Gumelnita culture

Human skull artifacts are found relatively rarely and in various cultural environments. They have been discussed in anthropological literature since the nineteenth century during which the discovery of the majority of the known finds from Western Europe, mostly related to the Neolithic, occurred. Unfortunately, the discovery context is known for only a few of them. It is assumed that they were made and used as objects with supernatural properties. They are usually considered together with human skull trepanations. According to one of their interpretations, roundels were made from skulls of people who survived trepanations or other skull traumas, and had a magic and protective function. This paper presents five new finds of skull roundels, as well as a bowl made from a human skull, that were discovered in Late Eneolithic layers of the Kozareva Mogila settlement. Two of the roundels bear marks of survived skull traumas. The round-els were found in two adjacent buildings in a burned layer of the settlement mound. Potter's kilns and other finds in this layer give grounds for the assumption that this part of the settlement had been turned into a potter's workshop at the time. In the necropolis, in a burial dating from approximately the same time, a skeleton was found with a significant part of the skull removed and buried in a separate little pit next to the grave. The fragments are perforated in ways analogous to the roundels while skulls from other burials show marks of cutting, incomplete trepanation, and complete survived trepanation. The possible connections between the finds from the necropolis and the settlement are discussed. Additionally skull rattles and little drums (damaru) known from North America and Tibet, which are analogous to skull roun-dels from Europe, are presented.

În această lucrare voi expune generalități despre istoricul cercetărilor în spațiul românesc a culturii Gumelnița, originea, aria de răspândire, așezări și locuințe, evoluția, unelte, ceramică plastică și podoabe, rit și ritual funerar, ocupații și sfârșitul culturii Gumelnița. Motivul alegerii acestei lucrări este acela că am vrut să-mi însușesc bazele acestui subiect și în urma acestei lucrări cititorii să rămână cu ideile principale despre ceea ce însemnă cultura Gumelnița. Scurt istoric al cercetărilor Denumirea de ,,Gumelnița " provine de la sit-ul eponim aflat la cinci kilometrii de Oltenița pe o terasă a Dunării o așezare de tip tell. Sit-ul eponim al acestei culturi a fost menționat pentru prima dată de creatorul școlii arheologice românești Vasile Pârvan în anul 1922. În anul 1924 Vladimir Dumitrescu pune la dispoziția preistoricilor prima colecție de materiale specifice (ceramică, plastică, utilaj litic și de os etc.) unele adunate chiar din așezarea eponimă, așezare care va fi cercetată sistematic începând cu anul 1925. 1 Totuși cercetările în spațiul românesc și primele descoperiri încep cu mult mai devreme. Undeva la finele secolul XIX în anul 1895, Pamfil Polonic este delegat de către Grigore Tocilescu să realizeze cercetări de suprafață în Dobrogea. Teoretic, Pamfil Polonic a plecat pentru a realiza cercetări pe așezări antice însă acesta descoperă în nordul Dunării la 4 km., de satul Luncavița județul Tulcea o așezare de tip tell numită de acesta " cetatea preistorică " a numit-o astfel deoarece în acea perioadă încă nu erau identificate culturile neolitice notându-le simplu ,,preistorice ". Cercetările lui Pamfil Polonic de-a lungul Dunării au durat aproximativ trei ani. Acesta a mai scos la lumină o altă așezare ,,preistorică " la Ghindărești. În anii 1898-1899, Pamfil Polonic a descoperit la Cernavoda, spune el, în ,,mijlocul cetății un idol preistoric ". Evident că descoperirea aparține perioadei neolitice. Înaintea primului război mondial așa cum am observat, culturile neolitice încă nu erau definite și conturate. În timpul primului război mondial dar și după, cercetările au fost preluate de arheologii germani care veniseră în România pentru săpături. În perioada interbelică sau făcut următoarele descoperiri: Carl Schushhardt a descoperit la Cernavoda două straturi cu materiale neolitice unul inferior cu ceramică neagră și altul superior cu ceramică arsă la roșu.2 Aici observăm că se descoperă deja ceramica culturii Gumelnița, 1 1 Silvia Marinescu Bîlcu, Cultura Gumelnița, http://www.cimec.ro/arheologie/1Intro/1/index.htm. 2 Puiu Haşotti, Epoca neolitica în Dobrogea, Constanța, Editura Muzeul Național de Istorie și Arheologie, 1997. p. 71.

