Hanna Hristova

The archaeological site № 5012-West in the territory of the village of Voditza, Targovishte Region, Northeastern Bulgaria, is interesting with its features and wide chronological range. On an area of 7000 m2, a total of 116 structures from various chronological periods have been excavated. However, pits from the Hellenistic Period (late 3rd – early 1st c. BC) are most numerous and provide invaluable archaeobotanical evidence on plant subsistence and local vegetation. The archaeobotanical remains have been recovered from flotation samples, collected from the pits` fills. The archaeobotanical assemblage is comprised of carbonized remains from several annual cereal crops – hulled and free-threshing wheats, naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum L.), millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), oat (Avena sativa L.) and chaff. The weedy flora is represented by annual ruderal and synantrophic species such as goosefoot (Chenopodium album L.), bedstraw (Galium aparine L.), knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare L.), and wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.). On the basis of the discovered plant remains we can only propose a partial reconstruction of the agricultural practices and local vegetation cover. However, the collection of samples from specific contexts – storage facilities and pits, provided an opportunity to observe the “secondary environment” of the utilized plant resources and to identify possible depositional and post-depositional processes. Thus, taphonomic and contextual analyses gave us important insights into the behavioural factors that affected the composition of the archaeobotanical assemblage.

The article presents activities and data obtained during the first year of the project. The research area encompasses Southeastern Bulgaria with nine main sites included. Object of instrumental research and archeological characteristic are the samples, which are divided into the following groups: denudated rocks, and used for inorganic temper; clays-tectonic and alluvial; ceramics-pottery fragments and burnt remains of stationary equipment; organic fillers, pigments and substances for painting and incrustation, organic residues and impressions of mats and baskets on the pottery bases.. Different methods and analyzes have been applied to solve the problems posed: cartographic analysis and description of the landscape, morphological and typological analysis, dating, instrumental methods, chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), petrographic analysis etc.
СОЦИАЛНИ ИЗМЕРЕНИЯ НА ТЕХНОЛОГИЯТА НА КЕРАМИЧНОТО ПРОИЗВОДСТВО В ЮГОИЗТОЧНА БЪЛГАРИЯ ПРЕЗ VI-II ХИЛ. ПР.ХР. РЕЗЮМЕ В тази статия са представени дейности и данни, получени през първата година от проекта. Цел на проекта е изследването на технологията на керамичното производство през праисторията чрез прилагане на различни инструментални методи и опит за характеристика на социалните аспекти на това производство. Изследователският район обхваща Югоизточна България с включени девет основни обекта. Предмет на това инструментално изследване са образци от глини, керамика, отпечатъци от органични останки върху керамика, пигменти за рисуване, оцветяване и инкрустация, отпечатъци от рогозки и кошници. За разрешаването на поставените проблеми са приложени различни методи и анализи: картографски анализ и описание на ландшафта, морфологичен и типологичен анализ, датиране; инструментални методи; химичният състав на пробите, сканираща електронна микроскопия (SEM), петрографският анализ и др.

In prehistoric times, humans combined a variety of food provision strategies and in order to ensure a balanced diet. These strategies largely depended upon locally available natural resources. Even after animal husbandry and agriculture emerged, strategies such as wild plant gathering and hunting remained reliable methods of food procurement. The information about gathering of wild edible plants in prehistoric times in Bulgaria derives from the finds of wild plant seeds and fruit stones in archaeobotanical samples. The archaeobotanical data on wild plants and fruits show a regular presence of Cornelian cherry tree, grapes, walnut, hazelnuts, acorns, and seeds from different shrubby plants and herbs. The evidence clearly demonstrates that, during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic times in the territory of Bulgaria, agricultural societies made use of different resources to ensure regular and diverse food supplies.