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Objects of personal adornment and grave offerings found in some of the dated burials from Cernica. 1: Burial 29, Spondylus beads; 2: Burial 34, Spondylus beads/pendants; 3: Burial 37, bone pendant; 4-5: Burial 101, bone figurine and a necklace of Dentalium and diskshaped stone beads; 6: Burial 141, Spondylus armband; 7-8: Burial 188, Glycymeris armband and pendants; 9-11: Burial 267, Glycymeris armband, pendant and barrel-shaped beads.
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The emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21...
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In 2012, a radiocarbon dating programme was undertaken to explore the chronology and temporality of megalithic monuments in south-eastern Iberia. After obtaining a new radiocarbon series of 90 dates that have changed many of our current approaches to this phenomenon, we have expanded the radiocarbon programme to one of the most iconic megalithic ne...
Citations
... Similar attitudes characterise even the most recent works. For example, in the case of the burials of the Sopot culture at Alsónyék , or, to venture farther afield, in the case of the cemetery of the Smyadovo tell, belonging to the Kodzhadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI cultural complex (Chohadhziev 2016) or the Late Neolithic Cernica graves from the Lower Danube region (Stratton et al. 2018). ...
... To establish if the people's diet from Gumelnița is different (or not) to other communities from the same area and period, we compared our data with those from other Neolithic sites in Romania and Bulgaria (Fig. 6) 6,58,62,129 (see Fig. 1a for locations). Thus, Cernica, Dridu, and Dzhulyunitsa overlap with Gumelnița, which means that the inhabitants' diets could also be similar and that a quarter of the protein in their diets could come from freshwater resources. ...
The Gumelnița site belongs to the Kodjadermen‐Gumelnița‐Karanovo VI (KGK VI) communities (c. 4700–3900 cal BC) and comprises the tell‐type settlement and its corresponding cemetery. This paper reconstructs the diet and lifeways of the Chalcolithic people in the northeastern Balkans using archaeological remains found at the Gumelnița site (Romania). A multi‐bioarchaeological investigation (archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, anthropology) was conducted on vegetal, animal, and human remains, alongside radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N) of humans (n = 33), mammals (n = 38), reptiles (n = 3), fishes (n = 8), freshwater mussels shells (n = 18), and plants (n = 24). According to the results of δ13C and δ15N values and FRUITS, the inhabitants of Gumelnița had a diet based on crops and using natural resources, such as fish, freshwater molluscs and game. Although domestic fauna was occasionally exploited for meat, it had a role in providing secondary products. Crops were heavily manured, and chaff and other crop waste may have been necessary fodder for cattle and sheep. Dogs and pigs fed on human waste, although the diet of the latter is more similar to that of wild boars. Foxes had a diet close to dogs, which may indicate synanthropic behaviour. Radiocarbon dates were calibrated with the percentage of freshwater resources obtained by FRUITS. As a result, the corrected dates for the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) have a delay of an average of 147 years. According to our data, this agrarian community developed a subsistence strategy under the pressure of some climatic changes that started after 4300 cal BC, corresponding to KGK VI rapid collapse/decline episode tracked recently (that begins around 4350 cal BC). This matching of our data in the two models (climatic and chrono‐demographic) allowed us to capture the economic strategies that led to the resilience of those people more than other contemporary KGK VI communities.
... The earliest evidence for the use of copper minerals in the Balkans occurs during the transition to the Early Neolithic (or the emergence of Starčevo-Criş-Körös culture groups) in c. 6200-5500 BC, with evidence spanning the Carpathian Basin, Moldavia, western Ukraine and northern Balkans (Bognár-Kutzián 1976: 70-73). The earliest exploitation of copper minerals was possibly by hunter-fisher-gatherer communities (likely mixed with the early farming population migrating from Anatolia, see for instance Mathieson et al. 2018), as indicated by samples discovered at Lepenski Vir, Vlasac and Kolubara-Jaričište ( Figure 1), and dated to c. 6200 BC (Radivojević 2015: 325;Srejović and Letica 1978: 11-14 Sterud 1974: 258;Stratton et al. 2019;Todorova 1981: 4;Vlassa 1967). Lumps and flakes of copper minerals were also identified in the settlements of Zmajevac in eastern Serbia and Szarvas 23 in Hungary (Chapman 1981: 131;Chapman and Tylecote 1983: 375;Comşa 1991: 51;cf. ...
