Precucuteni

In the present paper, we introduce the readers in the problem of the sanctuaries from Precucuteni and Cucuteni cultures.
The shrines and the cult pieces show that there were religious practices going on, and not magical ones, as it is usually stated. We consider that the archaeological remains represent proves for the beginnings of a religious rite. The Propudnja models clearly show us the rite of cultic grinding, the grinders and the series of rituals connected to them.
Some special cult buildings have monumental inventory: oven for ritual burning, the throne, a bench, cereal depositing cassettes, clay figurines, sometimes very big. All these elements have small replicas in the house models from Precucuteni and Cucuteni cultures, also found in very important sites from the Balkan area (Anzabegovo, Vrbjanska Čuka, Mađari, Ovčarovo, Sitagroy).
Another problem which we study is the cultic writing and the religious symbolism, or the sacred numerology, all of these documented on many clay plates from Perieni, Glăvăneşti, Tărtăria, Orăştie, Turdaş, Phafos, Karanovo, Lozna.
We notice that the dates provided by the researchers are not always complete, lacking a full description of the pieces and their state of preservation. The sanctuaries and the house shrines, besides the house models, very spread in Europe, show traces of a very rich religious life.

This paper addresses the archaeological literature on the subject of the chipped stone industry of the Chalcolithic
communities that inhabited the east of nowadays Romania, namely Precucuteni and Cucuteni (5th and 4th millennium
BC). The first part of the study focuses on how the Romanian archaeologists approached the first two stages of the
chaîne opératoire: the raw material procurement and the technology of producing knapped stone tools (especially the
elongated supports). These aspects were analysed through the literature published until now, regarding aspects as
petrographic determination of raw materials, available information on the morphology of the cores and on blade
attributes, on the reduction sequences and procedures. Although rewarding in what considers the raw materials supply,
the information proves scarce in what concerns the organisation of technology. The causes of this unbalance are sought
in the specificity of the development of the study of Prehistory in Romania. Consequently, perspectives for the further
investigations and new directions of research are proposed.

This short note introduces a new Precucuteni site from north-eastern Wallachia. An extended field survey of the plain area near Râmnicu Sărat resulted in about 100 new archaeological sites being discovered (from Prehistory to Middle Ages). One of the sites particularly draw our attention, as the abundant artefacts scattered on its surface signalled
a Chalcolithic settlement. Wattle-and-daub clumps and several stone implements were visible on about 1000 sq. meters. Various potshards and anthropomorphic figurines collected during the survey may be assigned to the Precucuteni III horizon. The growing list of Precucuteni sites in north-eastern Wallachia points out the need to reassess the
boundaries of the cultural areas towards the middle of the 5th millennium BC.

In 2018, members of the archaeological expedition of the Institute of Cultural Heritage carried out archaeological surveys at three sites located near the Cărbuna village, Ialoveni district. In the settlement of Cărbuna-La Rădi/Rădi, medieval pottery of the 8th-9th centuries, as well as from the late Middle Ages, was found. During the earthworks in the southwestern part of the village, a multilayer settlement (Cărbuna-Negrub) was discovered. An expressive collection of ceramics of the Precucuteni III phase, as well as fragments of vessels of the Late Antiquity and Middle Ages. Hand-made pottery and the fragments of Greek amphorae also come from Cărbuna-Rădiul Babei site, preliminaty attributed to the Getian culture.

En 2003 un sondage a été realisé sur le site de Solca-Slatina Mare, tout près de la fontaine d'eau salée La stratigraphie et les découvertes y ont signalé l'existence des traces d'utilisation de cette source durant le Precucuteni, le Cucuteni et le Moyen Âge. La plupart des découvertes appartienne à la dernière phase de la culture Cucuteni. Abstract In 2003 a field research was made in the site found near the salt spring at Solca-Slatina Mare. The stratigraphy of this site and the discoveries were the evidences of salt exploitation dating from Precucuteni and Cucuteni civilizations and also from the Middle Ages. The main part of the archaeological deposit was formed during the last stage of the Cucuteni civilization.

Pointed tools represent the largest group within the assemblage of bone implements from the site of Târgu Frumos. The study of the methods and procedures implied in the manufacturing process reveals standardised schemas of production. The longitudinal partition in quarters of metapodials is the most used method for obtaining the blanks. The choice of raw material shows a noticeable preference for the metapodials of roe deer. The shaping procedures reflect a conception of minimum investment in transformation, the finished objects retaining the natural anatomical features of the bone.

НаціоНальНа академія Наук україНи іНститут археології НіжиНський державНий уНіверситет імеНі миколи гоголя НіжиНська міська рада ВСЕУКРАЇНСЬКИЙ АРХЕОЛОГІЧНИЙ З' ЇЗД київ 2018 І ПРОГРАмА РОбОтИ тА АНОтАцІЇ ДОПОВІДЕЙ НІжИН, 23-25 листопада 2018 р. удк 902(477)(063) П 26 ISBN 978-966-02-8677-1 Співорганізатори з'їзду: інститут археології НаН україни дП «Ндц «охоронна археологічна служба україни» іа НаНу Ніжинська міська рада Ніжинський державний університет імені миколи гоголя Ніжинський краєзнавчий музей імені і. спаського товариство «Чернігівське земляцтво» у києві © автори, 2018

In the summer of 2018, the archaeological expedition of the Institute of Cultural Heritage carried out research in the settlements of the second phase of the Precucuteni III stage, located near the village of Cărbuna, Ialoveni district. The investigations aimed at verifying the degree of preservation stay of the cultural layers, the accumulation of new data and samples for interdisciplinary studies. During the survey carried out at Cărbuna I, the cultural layer represented by numerous ceramic fragments, pieces of burned clay, animal bones, a smaller number of silex artefacts, pinholes and anthropomorphic representations was discovered. At Cărbuna II, the remains of two pits with a rich archaeological material was investigated. On the left side of the Căinari (or Ceaga) river, the remains of a disturbed dwelling on the Precucutenian horizon were found. The further researches in this microzone will bring important insights into the late Precucuteni III phase and the early Cucuteni A phase of the Prut-Nistrean interfluve.

As a result of the archaeological excavations carried out during the past 25 years at Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru (Bacău County) several types of vessels were discovered. For some of these types of vessels there is rather scarce evidence in most of the Precucuteni-Cucuteni sites.

УДК 903(477.5)"636"(082) ББК Т4(4)я43 К-90 Культурний комплекс Кукутень-Трипілля та його сусіди. Збірка наукових праць пам'яті Володимира Круца / За редакцією Олександра Дяченка, Франческо Менотті, Сергія Рижова, Катерини Бунятян і Славоміра Кадрова. -Львів: Видавництво «Астролябія», 2015. -476 с., 225 рис.