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The paper describes archaeological excavations in the Bandkeramik settlement of Olteni in Transylvania. Remains of early Neolithic longhouses were discovered, which are the first evidence of such structures in Romania. The ceramic finds allow dating the site to the later Notenkopf phase of the Linearbandkeramik. In addition, Olteni yielded the most extensive collection of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures in the entire Eastern Bandkeramik milieu. The excavations also included traces of the Boian and Precucuteni I cultures, as well as an Iron Age cemetery. [Extracted from the article]

The present paper originated in Alexandra Bolomey’s partial (and often incomplete) notes and unfinished manuscripts on the Early Neolithic faunal remains from the Cuina Turcului rock shelter. Most of the information they contained was never published, with the exception of some general data included in two papers that appeared in 1973. Little as it was, such information was often quoted by other scholars when dealing with Early Neolithic archaezoology, making the publication of the existing information even more urgent and important.

The present paper aims to complete the archaeological information regarding the site of Alibeg, excavated in 1971, part of rescue excavations taking place while the Iron Gates I power-plant was constructed. New data on both the Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic occupations, found in the field notes of V. Boroneanţ, as well as plans and photographs are presented for the first time after 40 years. A brief pottery study offers an idea of what the local Early Neolithic was like. The paper is the first one of a series focusing in the problems of the Mesolithic-Early Neolithic transition in the Iron Gates, in an attempt to offer a clearer image of the two types of communities and the possible interactions between them.

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The Iron Gates is one of few regions in Southeast Europe where Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic are well represented. Still, both the origin and timing of the ‘Neolithic’ in the area are difficult to assess. The appearance of new cultural elements, including pottery, crouched burials and domesticates is believed to coincide with the spread of Starčevo-Körös-Criş farmers. The present papers briefly reviews the information on the Early Neolithic sites in the Iron Gates I and II areas.

In this paper, the polished and knapped stone artefacts discovered in the Starčevo-Criș cultural layer of Negrilești " Curtea Școlii" archaeological site in Galați County are analysed. The archaeological site is situated in the Negrilești village, on the high terrace of the Bârlad stream. This group of stone artefacts consists of 91 items, of which 11 are polished and 80 are knapped (from flint and obsidian). In this analysis, we approach several aspects that contribute to our understanding of the operational sequence of an artefact, from the raw material block to the discarded item : identification of the raw material, the typological classification and the attainment of some technological and functional observations.

Systematic archaeological excavations at the multicultural site of Foeni-Sălaş in the Romanian Banat conducted during the first half of the 1990s uncovered evidence that the site was inhabited during the Early Neolithic, Copper, Bronze, Early Iron, Late Antique and Medieval Ages. This paper summarises the cultural history of the settlement at the site and describes the relevant deposits and material culture in each period.

