The chipped stone assemblage from the Early Chalcolithic settlement at Isaiia – Balta Popii

Abstract

The paper presents, in detail, the investigations on the chipped stone assemblage discovered, during archaeological excavations, in the early Chalcolithic settlement at Isaiia - Balta Popii. The technological and typological analysis of the entire collection was accomplished taking into account the various raw materials that are its constituents. In the case of the raw material with the greatest frequency – the flint from the Moldavian Platform –, artefacts coming from all phases of the debitage are certified. The results obtained for Isaiia were then compared with those from other Precucuteni II - Tripolje A sites, highlighting the existence of technological and typological elements common for the lithic industries of the early Chalcolithic in Eastern Europe (North-East of Romania, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine).

Changing techniques of flint knapping in Chalcolithic times as an indicator of changes in the economy

“…In the last decades, a lot of works have been written devoted to the issues of flint processing of these two periods (Shydlovskyi, Slesarev, 2015;Kiosak, Subbotin, 2016;Kiosak, 2016;Kiosak, 2016 a;Radomskyi, 2017;Vornicu, 2017;Crandell, Vornicu, 2015). The main technical and typological features of the early and middle-aged industries were established.…”

Science Revealing Ancient Magic: Phytolith Evidence from the Early Chalcolithic Site of Isaiia (Eastern Romania)

“…Along with the dwellings, more than 50 pits and three stone structures were investigated; the latter, peripheral to the settlement, probably had a role in its symbolic delimitation [ 3 ]. For the Chalcolithic habitation, in recent years, a series of radiocarbon dating made on bone fragments from undisturbed contexts has been acquired [ 32 ].…”

“…Of interest for this paper was dwelling L14, excavated in 2015 and 2017, belonging to the IIB horizon of the Chalcolithic layer [ 3 , 32 ]. This dwelling, with the long axis orientated WNW–ESE, consisted in one room of medium dimensions (7.2 × 5.1 m); this was built in the wattle-and-daub tradition, with posts sustaining the walls and had a partial platform made of wooden beams, covered with a thick layer of clay ( Figure 4 ) [ 3 ].…”

Lithic Assemblages of Early Agricultural Communities in Middle Dniester: comparative study

“…But in recent years there has been a tendency to increase the attention of researchers to the development of lithic assemblages in early-agricultural cultures of the Carpathian-Dniester region (Zalizniak and Tovkailo, 2007;Dergachev and Larina, 2015;Crandell and Vornicu 2015;Kiosak 2016;Vornicu 2017). Among the reasons for such attention, we can mark the higher methodological level of studies of prehistoric sites.…”