Maria GUROVA
National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Prehistory, Senior Researcher, Associate Professor of Prehistory
Specialist on chipped stone assemblages from Holocene sequence in the Balkans, SW Anatolia and southern Levant. Raw material procurement, techno-typological features and functional connotation of flint artefacts. Sacred vs. profane/utilitarian in artefact interpretation
Address: NIAM-BAS,
2 Saborna Str. , 1000 Sofia
Bulgaria
Address: NIAM-BAS,
2 Saborna Str. , 1000 Sofia
Bulgaria
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Papers by Maria GUROVA
2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime
Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were
excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone,
bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established.
The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.
The superblades exhibit a peculiar artefact biography, which requires a multi-faceted study: characterisation of the raw material demands knowledge of flint resources and their technical properties; the reconstruction of technical knapping skills necessitates meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata; while functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Finally, the interpretation of these representative finds requires careful contextual analysis, bringing together empirical data and conceptual premises.
This paper focuses on the author’s study of superblades from three Chalcolithic cemeteries on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria: the Varna, Durankulak and Kozareva Tell cemeteries. Several hoards of superblades from two tell settlements are also included, thus encompassing the contextual niches of such finds.
Various observations and research questions are formulated starting with the initial stage of the chaîne opératoire then moving on to the indices of real vs anticipated/ritual values and functions of these exceptional finds.
The applied analytical procedure comprises techno-typological and functional analysis (the latter is restricted to the excavated assemblages), and consequent interpretation. The assemblages are presented consecutively starting with those from the survey, followed by the collections coming from the excavations. The analytical results and general observations on the assemblages follow their description and provide a comparative perspective between different assemblages from the distinct survey and excavations features. Some general notes on comparing the two main contexts (survey and excavations) are made as well.
2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime
Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were
excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone,
bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established.
The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.
The superblades exhibit a peculiar artefact biography, which requires a multi-faceted study: characterisation of the raw material demands knowledge of flint resources and their technical properties; the reconstruction of technical knapping skills necessitates meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata; while functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Finally, the interpretation of these representative finds requires careful contextual analysis, bringing together empirical data and conceptual premises.
This paper focuses on the author’s study of superblades from three Chalcolithic cemeteries on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria: the Varna, Durankulak and Kozareva Tell cemeteries. Several hoards of superblades from two tell settlements are also included, thus encompassing the contextual niches of such finds.
Various observations and research questions are formulated starting with the initial stage of the chaîne opératoire then moving on to the indices of real vs anticipated/ritual values and functions of these exceptional finds.
The applied analytical procedure comprises techno-typological and functional analysis (the latter is restricted to the excavated assemblages), and consequent interpretation. The assemblages are presented consecutively starting with those from the survey, followed by the collections coming from the excavations. The analytical results and general observations on the assemblages follow their description and provide a comparative perspective between different assemblages from the distinct survey and excavations features. Some general notes on comparing the two main contexts (survey and excavations) are made as well.
19th Heritage management symposium
Development-led archaeology in Europe. Meeting the needs
of archaeologists, developers and the public. Sofia, Bulgaria,
22-23 March 2018