds mainly came from two different contexts: 1) unstratified material from the 2018-2019 survey, carried out with a strict protocol and methodology of GIS AKB system applied to the field prospections; 2) ‘stratified’ (in a quite relative sense) artefacts from the 2019 excavation of three Trenches, where various features attributed to different chrono-cultural contexts have been distinguished by the excavators. The applied analytical procedure comprises techno-typological and functional analysis (the latter is restricted to the excavated assemblages), and consequent interpretation. The assemblages are presented consecutively starting with those from the survey, followed by the collections coming from the excavations. The analytical results and general observations on the assemblages follow their description and provide a comparative perspective between different assemblages from the distinct survey and excavations features. Some general notes on comparing the two main contexts (survey and excavations) are made as well.
Use-wear studies have identified a long-lasting system of agricultural practices (harvesting) fro... more 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 (6 th and 5 th 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 identi fied, 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.
Abstract The Bulgarian prehistoric sequence is characterized by the use of particular raw materia... more Abstract The Bulgarian prehistoric sequence is characterized by the use of particular raw materials in distinct ‘cultural’ contexts. The Karanovo I and II stages of the Early Neolithic (part of a supra-regional technocomplex in the Balkans) are recognisable by formal toolkits made of Balkan flint. The Chalcolithic period is famous for its superblades made of high-quality Ludogorie flint, which also attain a wider Balkan distribution. Despite a solid corpus of reliable data for northern Bulgaria from our previous field surveys and laboratory analyses, there are still questions that can only be resolved by further research. This paper presents the results of petrographic and chemical (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of a series of archaeological artefacts and raw material samples collected during a survey in Shumen District of northeast Bulgaria. These data allow us to i) distinguish two new types of flint (Shumen I and II) which are represented by both raw material outcrops and artefacts and previously referred to as ‘Moesian flint’; and ii) expand our analytical data for the Kriva Reka type of Ludogorie flint, confirming its substantial role in prehistoric flint production, distribution and use. These results suggest a more complex network of raw material sources and distribution routes in prehistory than previously assumed.
Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material ... more Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material procurement and exchange in prehistory. However, understanding this process requires the accurate characterization of archaeological artefacts. This paper is based on a large amount of analytical data from our previous research and publications, augmented by new results for a more representative corpus of samples from Early Neolithic sites throughout Bulgaria. By combining macro and micropetrography of geological and archaeological samples with geochemical data obtained using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we demonstrate an optimal analytical approach to flint provenancing. This combined comparative study proved successful in matching artefacts with raw material sources, and for reconstructing raw material catchment areas and mobility patterns. GIS analysis was used to predict pathways for flint distribution between sources and sites, which are relevant to conceptualizing the Neolithization of the eastern Balkans.
Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material ... more Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material procurement and exchange in prehistory. However, understanding this process requires the accurate characterisation of archaeological artefacts. This paper is based on a large amount of analytical data from our previous research and publications, augmented by new results for a more representative corpus of samples from Early Neolithic sites throughout Bulgaria. By combining macro and micropetrography of geological and archaeological samples with geochemical data obtained using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we demonstrate an optimal analytical approach to flint provenancing. This combined comparative study proved successful in matching artefacts with raw material sources, and for reconstructing raw material catchment areas and mobility patterns. GIS analysis was used to predict pathways for flint distribution between sources and sites, which are relevant to conceptualising the Neolithization of the eastern Balkans.
This paper includes a detailed analysis of feature E63 at Tell Petko Karavelovo which is a pit ex... more This paper includes a detailed analysis of feature E63 at Tell Petko Karavelovo which is a pit excavated in 2021 measuring 0.83-0.87 m in diameter and 0.45 m in depth. Four different layers were identified in the fill. The deposit could be defined as 'odd' and consists of burnt daub pieces, sherds, stone tools, fragments of oven base plaster, unfired loom weights, crow wing bones, and an almost complete skeleton of a piglet which was killed by a heavy blow on the head. Both radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic evidence show that feature E63 belongs to the Petko Karavelovo B phase (middle Chalcolithic), ca. 4700 cal. BC. There is enough evidence to suggest that the pig was sacrificed. Based on the deposit's analysis and on various later examples of pig sacrifice we will argue that pit E63 represents the remains of a special social practice performed by women.