This chapter reviews the pre-existing evidence and interpretations for early mineral use and metallurgy in the Balkans from the earliest use of copper minerals at c. 6200 BC (Late Mesolithic-Early Neolithic) to c. 3700 BC (end of the Chalcolithic). It presents the empirical and intellectual foundations upon which the data, analyses and interpretations of The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia project builds. The early metallurgy in this region encompasses the production, distribution and consumption of copper, gold, bronze, lead and silver, all being either pure metals or a natural alloy (tin bronze)1. The chapter initially defines the geographical and temporal scope under consideration before evaluating the archaeological and metallurgical evidence in relation to: mineral exploitation; mining; smelting, metals and metal artefacts; and metal circulation. Following each of these sub-sections is a summary of how The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia project oughtto contribute to this aspect of metallurgical activity, setting this in relation to the project’s six research questions as presented in Chapter 2. The chapter concludes by highlighting the dominant interpretative narratives relating to early metallurgy, metallurgists and societies in the Balkans that The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia project will evaluate, against all the available and relevant archaeological and metallurgical data.
... The only Dudes , ti assemblage studied came from pitfeatures at Mȃgura Buduiasca (Teleorman County, c. 5300-5000 cal BC; Mirea 2011). Some interesting tusk implements (grave goods) came from the Late Dudes , ti/Early Boian necropolis from Cernica (Ilfov County, c. 5200-5000 cal BC; Stratton et al. 2019). One artefact came from a Vin≠a B2 context at Liubcova-Ornit , a where the occupation was dated based on one charcoal sample to c. 5230-5000 cal BC (Luca, El Susi 1989). ...
This paper discusses the technological exploitation and transformation of wild boar teeth into tools during the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic north of the Lower Danube. Four main variables were taken into consideration: raw material procurement, blank production, object manufacture, and equipment maintenance. Tool finds from various prehistoric sites in Romania were compared, aiming to identify their impact on the economy of the prehistoric communities, and to determine possible variations in their number/ways of use during early prehistory. Tool typology is poor. The finds studied showed different degrees of use-wear, as well as systematic re-sharpening of the active front. In addition, finished tools are predominant in comparison to the sub-products of the chaîne opératoire. The almost total lack of blanks may suggest no stocking was taking place. The entire tooth was used, resulting at times in several implements. Our experimental program, by following closely the technical transformation schemes indicated by the archaeological specimens, suggests that such tusk tools were used for woodworking.
... While this could indicate the presence of some distant matrilineal relationships, which also interestingly suggests connections between those deposited in the channel (POP24) and others buried in the main intramural site, close biological kinship does not form the foundation for selection to be buried here, questioning suggestions that those buried together in buildings represent extended families 4 . This may not have been the only form of burial practice however, with biological kin buried elsewhere 18,20 . The high representation of children, in particular girls, as well as burials of neonates, likely signifies age and sex selection and an ascribed status based around the community's belief systems, for which various explanations have been put forth regarding similar Neolithic intramural sites in the region 20,41 . ...
Ancient DNA studies have revealed how human migrations from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age transformed the social and genetic structure of European societies. Present-day Croatia lies at the heart of ancient migration routes through Europe, yet our knowledge about social and genetic processes here remains sparse. To shed light on these questions, we report new whole-genome data for 28 individuals dated to between ~ 4700 BCE–400 CE from two sites in present-day eastern Croatia. In the Middle Neolithic we evidence first cousin mating practices and strong genetic continuity from the Early Neolithic. In the Middle Bronze Age community that we studied, we find multiple closely related males suggesting a patrilocal social organisation. We also find in that community an unexpected genetic ancestry profile distinct from individuals found at contemporaneous sites in the region, due to the addition of hunter-gatherer-related ancestry. These findings support archaeological evidence for contacts with communities further north in the Carpathian Basin. Finally, an individual dated to Roman times exhibits an ancestry profile that is broadly present in the region today, adding an important data point to the substantial shift in ancestry that occurred in the region between the Bronze Age and today.