Bulgarian literature on prehistory assumes that the
Varna and Kodjadermen–Gumelnita–Karanovo VI cultures
of the Late Eneolithic came into existence and developed
simultaneously with the Krivodol–Salcuta culture, but
abruptly stopped their development before the latter ended.
According to this logic, the accidental finds of stone zoo-
morphic sceptres from Thrace (Razhevo and Drama) and
north-east Bulgaria (Kyulevcha) were related to a period
immediately following the Eneolithic and were interpreted
as one of the proofs of invasion by stock-breeding tribes
from the steppes.
Finds from two of the recently explored Late
Eneolithic settlements from the region of the Varna culture
give grounds to revise this thesis. Two consecutive stages
of the end of the development of the culture are represented
in those settlements: the earlier one, at tel Kozareva Mogila,
and the later one (according to research so far, the final one),
at Sozopol. Comparative analysis of a number of characte-
ristic features of the pottery from those settlements (vessels
with S-shaped profiles; vertical handles protruding above
the edge of the rim; decoration painted with coloured pas-
tose pigments; stamped decoration; a small number of ves-
sels made of clay mixed with clam shells) and the pottery
from the late stages of the Krivodol-Salcuta culture (phase
IV according to H. Todorova) proves their contemporaneity.
Similar elements are found among the pottery of some of
the settlements of the end of the Kodjadermen–Gumelnita–
Karanovo VI culture, which indicates that it also survived
up to that stage.
A miniature copy of a stone zoomorphic sceptre of the
so-called realistic type, made with precision on the handle
of a bone spoon, was found in the Eneolithic settlement at
Sozopol. Data about the relative chronology of this find and
data about the relative chronology of all known zoomorphic
sceptres from their rather wide area of distribution delineate
a relatively narrow chronological horizon: the final stages
of the Varna, Kodjadermen–Gumelnita–Karanovo VI, and
Krivodol–Salcuta cultures, the stages Kukuteni A2/3, A3–
Tripolie B1, the Hvalinska culture, and the earliest stage of
the mound ochre tombs. The tombs with red ochre from
Devnya and Kyulevcha are also related to the same chrono-
logical horizon. This means that the penetration of "steppe
elements" into the Balkans does not differ significantly from
their penetration within the bounds of the Kukuteni–Tripolie
culture. It was gradual and did not have a destructive or in-
vasive nature.

The article presents an overview of the use of geomagnetic method in the prehistoric studies in the Republic of Moldova. Information on 34 surveys has been compiled in order to reveal both the scientific results of geophysical prospection and the perspectives for future work. As a result, the doubtless importance of geophysics for settlement studies is underlined, providing striking insights into settlement layouts from the early Neolithic to the Copper Age.

This paper is detailing some of the most recent observations on the anthropomorphic plastic discovered over the last 15 years, during the excavation of the Chalcolithic settlement mound at Pietrele (Romania). Firstly, a clay statuette showing evidently morphological features close to the ones of the Cucuteni-Tripolje culture is presented and the inquiry of whether or not it should be regarded as an 'import' is forwarded. In addition, a similar assumption is proposed for a marble statuette found in 2007 at the same site. Finally, those stratigraphic observations which suggest the first occurrences of figurines made of bone as well as the presumed origin of clay statuettes with a so-called swollen belly are discussed.

