The article presents the results of a receintly excavated site near the village of Orlovets in the eastern part of present-day central north Bulgaria. The trenches had a total area of 77 sq. m, and ...the archaeological excavations were carried out in 2003 and 2004. The seven trenches revealed that 2-4 houses were situated on an occupied area of ca. 300-400 sq. m. Sectors of three houses related to two preserved Chalcolithic construction levels were unearthed. Artefacts dated back to the Chalcolithic, Late Antiquity (6th century) and the medieval period (13th century) were yielded by the plough soil. This paper provides a description of construction techniques, “bloodless offering”, construction of ovens and platforms, floors and wall paintings. Attention is given to various tools made from stone, bone and antler as well as to several small ceramic artefacts. Archaeozological studies reveal that the layer has yielded bones of wild boar, deer, badger and wild horse. The domestic animals are represented by cattle, sheep and goat. The focus is on the pottery comprising more than 60 complete and fragmented ceramic vessels, most found in “closed contexts”. The manufacturing techniques, the shapes and the decorative patterns as well as their parallels in Ruse, Radingrad, Ovcharovo and Vinitsa sites are described. The paper also discusses the place of the pottery assemblage from Orlovets-Erendzhika in the chronological chart within the context of the Chalcolithic in the Yantra River basin.
Summary
This article describes the important discovery of a Late Bronze Age gold torc that was unearthed in a field of Acehúche (Cáceres, Spain). It was buried underneath some rocks at a site near a ...river crossing over the Tagus river. In its immediate vicinity, archaeological remains dating from the Copper Age to the Late Bronze Age have been found, which indicates the long use of this crossing. Until recently here, there existed a ferry and a chapel; and the place went by the toponym of the Dehesa de San Cristóbal. Legend too has it that the water from the river had curative properties. All of these components have maintained the sacred nature of the spot, otherwise transformed over the course of time, and reflect an earlier sacred landscape with quite ancient roots.
The observations of the present paper, following the footsteps of previous studies, provide researchers with a rich set of data that shed more light on the pottery manufacturing techniques of Late ...Copper Age potters. The investigated assemblage belongs to the Baden culture, excavated at Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs-Olasz-tanya I in 2009. So far, four studies have been published on other sites from the heritage of Baden culture, which have been examined in a similar way, focusing on pottery technology. Therefore, the Baden culture is currently the most researched in this respect because the same macroscopic methods were used. In this state of research, we have an opportunity to compare these five assemblages, which allows us to identify similarities and differences in certain details of the technology of potting tradition of different regions in one extended cultural complex. In order to clarify the terminology and certain procedures of handbuilding techniques and possible tool usage in burnishing I make corrections on earlier statements. In addition to observations of potting technology also documenting the use-traces, the secondarily used sherds and any noticeable phenomena, such as grain imprints on ceramics. For the question of intentional or accidental occurrence of grain imprints on ceramics, I share the potter’s viewpoint, to shed more light on this topic. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a wide range of phenomena that can be used for the chaîne opératoire of pottery production and object-biographical studies.
El presente trabajo estudia de manera exhaustiva y sistemática el complejo cerámico de las fases 20 y 21 del poblado prehistórico de Los Castillejos en Las Peñas de los Gitanos (Montefrío, Granada), ...recuperado de las excavaciones realizadas entre 1991 y 1994. Dichas fases se adscriben cronológicamente al Cobre Tardío (2600-2400 a. C.), caracterizado por la intensificación de ciertas dinámicas económicas y sociales así como por la irrupción del llamado fenómeno campaniforme en la península ibérica. A través del empleo de una metodología que pasa por el estudio tecnológico de las pastas mediante estereomicroscopio y análisis mineralógico (DRX), la elaboración de una tipología y el estudio de la decoración de las muestras, se han podido detectar continuidades y discontinuidades en las tradiciones alfareras. Los cambios detectados a nivel tecnológico coinciden con otros atestiguados en el ámbito del consumo y del paleoambiente, dando cuenta de una posible y marcada época de transformaciones sociales y económicas a finales del III milenio a. C.