Los objetos manufacturados con materias orgánicas raramente se conservan excepto bajo condiciones ambientales específicas, ya sea en medios de sequedad constante, en contextos anaeróbicos sumergidos, bajo congelación o por carbonización. Por ello, las técnicas de cestería y cordelería, así como las materias primas utilizadas están escasamente documentadas en el registro arqueológico del Neolítico peninsular. Se aporta aquí nueva información acerca de las técnicas cesteras y de cordelería, así como de las materias primas utilizadas en Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona). Estos restos fueron recuperados en una fosa adscribible al Neolítico antiguo. La cestería estudiada se encuentra manufacturada a través de la técnica de espiral cosida, mientras que en el caso de la cordelería se trata de un único fragmento torsionado. Se discute su funcionalidad en un contexto de hábitat en cueva, así como su tecnología y materias primas usadas, contextualizándolos con otros ejemplos de cestería de espiral cosida de la península ibérica. ABSTRACT: Plant-based artefacts are considered one of the first technologies used by human populations playing an important role in the daily life of all societies. Even though, they are made of perishable material which usually disappears in archaeological contexts except for some specific environmental conditions that permit their conservation as arid, anaerobic, waterlogged atmospheres or carbonization. Some examples of the first implements produced by organic materials are baskets and cords which are documented since the very beginning of human populations. Nevertheless, these fibre-based materials have been excluded from archaeological studies. The lack of knowledge in this vegetal technology is a consequence of the difficulty of organic material preservation and the non-suitable analysis and identification methodologies. Even they represent a living material culture as history and ethnography demonstrate, vegetal fibres were probably used for producing indispensable everyday objects and artefacts in the past. The aim of this paper is to provide new information about vegetal technology as basketry and cordage techniques, as well as the raw materials used in Neolithic chronologies in the North-East of the Iberian Peninsula. The materials analyzed in this study were recovered at the site of Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona) which is a rock shelter preserved thanks to the fallen rock blocks. Basketry and cordage fragments came from the archaeological fieldwork of 2019 and were recovered inside a pit in levels of the final Early Neolithic. They were preserved thanks to the carbonization and dehydration they were submitted to. Both basketry and cordage examples from Coves del Fem, were deeply described considering their morphology and technology, as well as the raw materials they were made of. The methodology consisted of describing the technique used and taking measures of the different fragments aiming to obtain information about the way the basket and the cord were made. The identification of raw materials was performed by observing cross, peridermal and longitudinal sections of samples using a transmitted optical microscope. Descriptions were based on microanatomical observation by comparing with reference modern material and specialized technical literature. The results showed the basketry assemblage was produced using the coiling technique and all the fragments belong to a single object. In the case of the cordage fragment, it was made by twisting the fibres which had been previously mechanically processed. The identification of raw materials revealed at least the use of sedges for basketry and non-identified herbaceous plants for making cordage. The functionality of the objects is discussed, and they are also contextualized with other Neolithic fibre productions examples from the Iberian Peninsula and the Middle East, both technologically and the chosen raw materials. In summary, fibre-based productions from Coves del Fem, along with the assemblage from the lake dwelling site of La Draga, fill the gap of this archaeological record from the Iberian Peninsula to Europe, demonstrating the long history of the technical skills related to plant exploitation.

Copyright of Praehistorische Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del análisis funcional de las láminas y lascas con muescas o denticuladas, procedentes de los niveles del Mesolítico final y Neolítico antiguo del yacimiento de Aizpea (Arive, Navarra). Las microhuellas identificadas han permitido un preciso diagnóstico funcional para reconstruir la manera en que estos útiles fueron utilizados y el tipo de materias trabajadas. Este estudio ha revelado también la idoneidad de la aplicación de la metodología traceológica para inferir técnicas de transformación de distintos recursos. El trabajo de la madera y el hueso fueron las actividades realizadas con denticulados en Aizpea, obviamente relacionados con las estrategias de subsistencia de los grupos que ocuparon el abrigo en diferentes momentos entre el VIII y la primera mitad del VII milenio BP. ____________________________________________ ABSTRACT The site excavated in Aizpea offers a model about the ways of life of the last groups of prehistoric hunter-gatherers who lived in a Pyrenean environment, in the north of Navarre, during the Late Mesolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic (Barandiarán & Cava, 2001). Whoevers took refuge in this rock-shelter exploited a wide range of resources from different ecosystems, which were close to the site: a wide spectrum of ungulates they were hunted; they fished barbel and trout at the next Irati river, and they also took advantage of a varied representation of plants remains that were been used for food or fuel. The flaked lithic assemblages that they have produced are mainly composed of microlithic elements, geometrics, small blades and backed points. On the other hand, numerous denticulates and, in smaller proportions, scrapers, racloirs, truncations or drills make up the domestic toolkit. Within the industrial dynamic of Aizpea, the evolution of the denticulates, as the third majority typological group, experiences a quantitative decrease from the oldest to the most recent stage. This paper present the results of a use-wear analysis concerning noched or denticulates blades and flakes recovered from the three phases established on the site, Aizpea I and II (geometric Mesolithic) and Aizpea III (early Neolithic). Once defined the state of conservation of the assemblage, a sample of this elements have been observed in the microscope. Some of them presented exclusively one notch, and others were characterized by a truly denticulated edge. The micro traces identified has allowed a precise functional diagnostic to reconstruct how these tools were used and the type of worked materials. The use-wear analysis has shown that these pieces are used as scraping tools. This study has also revealed the suitability of the apliccation of traceological methodology to infer transformation techniques of different resources. Wood and bone working were the activities performated with denticulates at Aizpea, obviously related to the subsistence strategies of the groups that occupied the rock shelter at different times between the VIIIth and first half the VIIth millennium BP.