În contribuția noastră sunt prezentate o serie de date privind siturile eneolitice gumelnițene din spațiul pruto-nistrean. Sunt amintite informații privind descoperirile, răspândirea, numărul acestora, date ale cronologiei relative și absolute, cât și încadrările taxonomice ale acestui grup de așezări. Sunt prezentate și aduse în discuție ultimele cercetări non-invazive, magnetometrice, din așezările Taraclia I, Cialîc și Chioselia Mare I, unde se observă existența unor anomalii magnetice care pot fi interpretate ca fiind sisteme defensive sau de delimitare ale așezărilor. Acestea reprezintă câteva rânduri de șanțuri, două la Taraclia I și trei la Chioselia Mare I. Odată cu aceste noi informații nu mai are susținere argumentul privind individualizarea și încadrarea acestui grup de așezări într-o cultură aparte. Aceste modele de fortificații artificiale se întâlnesc la așezările Stoicani-Aldeni și Gumelnița din România. Identificarea acestui element ne permite să afirmăm că grupul așezărilor gumelnițene din spațiul pruto-nistrean se încadrează și păstrează tradiția eneoliticului dunărean. Analogii pentru planimetria așezărilor amintite sunt răspândite în mediul complexului cultural Kodjadermen-Gumelnița-Karanovo VI.

The paper presents the history of the researches of the early Eneolithic settlements discovered in the steppe of Budzhak. There are three stages. The author proposes a catalog of Gumelniţa culture settlements of the Prut-Dniester interfluve. 37 points were mapped as possible settlements, four of which are under great question; the existence of 12 sites on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and 21 on the territory of Ukraine was confidently confirmed. A table with some erroneous data on the existence of Gumelniţa settlements is presented. Their spatial distribution allows us to trace the routes and directions of colonization of this territory during the early Eneolithic period. The area of settlements Bolgrad-Aldeni and their concentration in the south-western zone of the Prut-Dniester interfluve is determined.

The article presents a set of objects, which came from a new settlement of the Gumelniţa culture. The archaeological
collection consists of working tools, ceramic fragments and an anthropomorphic fi gurine fragment. Settlement
from Chioselia Mare was identifi ed at 3.5 km north-west from the church of Chioselia Mare village and 1,9 km
west of the road between Chioselia Mare village, Cahul District and Cîietu village, Cantemir District. According to
preliminary investigations, this settlement is the northernmost site of the Gumelniţa culture on the territory of the
Republic of Moldova

This study aims an update of the actual situation of the eneolithic tell sites situated in the proximity of Bucharest city. There are five tells that are known in specialized literature under the following names: Chitila Fermă, Măgurele Movila Filipescu, Măgura Jilavei, Vidra Tell (Măgura Jidovilor) și Glina Tell (La Nuci). All were investigated by intrusive archaeological research that damaged the mounds in different proportions, but the studies resulted over time were enlightening for understanding the neo-eneolithic period of Bucharest area and its proximity. Besides Măgura Jilavei, the other four sites are historical monuments of national and universal value, being protected by national and international laws. A recent field research to each of the tell settlements led us to the conclusion that the tells around Bucharest are actually "ghostly monuments" almost invisible in the landscape: damaged, flattened, cultured, covered by nature and/or garbage.

Starting from the famous figurine from burial nr. 12 in Mayaki, the article addresses the issue of a special type of anthropomorphic representations from the South-East European prehistory, namely the ones with a cavity in the upper part of the head. The distribution of such finds in the Carpathian-Balkan and North-West Black Sea regions is presented. Artifacts in shape of a human body with a cavity in the upper part of the flattened head, most often depicted in seated position, are already known from the Neolithic and became maximally spread in the Copper Age, in the Kodjadermen – Gumelnița – Karanovo
VI and Cucuteni – Tripolie cultural complexes. Major transformations of cultural units from Eastern Balkans which led to the formation of the Cernavoda I culture also reflected themselves in its statuary art. One of the new synthetic types of anthropomorphic representations became the seated figurine with the upper part of the body bent forward and a cavity in the upper part of the flattened head. This type was subsequently adopted by the Gordinești – Horodiștea and Usatovo communities.

