Knappable Materials in the Criș Valley, Romania

Crandell, Otis

doi:10.2218/jls.v1i2.1101

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The high quality materials are the same as those found throughout the Transylvanian basin -Carpathian obsidian, Miorcani type Moldavian flint, and Balkan flint. These materials are described in previous publications (Crandell 2008;2009b;2012a;2012b;2012c;2014a;2014b;in press;Crandell & Mărcuţi in press;Crandell et al 2013;Crandell & Popa 2015;Crandell & Vornicu 2015) so only a brief mention will be made here for the benefit of readers who have not read (or do not have access to) the previous publications. By identifying the sources of raw materials in region, it was possible to identify probable sources of the artefacts.…”

Section: Lithic Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of the knapped stone economy at the Tărtăria site (Romania)

Crandell

2016

JLS

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This study focused on sourcing the lithic artefacts from the Tărtăria site in the Transylvanian Basin. The objective was to establish a model of the procurement patterns of the population at the settlement. This site is located along the middle region of the Mureș River and has several habitation levels belonging to the Vinča A, Vinča B, Vinča-Turdaș (or Vinča C), Petrești and Coțofeni cultures (Middle Neolithic to Chalcolithic). Most of the results of this study are based on analysis of the artefacts from Iuliu Paul’s excavation in 1989. This knapped artefacts from the Tărtăria site were categorised by tool type, signs of usage and retouch, and probably geographic origin. The sources of the artefact materials were predicted based on macroscopic and petrographic analyses (polarized light optical microscopy). The lithics appear to be made from the same types of materials found at other contemporary sites in the area. As with other sites, the most common imported material is obsidian, followed by Moldavian flint. Balkan flints represent only a small part of the assemblage. Of the local material, the vast majority is chert, likely local Trascău Mts. chert, which represents over half of the pieces in the assemblage. Although the site is closer to sources of jasper in the Metaliferi Mts. than some other Neotlihic and Chalcolithic sites down river, very few of the artefacts were made from jasper. (This may be due to an economic connection with nearby and contemporary, quarrying activity at the Piatra Tomii site.) Obsidian is used almost exclusively for blades and flakes. The same is true for Moldavian flint, although scrapers were not uncommon. Cores and scrapers are more common among local material than among imported material. The percentages of each artefact type seem to remain relatively similar for each culture (i.e. with the progress of time). This shows that people were still using the same general types of tools. The percentages of the different materials varies over time though. During the Vinča A and Vinča B phrases, local materials represent approximately 30% of the assemblage and imported materials represent c. 70%. After the Vinča B phase (i.e. entering into the Chalcolithic), the emphasis switches to local sources (representing c. 87%) while imported drop to c. 13%. Two important observations can be made from this study. Firstly, with the possible exception of Balkan flint, the imported materials came from outside of the territories of the cultures at this site. This indicates that areas of similar artistic style (the main characteristic used to define culture areas) do not in fact match areas of economic interaction. This further supports the need for a redefining of cultures and cultural territories. Secondly, although the inhabitants during the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic used imported materials (especially obsidian), local materials became more and more predominant over time, possibly due to the introduction and continually increasing value of copper or increased self-sufficiency. The fact that this shift in material usage occurs most drastically during the transition to the Chalcolithic supports this idea.

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Section: Lithic Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of the knapped stone economy at the Tărtăria site (Romania)

Crandell

2016

JLS

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“…Previous geological and archaeological research has indicated that siliceous rocks such as cherts, radiolarites, cherty limestones, and other knappable materials used in Prehistory originate from the Southern Apuseni Mts., particularly in the Metaliferi and the Trascǎu mountains (Crandell 2008;2014;Herz & Savu 1974;Lupu, 1995;Nicolae 1992). Figure 1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary archaeometric investigation on Middle Neolithic siliceous tools from Limba-Oarda de Jos (Transylvania, Romania)

Rey-Solé

Ionescu

Ciuta

et al. 2019

JLS

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The present archaeometric study focuses on a set of archaeological siliceous lithic tools that are assigned to the early Vinča culture period (Vinča A and Vinča B1). They were found in several pit-houses at Limba-Oarda de Jos (SW Transylvania, Romania), an open settlement that has been dated to 5,405-5,310 cal. BCE, a period in the Middle Neolithic. A total of 322 retouched tools and débitage pieces were typologically and macroscopically investigated. From these, 20 pieces were analyzed by polarized light optical microscopy (OM) and 10 pieces were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in order to identify compositional characteristics, define the petrographic type, and establish the spectral fingerprint of each material. Four petrographic types were discriminated: radiolarite, chert, fossiliferous chert, and siliceous limestone. Mineralogically, the tools primarily consist of a mass of microquartz and fibrous microquartz (called also ‘chalcedony’) associated with radiolarians remnants (in radiolarites); fossil shell fragments (in the fossiliferous chert); and limestone components, such as ooliths and pellets (in the siliceous limestone). All samples show distinct FTIR bands, most of which are assigned to microquartz, quartz, and fibrous microquartz. The deconvolution of the FTIR spectra in the 950-1300 cm-1 domain reveals the contribution of several other phases, such as calcite and clay minerals. The results support the assumption that the tools made of chert, fossiliferous chert, and siliceous limestone were produced at the site from nodules that probably originated from the Upper Jurassic chert-bearing limestone that crops out nearby in the Trascău Mts. The tools made of radiolarite were most likely brought to the site as finished products from the Trascău Mts.

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“…In contrast, the past two decades have seen a substantial increase in petrographic analyses of lithic raw materials (e.g., Băltean et al . ; Crandell , , , ; Alexandrescu and Soare ; Cârciumaru et al . ; Crandell et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Geochemical ‘Fingerprinting’ of Balkan and Prut Flint from Palaeolithic Romania: Potentials, Limitations and Future Directions

et al. 2018

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Long-distance raw material transfers across Romania prior to the Last Glacial Maximum have previously been inferred from either visual and/or petrographic observations of East Carpathian sites. We investigated the potential to 'fingerprint' flint from archaeological sites at Mitoc-Malu Galben and Bistricioara-Lutărie III in Eastern Romania, using in situ highprecision analyses of 28 major, minor and trace elements determined by laser ablationinductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in combination with multivariate statistical analysis. Our results suggest that geochemical analyses have the ability to distinguish between different geographical sources but are unable to positively associate flint artefacts from archaeological contexts to these geochemical groups. The mismatches of signatures between artefacts and geological materials, however, raise new questions and open unforeseen perspectives.

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Knappable Materials in the Criș Valley, Romania

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

An overview of the knapped stone economy at the Tărtăria site (Romania)

An overview of the knapped stone economy at the Tărtăria site (Romania)

Preliminary archaeometric investigation on Middle Neolithic siliceous tools from Limba-Oarda de Jos (Transylvania, Romania)

First Geochemical ‘Fingerprinting’ of Balkan and Prut Flint from Palaeolithic Romania: Potentials, Limitations and Future Directions

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