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We continue the regular publishing of the coins found in Moldova, by presenting several recently found ancient coins from the collection of the Museum in Vrancea (Focșani). The coins were discovered in the following locations: I. Cândești (Dumbrăveni commune, Vrancea county) (2 AR Dyrrhachium, 1st century BC); II.Focșani (Vrancea county) (hoard; recovered 31 AR, dated from Elagabalus to Volusianus); III. Olăreni(Slobozia Bradului commune, Vrancea county) (hoard; recovered 6 AR, dated from Marcus Antonius to MarcusAurelius and 1 AE – Constantinopolis type); IV. Repedea (Străoane commune, Vrancea county) (hoard; recovered 4 AR, dated from M. Papirius Carbo to Ulpia Severina). In regards to the last two hoards, we have serious doubts that the most recent coins (Cat. III/7 and IV/4) actually belong to the initial findings.
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The paper makes a presentation of the two oldest archaeological layers at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Mitoc - Malu Galben: the Aurignacian I and I Inferior assemblages. The study provides a geographic and geologic characterization of the area, by pointing out that the main reason for the prehistoric human communities to install their encampments here was the availability of the rich flint resources. The pedo sedimentary stratigraphy of the site is also presented along with the distribution of the archaeological layers in the sedimentary units and the established climatic cycles. Among the Aurignacian layers, the Aurignacian I (subunit 10b Inferior – 11 Superior) provided the richest archaeological material: flint workshops concentrated around hearths, faunal remains and hard animal tissue artefacts (Mladeč spearheads). The lithic typology is specific to the classical old Aurignacian (carenated endscrapers and burins, nosed endscrapers). The absolute chronology data indicate a first occupation of the site around 32.730 ± 220 BP (Aurignacian I Inferior – subunit 12 b) and the 30.000 BP for the end of the Aurignacian I occupation. The final part of the text propounds a framing of the Aurignacian discoveries from Malu Galben in the context of the Early Upper Palaeolithic from Europe.
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The subject developed here below concerns the populations that lived in the Carpatho-Dnestrian forest-steppe in the last two centuries of the pre-Christian era and that are archaeologically identified with the bearers of the Poienesti-Lucaseuca culture. Although studied for more than half a century, a number of contradictions persist today regarding the interpretation of certain elements. Most of them concern the ethnic composition of those populations. The lines bellow will mainly insist on the evolution of this aspect in the historiography, by delimiting the main assumptions emerged along the years and the arguments existing for each of them.
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In this article the authors aim to present a few fragments of terra sigillata pottery that were discovered some years ago during the excavations at the Roman camp of Carsium. Thus, the following typological forms were identified: Conspectus 6.2.3, Dragendorff 36, Dragendorff 37 and a few fragments of plain terra sigillata.
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Archaeologists are often surprised by things that come to light out of the earth, showing us that people in the past lived a life that was much more intense than we could ever imagine. Unusual finds that step out of frames limited by our imagination often make us search more and dig deeper. Such a find was recently donated to the Vinkovci Municipal Museum (Eastern Croatia). On an unexplored field in the village of Karadžićevo little less than 200 medieval coins and an anthropomorphic mount were found by a local metal detector operator. Coins were easily identified as nominals of the Hungarian kingdom, dated to early 15th century. After examining the mount most similar objects to our item are described as products of medieval manufactures in Limoges, France. During High Middle Ages workshops there produced, in the service of the church, numerous religious objects. What such an object, of prestige for this part of Europe, is doing in Croatia and whether it is a Limoges Mount will be discussed in this paper.
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The bone remains analysed from Crețești – La intersecție were unearthed during the archaeological excavation of 2014. The faunal remains originating from the ancient food garbage were found into two kitchen midden dated from Cucuteni AB. Some animal bones from this site were studied before in another two zooarchaeological reports, with similar results: the fauna is not very diversified, but obviously, the domestic animals are in dominance in the studied sample. Regarding this study, the situation is approximate the same and the identified taxa are: Bos taurus (cattle), Ovis aries (sheep), Capra hircus (goat), Ovis aries/Capra hircus, Susdomesticus (pig), Cervus elaphus (red deer), Capreolus capreolus (roe deer), Bos primigenius (aurochs), Bos taurus/Bos primigenius, Sus domesticus/Sus scrofa. Our results complete previous results about the site economy. Among the fragments there are also three bone tools: a scraper, an indeterminate bone tool and an awl. Another archaeological site analysed is Lohan-Camping (same year of archaeological excavation) dated in the same period, but poorer in diversity: Cervus elaphus, Equus sp., Bos taurus/Bos primigenius, Susdomesticus/Sus scrofa.
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Our contribution focuses on cervidae in the narrow sense of the term (deer – doe), although we also analyze the representations of reindeer and the elk when we discuss the cervidae in general. Although less represented than horses or bison, the deer dominates the portable art of the Upper Magdalenian Cantabrian area, from Pyrenees to Asturias, the Basque Country and the Levant. There are all the stylistic trends and modes of representation. The deer carries a Uranian symbolism, associated with fertility, virility and the cycle of life.
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In this paper we will present a group of unpublished zoomorphic representations discovered during excavations in the Cucutenian settlement at Scânteia. Most of them are fragmented and for this reason, we were able to identify the species only in a few cases. One of the most interesting objects shows a pregnant sheep, unique for the Neolithic and Eneolithic in the territory between Eastern Carpathians and the Prut river. All of the artefacts are analyzed in the first instance after the type of the representation and then after decoration, paste, color and context in which they were discovered. Also, we have created a catalog which includes data for every object and, at the end of the paper, there are images for each of zoomorphic representations discussed. We hope that this report will be useful for the knowledge of the zoomorphic plastic art especially the one from Scânteia - Dealul Bodeştilor/La Nuci.