Pitchstone (a volcanic glass similar to obsidian) from geological outcrops on the west coast of S... more Pitchstone (a volcanic glass similar to obsidian) from geological outcrops on the west coast of Scotland circulated widely among Neolithic communities in northern Britain and Ireland, representing an exchange network that in its areal extent rivalled those that developed around obsidian sources in continental Europe and the Mediterranean. While the archaeological distribution of pitchstone within the British Isles is now well documented, rather less is known about which sources were used or the functions of pitchstone tools found in archaeological contexts. Here we report the results of a pilot study, the main objectives of which were to: (1) assess if we could discriminate between pitchstone sources and assign archaeological finds to sources using non-destructive chemical analysis, and (2) determine how use-wear manifests itself on pitchstone artefacts. We undertook pXRF analyses of pitchstone samples from two geological outcrops on the Isle of Arran and five archaeological assemblages from Neolithic sites on Arran and mainland Scotland. We also conducted analyses of wear patterns on pitchstone artefacts from all five archaeological assemblages. To aid interpretation of the wear patterns observed on archaeological pieces, experiments were conducted in which natural pitchstone flakes and replicated artefacts were used in various tasks (processing of dry and fresh wood, pig hide, reed, and fresh meat and bones) followed by microscopic examination to assess the kinds of use-wear produced. The results of the pXRF analyses suggest that the pitchstone found at each of the archaeological sites examined was obtained from more than one source. The results of the use-wear analyses were equivocal. Microfractures and striations were identified on both archaeological and experimental artefacts. But it proved difficult to distinguish taphonomic from use damage on the archaeological pieces.
Bulgarian e-Journal of Archaeology | Българско е-Списание за Археология, Jun 9, 2021
The paper presents two types of small artefacts: anthropomorphic figurines and miniature beads, a... more The paper presents two types of small artefacts: anthropomorphic figurines and miniature beads, all of which were acquired during the excavations of the Early Neolithic settlement at Ilindentsi during 2011-2018. The anthropomorphic clay figurines are arranged in three groups: Group 1-figurines with enlarged hips and buttocks (steatopygia); Group 2-prism/ parallelepiped shaped figurines and Group 3-figurines with plastic projections on the head (buns or horns). One partially preserved marble figurine was also found. All of these objects show an interesting spatial distribution while being concentrated in two distant houses. All figurines confirm a general trend in the development of these objects in the central Balkans and northern Greece but also emphasise the supraregional contacts with the Pannonian Plain. Miniature beads are very characterisic of the Early Neolithic settlement at Ilindentsi. Forty-one beads have been found, most of them within the boundaries of house № 2. Thirty-six beads were made of clay and only five beads from other raw materials: shell, rock and mother-of-pearl. The collection of miniature clay beads from Ilindnetsi is unique, with no parallels from other contemporary sites in the Balkans. In terms of importance it places Ilindentsi right after emblematic Anatolian sites such as Çatalhöyük and Çukuriçi. The clay beads from Ilindentsi pose a number of questions about their place and role in the so-called Neolithic package; their function, social dimension and last but not least their expression of people's specialized skills.
This paper offers a brief overview of the flint assemblages from the Neolithic period in Bulgaria... more This paper offers a brief overview of the flint assemblages from the Neolithic period in Bulgaria (VI mill. cal BC) by following their evolution that depending on the context could also be called innovation, retardation or simply modification. Some significant changes occur during the Neolithic who reflected to all aspects of the flint industry - from the raw material acquisition via techno-typological parameters until the functional connotations of different artefacts categories. The empirical corpus of the study contains assemblages coming from 18 different sites. Expectedly whatever changes are attested as occurring alongside the evolution on the Tell settlements, there is no striking rupture and discontinuity in the flint industry as claimed on the basis of fragmentary assemblages coming from other sites belonging to different cultural stages/periods of the Neolithic. The paper ends with a series of challenging questions referring to different level of our knowledge and understa...
Abstract: Ropotamo is a multi-period archaeological site located on the southern Bulgarian Black ... more Abstract: Ropotamo is a multi-period archaeological site located on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, in a small bay where the Ropotamo River flows into the sea. Due to the unique natural habitat, the site has preserved the stratigraphy left by millennia of human activity in the bay. In 2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone, bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established. The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.