... 72-75, fig. 28: 18, 19;Pernicka et al. 1997, p. 44;Sterud & Sterud, 1974, p. 258;Stratton et al. 2019;Todorova, 1981, p. 4;Vlassa, 1967). Lumps and flakes of copper minerals were also identified in the settlements of Zmajevac in eastern Serbia and at Szarvas 23 in Hungary (cf. ...
This paper analyses and re-evaluates current explanations and interpretations of the origins, development and societal context of metallurgy in the Balkans (c. 6200–3700 BC). The early metallurgy in this region encompasses the production, distribution and consumption of copper, gold, tin bronze, lead and silver. The paper draws upon a wide range of existing archaeometallurgical and archaeological data, the diversity and depth of which make the Balkans one of the most intensively investigated of all early metallurgical heartlands across the world. We focus specifically on the ongoing debates relating to (1) the independent invention and innovation of different metals and metal production techniques; (2) the analysis and interpretation of early metallurgical production cores and peripheries, and their collapses; and (3) the relationships between metals, metallurgy and society. We argue that metal production in the Balkans throughout this period reflects changes in the organisation of communities and their patterns of cooperation, rather than being the fundamental basis for the emergence of elites in an increasingly hierarchical society.
... Attributed to an early stage of the culture, they are placed within an interval between 5500 and 5300 cal BC (Mirea 2015, 45). For the Boian -Bolintineanu phase, there is no radiocarbon dating from the settlements, and the dates from the Cernica graveyard (Stratton et al. 2018) are not relevant; however, some finds or associations of materials indicate the contemporaneousness of this phase with the Vădastra I (Neagu 2003, 145). Some authors consider the Boian -Bolintineanu phase to be an integral part of the Vădastra culture (Boroneanţ 2005, 64). ...
Archaeological excavations carried out at Sudiţi (Buzău County, Romania) some decades ago unearthed severalLinear Pottery culture features which were subsequently interpreted and used by various researchers in an attempt to explain the origin of Chalcolithic cultures (such as Boian). The poorly published findings generatedconflicting or arguable theories. Even if it is not the only discovery of its kind, the Neolithic feature from Sudiţiis the most complex one from Wallachia. Until new, accurate field research is undertaken, this old discovery isstill appropriate for further discussion, offering some valid points regarding the relation between the local culture and Linear Pottery at the turn of the fifth millennium.
... After 5500 cal BC, cemeteries separated from settlements slowly start to emerge (see Stratton et al. 2018). Some of the best known and largest cemeteries, like Durankulak, Varna, Cernica, Vȃrȃsti, or Cernavodȃ, included hundreds of buried individuals, were in use for decades and their inventory points to a display of wealth in death (interpreted as social inequality) -as seen with the presence of gold in graves, marble or bone figurines, and pots. ...
The aim of this article is to focus on the ways in which communities imagined their relationship with the dead throughout the Balkan area during the Neolithic and Eneolithic (6200–3800 cal BC). In this I evaluate legacy data and claim that we should go beyond simply labeling these human remains as unusual/atypical/non-funerary discoveries.
Instead, I think that these dead played an important part in the life of communities: they contributed to the creation and manipulation of collective identities, marked a community's presence in space, they fixed time and were meant to create powerful ancestors who could intervene in the present.
In a settlement in the Danube plains, at Vidra (Gumelnita culture), 6500 years ago someone carefully placed an adult individual in a crouched position in a pit. On their shoulder they placed another skull and a few ribs, "some displaying cutmarks, and near their left knee, three vertebrae; in their right palm and on all the limbs were small red pebbles, while near the legs were two silex blades" (Rosetti 1934.20,21,38; Comsa 1960.11). Afterwards, life continued in the community. This extraordinary discovery gives us an insight into the relationship the community from Vidra had with death and the dead. It is a telling example of the complexity of Neolithic and Eneolithic funerary rituals in the Balkan area, which were intertwined with place-making strategies, memory, and expressions of individual and communal identities. At the same time, it brings into view the challenges in interpreting such multi-layered discoveries in the absence of careful taphonomic observations or well-considered theoretical frameworks.
