Miercurea Sibiului–„Petriş”, jud. Sibiu: date asupra artefactelor neo-eneolitice din materii dure animale

• Published in: Materiale și cercetări arheologice no. 3; pp. 43 - 64
• Main Authors: Beldiman, Corneliu, Sztancs, Diana Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Romanian
• Published: Editura Academiei Române 2007; Romanian Academy Publishing House
• Subjects: Archaeology; cervid antlers; Vinča; hard animal matter; NeoEneolithic; adornment; StarčevoCriş; bone; tools; Petreşti; palaeotechnology
• ISSN: 0076-5147

The study proposes a morpho-technological analysis of an unusual set of objects (mostly tools, but also ornaments and technical objects - blanks, waste etc.) worked on various hard animal matters - bones (mostly), deer antlers, wild boar canines. They have been attributed to three cultures of the Neo-Eneolithic: Starčevo-Criş, phases / sub-phases IB-IC and IC-IIA; Vinča, phases / sub-phases A2-A3, A3 and A3-B1; Petreşti, phase AB, being discovered in well-defined stratigraphic contexts (huts and pits) during the excavations carried out in 2002-2005 by Dr. Sabin Adrian Luca in the site of Miercurea Sibiului- “Petriş” (MSP). The objects are preserved in the collections of the “Lucian Blaga” University, Sibiu and of the Brukenthal National Museum. The work is part of the author’s recent series of publications, which aims at a systematic approach of the artefacts assemblages of the prehistoric animal industry from Romania. The methodology is that applied for the doctoral thesis of the main author and was inspired by the design of the Cahiers de Fiches typologiques de l’industrie osseuse préhistorique, edited by Henriette Camps-Fabrer. The size of the studied assemblage is of 50 pieces (18 = Starčevo-Criş culture, 27 = Vinča culture, 5 = Petreşti culture). The catalogue includes all the data concerning the objects: state of preservation, morphometry, integral description - morphology, technical study (the stages of cutting, shaping, traces of use - detected with the naked eye and with the binocular). Each object is individualized by an identifier obtained by combining: the acronym of the site, the number of the provenance level and the order number in the list of artefacts for each culture: MSP/I = Starčevo-Criş culture; MSP/II = Vinča culture; MSP/III = Petreşti culture. The dominate raw materials are the long bones of bovine and sheep/goat. The typology is dominated by various pointed tools (N = 18); most of them are made from sheep/goat metapodials and rib fragments. The study also revealed six new types or rare types for the bone industry of the Neo-Eneolithic of Romania: pointed tool on fragment of boar canine; punch on long bone diaphyseal fragment; hammer on distal humerus of bovid; pointed tool (bevel) on deer antler; smoother on bovine metapodial for shaping ceramics; curved pendant on deer antler (or belt piece? - Gürtelhaken?). The morphometry revealed a single significant typological group, that of the pointed tools (I A), in which the frequency of the small pointed tools (51-100 mm) can be detected. The manufacturing used simple processes combined with relatively standardized technical designs. The technical stage of cutting demonstrates the application of simple technical solutions, such as direct percussion and fracturing by bending, splitting, notching. The grooving of both sides seems to be a solution applied relatively often for the cutting of bovid metapodials; in this sense we notice the presence of a unique piece attributed to the Vinča culture, a proximal metapodial on which the traces of extraction of a rectangular rod (MSP / II 14) are preserved. At the same time, these technical solutions sometimes combine in more complex schemes (having two-three components). In the shaping and finishing stage, more diversified processes were used than for the cutting: multidirectional abrasion dominated, while perforation (without preparation) was done by continuous (rapid) rotation of two sides (only one case, that of a pendant on boar canine). Among the presented processes, there are also retouching and notching. Thermal treatment seems to have been applied in some cases. The detected traces of use are: distal (active) extremities extremely shiny and blunt (pointed tools); fracturing of the active part by bending (pointed tools); micro-retouching (smoothing on long bone diaphyseal fragment). On two pointed tools, the distal part is rearranged after fracturing. Concerning the functional role of the studied objects and the placing of the hard animal industry in the palaeoeconomy, it can be concluded, hypothetically, that the artefacts were used to perforate and/or assemble leather or textile materials, as well as for weaving and basketwork – various pointed tools; preparation of skins and for shaping antler - smoothers on long bone diaphyseal splinter; knapping and shaping lithic materials - the distal humerus striker and retoucher; shaping of ceramics - smoothers on metapodials; food consumption (boiled cereals) - spoons. Important in number are the raw materials that attest the domestic manufacture of artefacts such as pointed tools, bone smoothers, handles or other objects made of deer or roe deer antler. The symbolic manifestations (adornments) are represented by a curved antler pendant - beam fragment (or piece of belt? - Gürtelhaken?) and another pendant on a fragment of boar canine. The study does not use the data on the context of the discovery of objects (associations of diverse artefacts in the complexes) nor extensive data on the fauna of the site (which are not yet available to us), which could probably offer additional clues about the local fabrication of artefacts. The hard animal artefacts of MSP allowed the use of integral analysis protocol for Neo-Eneolithic materials from Romania. This approach has brought to light new types or types rarely attested so far in the prehistoric industry of hard animal materials from Romania and to detect the combined use of several technical manufacturing solutions. At the same time, we could hypothetically foresee the conduct of some routine domestic activities in the dwellings of the Neo-Eneolithic communities.