Artefacts biographies from Mesolithic and Neolithic Europe and beyond, 2024
An impressive example of high technological skill in prehistoric knapping technology in Bulgaria ... more An impressive example of high technological skill in prehistoric knapping technology in Bulgaria is the extra-long or so-called superblades (over 25 cm long) found mainly in mortuary contexts (as burial goods) or in hoards from domestic contexts. In the first case, the blades play their votive ritual role as grave goods, in the second – they are grouped in sets of so-called caches/hoards and are kept as reserves of precious items for future use. The superblades exhibit a peculiar artefact biography, which requires a multi-faceted study: characterisation of the raw material demands knowledge of flint resources and their technical properties; the reconstruction of technical knapping skills necessitates meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata; while functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Finally, the interpretation of these representative finds requires careful contextual analysis, bringing together empirical data and conceptual premises. This paper focuses on the author’s study of superblades from three Chalcolithic cemeteries on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria: the Varna, Durankulak and Kozareva Tell cemeteries. Several hoards of superblades from two tell settlements are also included, thus encompassing the contextual niches of such finds. Various observations and research questions are formulated starting with the initial stage of the chaîne opératoire then moving on to the indices of real vs anticipated/ritual values and functions of these exceptional finds.
The chipped-stone assemblages from the Tash Bair investigation, submitted to me for study, includ... more The chipped-stone assemblages from the Tash Bair investigation, submitted to me for study, includes 1426 artefacts. The lithic finds mainly came from two different contexts: 1) unstratified material from the 2018-2019 survey, carried out with a strict protocol and methodology of GIS AKB system applied to the field prospections; 2) ‘stratified’ (in a quite relative sense) artefacts from the 2019 excavation of three Trenches, where various features attributed to different chrono-cultural contexts have been distinguished by the excavators. The applied analytical procedure comprises techno-typological and functional analysis (the latter is restricted to the excavated assemblages), and consequent interpretation. The assemblages are presented consecutively starting with those from the survey, followed by the collections coming from the excavations. The analytical results and general observations on the assemblages follow their description and provide a comparative perspective between different assemblages from the distinct survey and excavations features. Some general notes on comparing the two main contexts (survey and excavations) are made as well.
Use-wear studies have identified a long-lasting system of agricultural practices (harvesting) fro... more 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 (6 th and 5 th 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 identi fied, 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.
Abstract The Bulgarian prehistoric sequence is characterized by the use of particular raw materia... more Abstract The Bulgarian prehistoric sequence is characterized by the use of particular raw materials in distinct ‘cultural’ contexts. The Karanovo I and II stages of the Early Neolithic (part of a supra-regional technocomplex in the Balkans) are recognisable by formal toolkits made of Balkan flint. The Chalcolithic period is famous for its superblades made of high-quality Ludogorie flint, which also attain a wider Balkan distribution. Despite a solid corpus of reliable data for northern Bulgaria from our previous field surveys and laboratory analyses, there are still questions that can only be resolved by further research. This paper presents the results of petrographic and chemical (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of a series of archaeological artefacts and raw material samples collected during a survey in Shumen District of northeast Bulgaria. These data allow us to i) distinguish two new types of flint (Shumen I and II) which are represented by both raw material outcrops and artefacts and previously referred to as ‘Moesian flint’; and ii) expand our analytical data for the Kriva Reka type of Ludogorie flint, confirming its substantial role in prehistoric flint production, distribution and use. These results suggest a more complex network of raw material sources and distribution routes in prehistory than previously assumed.
Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material ... more Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material procurement and exchange in prehistory. However, understanding this process requires the accurate characterization of archaeological artefacts. This paper is based on a large amount of analytical data from our previous research and publications, augmented by new results for a more representative corpus of samples from Early Neolithic sites throughout Bulgaria. By combining macro and micropetrography of geological and archaeological samples with geochemical data obtained using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we demonstrate an optimal analytical approach to flint provenancing. This combined comparative study proved successful in matching artefacts with raw material sources, and for reconstructing raw material catchment areas and mobility patterns. GIS analysis was used to predict pathways for flint distribution between sources and sites, which are relevant to conceptualizing the Neolithization of the eastern Balkans.
Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material ... more Lithic raw material provenance studies are important for reconstructing patterns of raw material procurement and exchange in prehistory. However, understanding this process requires the accurate characterisation of archaeological artefacts. This paper is based on a large amount of analytical data from our previous research and publications, augmented by new results for a more representative corpus of samples from Early Neolithic sites throughout Bulgaria. By combining macro and micropetrography of geological and archaeological samples with geochemical data obtained using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we demonstrate an optimal analytical approach to flint provenancing. This combined comparative study proved successful in matching artefacts with raw material sources, and for reconstructing raw material catchment areas and mobility patterns. GIS analysis was used to predict pathways for flint distribution between sources and sites, which are relevant to conceptualising the Neolithization of the eastern Balkans.
This paper includes a detailed analysis of feature E63 at Tell Petko Karavelovo which is a pit ex... more This paper includes a detailed analysis of feature E63 at Tell Petko Karavelovo which is a pit excavated in 2021 measuring 0.83-0.87 m in diameter and 0.45 m in depth. Four different layers were identified in the fill. The deposit could be defined as 'odd' and consists of burnt daub pieces, sherds, stone tools, fragments of oven base plaster, unfired loom weights, crow wing bones, and an almost complete skeleton of a piglet which was killed by a heavy blow on the head. Both radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic evidence show that feature E63 belongs to the Petko Karavelovo B phase (middle Chalcolithic), ca. 4700 cal. BC. There is enough evidence to suggest that the pig was sacrificed. Based on the deposit's analysis and on various later examples of pig sacrifice we will argue that pit E63 represents the remains of a special social practice performed by women.
Pitchstone (a volcanic glass similar to obsidian) from geological outcrops on the west coast of S... more Pitchstone (a volcanic glass similar to obsidian) from geological outcrops on the west coast of Scotland circulated widely among Neolithic communities in northern Britain and Ireland, representing an exchange network that in its areal extent rivalled those that developed around obsidian sources in continental Europe and the Mediterranean. While the archaeological distribution of pitchstone within the British Isles is now well documented, rather less is known about which sources were used or the functions of pitchstone tools found in archaeological contexts. Here we report the results of a pilot study, the main objectives of which were to: (1) assess if we could discriminate between pitchstone sources and assign archaeological finds to sources using non-destructive chemical analysis, and (2) determine how use-wear manifests itself on pitchstone artefacts. We undertook pXRF analyses of pitchstone samples from two geological outcrops on the Isle of Arran and five archaeological assemblages from Neolithic sites on Arran and mainland Scotland. We also conducted analyses of wear patterns on pitchstone artefacts from all five archaeological assemblages. To aid interpretation of the wear patterns observed on archaeological pieces, experiments were conducted in which natural pitchstone flakes and replicated artefacts were used in various tasks (processing of dry and fresh wood, pig hide, reed, and fresh meat and bones) followed by microscopic examination to assess the kinds of use-wear produced. The results of the pXRF analyses suggest that the pitchstone found at each of the archaeological sites examined was obtained from more than one source. The results of the use-wear analyses were equivocal. Microfractures and striations were identified on both archaeological and experimental artefacts. But it proved difficult to distinguish taphonomic from use damage on the archaeological pieces.
Bulgarian e-Journal of Archaeology | Българско е-Списание за Археология, Jun 9, 2021
The paper presents two types of small artefacts: anthropomorphic figurines and miniature beads, a... more The paper presents two types of small artefacts: anthropomorphic figurines and miniature beads, all of which were acquired during the excavations of the Early Neolithic settlement at Ilindentsi during 2011-2018. The anthropomorphic clay figurines are arranged in three groups: Group 1-figurines with enlarged hips and buttocks (steatopygia); Group 2-prism/ parallelepiped shaped figurines and Group 3-figurines with plastic projections on the head (buns or horns). One partially preserved marble figurine was also found. All of these objects show an interesting spatial distribution while being concentrated in two distant houses. All figurines confirm a general trend in the development of these objects in the central Balkans and northern Greece but also emphasise the supraregional contacts with the Pannonian Plain. Miniature beads are very characterisic of the Early Neolithic settlement at Ilindentsi. Forty-one beads have been found, most of them within the boundaries of house № 2. Thirty-six beads were made of clay and only five beads from other raw materials: shell, rock and mother-of-pearl. The collection of miniature clay beads from Ilindnetsi is unique, with no parallels from other contemporary sites in the Balkans. In terms of importance it places Ilindentsi right after emblematic Anatolian sites such as Çatalhöyük and Çukuriçi. The clay beads from Ilindentsi pose a number of questions about their place and role in the so-called Neolithic package; their function, social dimension and last but not least their expression of people's specialized skills.