This paper combines the documentation work of the Eneolithic stratigraphic and structural evidence of the site of Cava Gazzuoli, carried out by SAP archaeological company, and the master's thesis ...work of F. Barchiesi who subsequently studied the materials. In particular, the study refers to an extensive quarry complex located in the municipality of Modena, on the border with the municipality of Formigine (Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy). After the analysis of the pottery and lithic industry, we suggest that the site (most likely a settlement) belongs to an early phase of the Spilamberto Group (middle 4th-middle 3rd millennium BC), with clear references to the late Neolithic facies of Sant’Ilario.
This paper considers the structure investigated at the largest area (labeled as BII-21B) in the Chalcolithic level BII of Tell Yunatsite, located in the western parts of the Upper Thracian Plain. It ...collapsed during a sudden fire, which did not affect the neighboring house to the west. The debris sealed a large number of fragmented vessels, plant remains, and even some of the inhabitants. Detailed analysis of the materials found allows for a reconstruction of diet and storage practices, research on vessels’ function and technology, decoration styles, etc. The plant remains are abundant and demonstrate a diverse species composition. The complex is dominated by lentils, barley, and einkorn wheat. Of particular interest is the evidence on purposeful gathering of grapes for producing a drink, perhaps wine. The investigation of the ceramic assemblage shows that it belongs to a developed – but not final – stage of the Late Copper Age in Upper Thrace. It also provides new information about the contact zone between the Karanovo VI and Krivodol cultures in this area.
We studied the architectural remains of two Chalcolithic (Ghassulian) cultic complexes at En-Gedi and Teleilat Ghassul Area E in order to trace aspects of the architectural planning principles and ...methods involved in their design and construction. Architectural Formal Analysis has brought to light hitherto unnoticed spatial relations between architectural elements that seem to have structured the ritual activity at the two sites. The discerned geometric regularities imply that specific mathematical knowledge and the same set of design principles and methods were used in the planning of both complexes. The emerging pictures of highly structured ritual and of the use of geometry in Ghassulian cultic production may be used to support suggestions regarding some sort of cultic establishment (priesthood) during the Chalcolithic Ghassulian.
This paper investigates the long-debated issue of technological knowledge and potters in the Early Copper Age (4500–4000/3900 cal BC) through the analysis of the forming technology of a typical, ...small-scale settlement at Polgár-Király-ér-part (Northeastern Hungary). A complex technological know- ledge of forming was identified, in which most of the vessel types have their own forming technique. This technological knowledge presumably originated in the local Neolithic. However, a few smaller technological differences nuance this picture, raising the possibility of distinct learning networks and multiple potters at the settlement.
V članku s pomočjo analize tehnologij oblikovanja posod raziskujemo tehnološko znanje in delovanje lončarjev v majhnem naselju Polgár-Király-ér-part v severovzhodni Madžarski v zgodnji bakreni dobi (4500–4000/3900 pr. n. št.). Prepoznali smo kompleksno znanje tehnik oblikovanja, pri čemer ima večina tipov posod lastno tehniko oblikovanja. Tehnološko znanje najverjetneje izhaja iz lokalnega neolitika. Manjše tehnološke razlike nakazujejo različna učna omrežja in delovanje več lončarjev v naselju.
Different funerary behaviors are recorded in the Iberian Peninsula during Late Prehistory. Cremation is not the most common practice and the association between human cremains and fauna is even ...scarcer. We present two Chalcolithic pits (pits 16 and 40) from the Perdigões ditched enclosures, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. Humans were accompanied by animals and other votive materials such as arrowheads, ivory anthropomorphic figurines, and marble idols. Differences between the two contexts are discussed regarding the selection of faunal anatomical parts, the abundance of species, and the manipulation of remains. The results obtained were compared to previously published data from anthropological analysis. Burning damage intensity is different among pits and between humans and fauna. Hence, this suggests that the latter also resulted from diverse practices, including the possible selection of animal body portions for cremation and/or the deposition of selected burned bones or even related to patterns existing in the contexts of the provenance of the cremated materials before the cremation events.
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