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The paper presents the results of preventive investigation of a pit-house dwelling complex of the late phase of Cucuteni-Tripolye culture. Discovered artefacts have various analogies from the settlements of Vykhvatintzy type widely spread in the zone of Dniester river basin and Dniester Highlands. The investigated complex is characterized by its peculiar size: its length amounts to ca. 11.5 m. The rough pottery with shell inclusion predominates in the ceramic complex. Fine painted pottery is represented by various forms characteristic of the Vykhvatintzy type. The Cunicea Prişanscaia-Gora site could be synchronized with the both earliest horizons of the Vykhvatintzy cemetery and chronologically should be placed in Tripolye CII period.
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The present study focuses on two antler cheek-pieces recently discovered in the eastern part of Romania (Moldavia). The first piece was discovered in the village Hârtoape (Iasi County), and the second on the site at Negrilesti (Galaţi County) during the archaeological diggings. Both pieces are made of deer antler and present oval perforations that allow attachment to the bridle. The piece from Negrilesti presents, on the lower part, a simple, incised decoration. Although there are several typologies for this type of object we will refer to the latest, by N. Boroffka; according to this typology, the two pieces can be ascribed to the a and b2 versions of type II. Since the piece from Negrilesti was discovered in an archaeological level ascribed to the LBA and the specimen from Hârtoape comes from an area rich in similar archaeological finds, we consider the harness accessories as pieces belonging to the Noua culture; chronologically speaking they may belong to the 16th-12th centuries BC. The two pieces have close analogies in the north-western Pontic area, in contemporary archaeological cultures such as Sabatinovka and Coslogeni; horses played an important part in the economy of those communities, not only for consumption but also for traction and riding. In order to present a complete image of the frequency of the antler cheek-pieces in Moldavia during Late Bronze Age, a list of all the discoveries known so far was attached at the end of the article.
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This study aims to introduce in the literature a set of new archaeological sites discovered in the middle of the Șomuzul Mare Valley in a research conducted between 2010 and 2014. Following this research, there were discovered 30 settlements near the villages of Bunești, Horodniceni, and Rădășeni and in the surroundings of the city of Fălticeni (Suceava County). Cultural groups with an agro-pastoral economy were attracted to the area by its richness in natural resources. They established their own settlements both in lowlands areas, near water sources and fertile soils, and in upland areas which benefit from high visibility and natural protection. For each discovery, a type-file was made which offers information about the site location, the geographic coordinates, the descriptions of the artifacts and the chronological and cultural affiliations. The new discoveries from the middle of the Șomuzul Mare Valley helps in the reconstruction of human settlement dynamics and the repertory approach is essential for the protection of archaeological monuments.
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The Roman ribbed bowls can be counted among the most important glass forms, especially in the 1st century AD. A large variety of these items was discovered in the East-Carpathian davae, denoting the fact that the Geto-Dacians had strong commercialties with various regions of the Roman Empire. Especially the settlement of Poiana (Piroboridava) revealed different types of ribbed bowls ranging from marmoured examples to opaque white and ultimately, to common bluish-green items. There are numerous similarities between the glass discovered in the Geto-Dacian settlements and the one coming from the North-Pontic regions, which suggests that they might have followed a north – west commercial direction.
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Within the fascinating and complex field of bronze-hoard studies in Romania, the monographic works published so far draw up a surprising image in terms of richness and typological variety thereof. Such a monograph signed by researcher Tudor Soroceanu (Berlin), one of the most competent specialists in the study of Carpathian bronze items, is analyzed in this note. His work, in which bronze deposits of the Early and Middle Bronze Age on the territory of today’s Romania are inventoried, is designed to criticize and complete one of the fundamental contributions in the research of bronze hoards: Depozitele de bronzuri din România (Bucharest, 1977), signed by the late academician Mircea Petrescu-Dîmboviţa of Iasi. By studying T. Soroceanu’s work in depth, the author of the present paper observes and delineates the critical accents thereof from the positive nuances of the volume published in 1977. A series of methodological remarks and opinions regarding the historical judgment of the phenomenon of bronze item depositing during the first two periods of the Bronze Age, which would have been particularly interesting from the book reviewer’s perspective, in T. Soroceanu’s work, are here with presented.
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The bone material found in tumulus No. 7 in the Tetralika locality, near the village of Brestovitsa, is an incomplete skeleton. The skull is presented by the right sides of the frontal and occipital bones, and right parietal and temporal bones, also the right side of the facial part, including the same side of the mandible. The dentition is partially preserved. From the bones of the postcranial skeleton fragments from the pelvic girdle, ribs, sternum and partially present vertebrae are examined. The bones of the limbs are completely or partially preserved. The age and sex of the individual are determined after the macroscopic features identified the individual as female, aged about 35-40 years at the time of death. The height is calculated after the formulae of Trotter and Gleser – 159.52 cm (155.59 ÷ 163.45 cm) and Pearson and Lee – 152.89 cm based on the measured bone lengths (Table 1). The dentition shows dental caries and its complications: four teeth were lost in her lifetime, the abrasion process and the periodontal changes are advanced. No tracesof degenerative joint disease are found on the preserved fragments of the upper and lower limbs. The fifth lumbar vertebra presents exostoses, bone reaction and porous proliferative bone formation on its anterior shaft, explainable with infectious process.
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