The chert quarrying and processing industry at the Piatra Tomii site, Romania

Crandell, Otis; Popa, Cristian Ioan

doi:10.2218/jls.v2i1.1154

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…It is very likely the two sites are contemporary. The connection between these two sites is noted in more detail by Crandell and Popa (2015).…”

Section: Archaeological Background: the Tărtăria -Gura Luncii Sitementioning

confidence: 94%

“…Material of similar appearance (or the same material) also occurs in the Late Jurassic limestone outcrops in the Metaliferi Mts., particularly in the eastern extreme. This material has been described in previous publications by the author (Crandell 2008;2009b;2012b;Crandell & Popa 2015).…”

Section: Trascău Chertmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Almost all of the local material at the site is chert. At other Middle Mureș Valley sites looked at in related studies (for example, Crandell 2008;2009a;2012b;Crandell & Popa 2015), there was more of a mix of jasper and chert. Although sites like Limba and Lumea Nouă are further from the main sources of jasper, they still contain higher percentages of it than Tărtăria does.…”

Section: Potential Connection With Răcătău-piatra Tomiimentioning

confidence: 97%

“…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%

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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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“…It is very likely the two sites are contemporary. The connection between these two sites is noted in more detail by Crandell and Popa (2015).…”

Section: Archaeological Background: the Tărtăria -Gura Luncii Sitementioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Trascău Chertmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Potential Connection With Răcătău-piatra Tomiimentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Lithic Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Crandell

2016

JLS

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“…This is not to say that they did not also use hammer stones (hand held or fixed in a handle), as percussion-worn river cobbles were also discovered during excavation of the hillside dwelling. Although the limited excavations carried out so far are insufficient to determine with certainty that this was indeed what was happening at Piatra Tomii, the evidence so far shows similarities to the chert mining activities at Kleinkems (Germany) (Schmid 1980a;Diethelm 1997;Engel & Siegmund 2005), Veaux-Malaucène (France) (Schmid 1980b) and Sélédin (France) (Roden 1983). It should also be mentioned though that there are other possible explanations of the finds at this site.…”

Section: Mining Technologymentioning

confidence: 94%

The chert quarrying and processing industry at the Piatra Tomii site, Romania

Crandell

Popa

2015

JLS

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Abstract:Fieldwalking surveys in 2007 and 2008 revealed a moderate sized settlement on Piatra Tomii Hill (Alba County, Romania) which was considered of interest because of its location on top of a natural source of chert, and the large amount of chert artefacts found on the surface. In 2009 the site was excavated during which one of the objectives was to learn more about the chert mining and processing at the site. The ratio of artefact types and lack of use-wear suggests that not only was raw material being extracted at the site, but tools were also being produced locally before being exported. The 2009 excavations also revealed what appear to be the remains of pit quarrying and possibly fire cracked limestone and debris. These finds provide technical insight into potential chert extraction techniques utilised in the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. As well, this is as yet the only reported settlement in the Transylvanian basin involved in chert extraction (either quarrying or mining). Given the settlement's affluence, especially considering its relative isolation, it is likely that the chert industry here was important to communities in the vicinity. Indeed artefacts found at contemporary sites in the Mureș Valley appear to have been made from the same or a similar chert. This paper gives an introductions to the site, describes the artefacts and features found there and provides possible interpretations regarding the processing and export industry, as well as the methods of extracting the raw material during this period.

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Creating frames of reference for chert exploitation during the Late Pleistocene in Southwesternmost Iberia

Belmiro,

Terradas,

Cascalheira

2023

PLoS ONE

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Southwestern Iberia has played a key role in characterizing Late Pleistocene human ecodynamics. Among other aspects of human behavior, chert procurement and management studies in this region have received increasing attention in the past two decades, especially focusing on the sites showing repeated human occupation, such as the case of Vale Boi (Southern Portugal). However, these studies have been very limited in their geographical scope, and mostly focused on brief macroscopic descriptions of the raw materials. To further our knowledge of the relationship between regional availability of raw materials and its impact on human adaptations and mobility, a more detailed approach to characterizing geological sources is needed. This paper characterizes chert raw materials location, diversity, and availability in a geologically well-defined region of southern Portugal ‐ the Algarve. Through macroscopic and petrographic approaches, we provide a detailed characterization of geological chert sources to build a frame of reference for chert exploitation in the region. Our results show that there are four main chert formations in Algarve, and that despite the within-source variability, sufficient differences at macroscopic and petrographic levels are present to allow clear source attribution. These results provide a baseline for raw material studies in archaeological assemblages across southwestern Iberia, that will be essential to further characterize the dynamics of human behavior in some of the most important eco-cultural niches.

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The chert quarrying and processing industry at the Piatra Tomii site, Romania

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

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

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

The chert quarrying and processing industry at the Piatra Tomii site, Romania

Creating frames of reference for chert exploitation during the Late Pleistocene in Southwesternmost Iberia

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