Anthropomorphic plastic representations have always polarized the attention of archaeologists, anthropologists and art historians. The extremely wide range of these representations has supported approaches and systematizations that have become increasingly complex, as the level of scientific research evolved. In the case of the Balkan-Anatolian Neo-Eneolithic, the vast majority of anthropomorphic plastic representations indicate the existence of a religious system dominated by the archetypal "Great Goddess", with clear "Great Mother" features. However, the careful analysis of all the plastic representations will give the conclusion that there is a wide variety of characters (especially female) in different poses and attitudes. These indicate certain structures and hierarchies within the prehistoric pantheon, but also the existence of a complex mythology that, unfortunately, we can only suspect now.
This paper highlights and systematizes several types of artefacts that argues for the existence of a double-faced character, most likely with attributes similar to the god Janus Bifrons of the Classical mythology, as early as the V-IV millennia BC, in the imaginary of Gumelnița – Karanovo VI and Cucuteni – Tripolie cultural complexes. The analyzed archaeological data indicate that some of the Classical attributes of this god seem to originate with a deity revered since prehistory. In almost all of these samples, the same data argue for the hypothesis that this double-faced character was originally a female.

During the archaeological campaign of 2012 in the area of the Sultana-Ghețărie flat settlement, Mânăstirea commune, Călăraşi county, an inhumation grave belonging to the Gumelnița culture was discovered. The grave contained the skeleton in anatomical connection and moderate state of preservation, laid in a lateral foetal position, on the left side, oriented E – W. The legs were accentuated flexed. The both arms were bent with the hand towards the skull. The funerary inventory consists in a bi-lobed needle and a stone axe. The unusual location of this isolated grave will be discussed in this article.

The article presents the results of resent field research in the steppe zone of the North-West Black Sea region related to the Bolgrad-Aldeni culture, which is considered as a local variant of the Gumelniţa A1 culture in the Balkans. During several field seasons excavations were carried out on two settlements. The first settlement Orlovka-Kartal is located on the left bank of the Danube River, whereas the second site Cealîc is situated deep in the steppe area, quite far from major water streams and large reservoirs. Additionally, geomagnetic surveys were made on settlements Cealîc and Cioselia Mare, which are the northernmost sites of the culture east of the Prut River.
The geomagnetic surveys uncovered remains of typical Balkan settlements with regular layout, ditches and a palisade. Remains of surface pisé houses also demonstrate relation to Balkan architecture traditions. The material culture of excavated settlements shows clear distinctions depending on their location. The materials of the Orlovka-Kartal settlement are more diversified and contain a higher percent of fine pottery and tools made of Balkan flint of high quality in comparison with materials of the Cealîc settlement. At the same time inhabitants of the Cealîc settlements could organize in real steppe conditions a fairly effective logistic network in order to obtain lithic and flint raw material from distant sources in the Balkans and the Carpathians.
In conclusion some questions are discussed concerning farming colonization in the steppe zone and the sudden disappearance of the culture.