... At the same time, morphologically close to the Copper Age lobed pendants are the tiny biand three-lobed shell and bone beads from the extramural necropolises at Cernica (Comșa and Cantacuzino 2001;Mărgărit and Vintilă 2015) and Cernavodă -Columbia D (Mărgărit 2012) belonging to the Boian-Bolintineanu and, respectively, Hamangia cultures. If we assume that these finds integrate into the same typological chain which includes the lobed pendants from Asaği Pinar, KGK VI or Cucuteni-Tripolye contexts, than the earliest date for the lobed pendants in southeast Europe would shift to the Late Neolithic or to the last centuries of the 6 th millennium BC (cf. recently published radiocarbon dates from Cernica - Stratton et al. 2018). If so, the geographical and temporal trajectory of the lobed pendants would stretch from the eastern Thrace to the southern Bug and the Dniester-Danube region over at least five centuries in the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic. ...
The paper brings together different sets of data regarding the anthropomorphic pendants and figurines made of osseous materials (bone, antler and shell) that were in use in the 5th millennium BC
in the north-western Pontic region. The appearance of such miniatures is related to the emergence of the Chalcolithic way of life in this area and played an important role in the power and prestige discourse during the transformation processes underwent by the Cucuteni-Tripolye societies. Morphological and stylistic changes were observed in the assemblages from the middle of the 5th millennium BC, in the sense that they became more elaborate and closer to the realistic depiction of the human body.
... During the period of maximum extension, this culture was present in the Muntenia and Dobrogea regions, and in Bulgaria (Pandrea, 2000). For the settlement of Radovanu, there is a date of 4852-4537 cal BC (Bem, 2001;Bréhard and Bălășescu, 2012) and very recently a series of data between 5355 and 5220 cal BC and 5190-5080 cal BC or 5070-4940 cal BC (Stratton et al., 2018) have been published for the necropolis of Cernica. Based on these data, the authors agree that the cemetery began to be used in the late phase of Dudești culture and possibly continued into the early phase of the Boian culture. ...
Prehistoric personal adornments have benefited from detailed studies because they are an inexhaustible source of reflection. From these objects can be identified the symbolic and religious behaviour of prehistoric groups; they may also reflect the socio-economic aspects of these communities and may even serve as markers of cultural boundaries and exchange networks in prehistory. Appreciating the considerable potential of personal adornments, the central purpose of this study is to analyse and compare the types of ornaments used by Eneolithic communities (c. 5000-3500 BC) in the area to the north of the Danube, to provide an integrated image on the ways in which the use of certain types of ornaments had socio-economic effects. Among local species, the shells of Lithoglyphus sp. gastropod were used to make bracelets and necklaces and the valves of Unio sp. were processed into small circular beads. Alsoidentified were beads made of Cyprinus carpio opercular bones, a unique find for this stage of European prehistory. Exotic raw materials are represented by various forms of Spondylus adornments, bracelets of Glycymeris valve or tubular beads of scaphopod shells. While in the first case, we have identified pieces in various processing stages, from entire valves, shells or bones, simply perforated, and irregular fragments, to finished beads, used as decorative objects – certainly processed in situ; the artefacts of exotic raw materials arrived at the communities north of the Danube in a finished form, as a result of inter-community exchanges. Very interesting is the fact that the ornaments of exotic raw materials (e. g., Spondylus sp., Glycymeris sp., Antalis sp.) were identified mainly in funerary contexts and less in settlements, proving they were prestige goods and accompanying the deceased to “the other world”. Therefore, it seems, apparently depending on the local or exotic origin of the raw material, that these personal adorments had differing socio-economic meanings.