This paper offers a brief overview of the flint assemblages from the Neolithic period in Bulgaria... more This paper offers a brief overview of the flint assemblages from the Neolithic period in Bulgaria (VI mill. cal BC) by following their evolution that depending on the context could also be called innovation, retardation or simply modification. Some significant changes occur during the Neolithic who reflected to all aspects of the flint industry - from the raw material acquisition via techno-typological parameters until the functional connotations of different artefacts categories. The empirical corpus of the study contains assemblages coming from 18 different sites. Expectedly whatever changes are attested as occurring alongside the evolution on the Tell settlements, there is no striking rupture and discontinuity in the flint industry as claimed on the basis of fragmentary assemblages coming from other sites belonging to different cultural stages/periods of the Neolithic. The paper ends with a series of challenging questions referring to different level of our knowledge and understa...
Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC) Annual Meeting 2018
19th Heritage management symposium
Deve... more Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC) Annual Meeting 2018 19th Heritage management symposium Development-led archaeology in Europe. Meeting the needs of archaeologists, developers and the public. Sofia, Bulgaria, 22-23 March 2018
Uploads
Papers by Maria GUROVA
2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime
Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were
excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone,
bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established.
The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.
The superblades exhibit a peculiar artefact biography, which requires a multi-faceted study: characterisation of the raw material demands knowledge of flint resources and their technical properties; the reconstruction of technical knapping skills necessitates meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata; while functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Finally, the interpretation of these representative finds requires careful contextual analysis, bringing together empirical data and conceptual premises.
This paper focuses on the author’s study of superblades from three Chalcolithic cemeteries on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria: the Varna, Durankulak and Kozareva Tell cemeteries. Several hoards of superblades from two tell settlements are also included, thus encompassing the contextual niches of such finds.
Various observations and research questions are formulated starting with the initial stage of the chaîne opératoire then moving on to the indices of real vs anticipated/ritual values and functions of these exceptional finds.
The applied analytical procedure comprises techno-typological and functional analysis (the latter is restricted to the excavated assemblages), and consequent interpretation. The assemblages are presented consecutively starting with those from the survey, followed by the collections coming from the excavations. The analytical results and general observations on the assemblages follow their description and provide a comparative perspective between different assemblages from the distinct survey and excavations features. Some general notes on comparing the two main contexts (survey and excavations) are made as well.
2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime
Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were
excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone,
bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established.
The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.
The superblades exhibit a peculiar artefact biography, which requires a multi-faceted study: characterisation of the raw material demands knowledge of flint resources and their technical properties; the reconstruction of technical knapping skills necessitates meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata; while functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Finally, the interpretation of these representative finds requires careful contextual analysis, bringing together empirical data and conceptual premises.
This paper focuses on the author’s study of superblades from three Chalcolithic cemeteries on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria: the Varna, Durankulak and Kozareva Tell cemeteries. Several hoards of superblades from two tell settlements are also included, thus encompassing the contextual niches of such finds.
Various observations and research questions are formulated starting with the initial stage of the chaîne opératoire then moving on to the indices of real vs anticipated/ritual values and functions of these exceptional finds.
The applied analytical procedure comprises techno-typological and functional analysis (the latter is restricted to the excavated assemblages), and consequent interpretation. The assemblages are presented consecutively starting with those from the survey, followed by the collections coming from the excavations. The analytical results and general observations on the assemblages follow their description and provide a comparative perspective between different assemblages from the distinct survey and excavations features. Some general notes on comparing the two main contexts (survey and excavations) are made as well.
19th Heritage management symposium
Development-led archaeology in Europe. Meeting the needs
of archaeologists, developers and the public. Sofia, Bulgaria,
22-23 March 2018