The problem of an anthropomorphic statuettes interpretation is the most actual in the studies on the European Neolithic Art (7000–3000 BC). Over the ХХ century the interpretation of such pieces of art was mainly based on antecedent concept of ties between statuettes and fertility cults and also perceptions about Great Goddess. The failure of speculative hypotheses initiated the search for new areas of research, particularly, in the studies on the figurines iconography and on their place in the social and cultural context.
From this perspective, the most informative are ‘closed’ assemblages, which represents by sets of figurines. In the article two of such sets analyzed, that were found in the settlements of the early period of Cucuteni-Tripolye culture: Poduri and Isaia in Romania. Both sets were found in vessels, and included 21 seated statuettes, differing in size, shape and decorations, and 13 miniature chairs. The analysis of the statuettes iconography shows that the kits includes 6 male and 7 female figurines, seated on 13 chairs, and 8 figures without chairs (female and of uncertain sex). They designated one group of personages that organized on the hierarchical principle, similar to the hierarchy of social groups. Such sets were used in other settlements of this period. Such figurine sets were regularly reproduced during about 400 years when bearers of Tripolye-Cucuteni tradition settled on a large area to the east of the Carpathians.
In conditions of differentiation of groups and development of new territories, figurines sets might represent the group of ancestors, common to the whole population. Functions of the sets can be defined in the field of ancestor worship and their application in the initiations and/or in mantic practices is also possible. Discontinuation of such sets associated with changes in ideology on the next stage of culture development.
The cult of ancestors and ancestor’s images in various forms are represented in the world anthropology and they are important part of spiritual culture of traditional societies. An analysis of antique, particularly Roman material gives close structural analogies to the European statuettes of the Neolithic Age. In extant texts is mentioned the whole group of gods associated with house and family: Genii Familiae, Lares Familiares et Compitales, Penates. As suppose the number of researchers, cults of such gods date back to honor of family or community ancestors. The iconography’s research of “household” gods shows tie between Lares and house. Figurines and images of Lares are usual placed on “Lararium” (hovel, often framed by a portico) a kind of house model. Some features of Lares and Penates cult and it’s iconography give base to draw a parallel between Lares and Penates and certain groups of the early-agriculturalist statuettes, which can be interpreted as character’s images connected with ancestor’s cult — either a direct ancestors or general mythology ancestors of ethnic group.

JEUNESSE C. (2016) Recension de : KLIMSCHA  Florian (2016) – Pietrele 1: Beile und Äxte aus Stein; Distinktion und Kommunikation während der Kupferzeit im östlichen Balkangebiet, Bonn, R. Habelt (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Archäologie in Eurasien, 34). Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française Tome 113, numéro 4, octobre-décembre 2016, p. 834-836.

The article deals with the problem of flint processing in two settlements of the Bolgrad variant (the Gumelniţa culture situated at the villages of Cealîc (Republic of Moldova) and Orlovka-Kartal (Ukraine). The settlements occupy different position within the North-West Pontic region. The settlement of Orlovka-Kartal is located on the Lower Danube whereas the second site is found deep in the steppe zone. The distance between the settlements is about between 75 km. Comparison of two collections from the settlements revealed significant difference in sources of raw materials and technological approach. Whereas most of tools in Orlovka-Kartal are made of brown Balkan flint (groups Ravno and Kriva Reka), inhabitants of the Cealâc settlement mainly utilized local grey flint from local (Prut-Dniester) sources. Waste products from the flint of local origin in the Cealîc settlement support the idea that the manufacturing of tools from this raw material was performed directly on the site. At the same time, the absence of flakes of the Balkan flint can signify that the tools were brought to the settlement in completed form and could have important symbolic value. Waste products in the Orlovka-Kartal are also extremely rare that assumes the use of a similar logistic model. Additional difference between the two collections is visible in dimensions of tools: in Orlovka-Kartal they are larger than in Cealîc that can be explained by scarcity of raw materials in the latter case.

At Urlaţi (Prahova County), six flint caches were discovered on a Gumelniţa flat settlement (4500-4300 BC) during the 2015-2020 excavation seasons. They were found in L.1 and L.2 dwellings and in the surrounding area, as well near L.2. Their composition is quite heterogeneous: caches consisting of blades, mixed assemblages composed of blades and scrapers, a cache containing only scrapers and a mixed cache containing whole and fragmentary blades, scrapers and flakes. There are three large blades in caches number 2 and 4, produced by lever pressure technique. Although they are well known at Gumelniţa tell settlements, there are few in the flat settlements to the north of the Danube. Their presence together with other large blades produced by indirect percussion, as well the existence at Urlaţi of raw materials from the northeast area of Bulgaria, proves the existence in the second part of the 5th millennium BC of very active long-distance exchange networks. Domestic production, possibly at small scale, using the local flint is suggested by the presence at Urlaţi of the raw materials and flint chipping debris.