No XXI/2 (December 2015)

Archaeological palynology in Romania ― a review of its past and current state

Pollen analyses in Romanian archaeology are not new and the interest concerning the opportunities offered by this discipline is on the rise. The increasing visibility of the discipline reflects a mentality change in terms of research methodology in Romanian archaeology, especially in prehistoric archaeology. This paper will focus on a short critical survey of the development of archaeological palynology in Romania, from its beginning in the early 20th century to present

Technological characteristics of the Cucuteni C pottery from Poduri–Dealul Ghindaru

The present work aims at investigating the technology used in the production of the Cucuteni C ceramic ware discovered at Poduri–Dealul Ghindaru archaeological site, with the help of a multidisciplinary approach making use of chemical and mineralogical analysis. The studied potsherds have shown the presence of different types of tempers, as determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The type of tempers present within the ceramic matrix was identified by EDX and XRD analysis, while the dispersion of the different additives in the ceramic microstructure was determined by SEM measurements

Les découvertes des armes en bronze de la fin de l’âge du bronze sur le plateau de Bârlad

A surge in bronze metalworking can be seen taking place at the end of the Bronze Age, with ten deposits, containing 109 objects, and 28 isolated finds taking place in the Bârlad Plateau. The list of discoveries contains sickles, celts, broadswords, daggers, spearheads, and adornments and dress elements; the least represented are weapons, with only seven items. The broadsword from Epureni is of the Krasnyj Majak type, typical of the Sabatinovka culture, while the daggers are of the Labojkovka type, Malye Kopani variant. The three spearheads are of the Dremajlovka and Krasnyj Majak type. The weapons are typical of the Sabatinovka culture and are rare east of the Prut, in the region of the Noua culture.

Ancestral DNA ― an incontestable source of data for Archaeology

The DNA is present in every cell of a person’s body, not only in the cell’s nucleus but also in its cytoplasm, in mitochondria. Of great importance is the fact that, except for the rare occurrence of a mutation, the DNA in every cell of the person’s body is identical. As a result, DNA can be taken from saliva, sweat, blood, hair, skin or bone cells for individual identification. The many opportunities to obtain DNA evidence can be seen, for example, in the number of places where saliva has been identified: a bite mark, an area licked, bed linens, a mask worn, paper tissue, a washcloth, a cigarette butt, a toothpick, the rim of a bottle or glass, but all of those sources are available just for present DNA. In the case of old DNA, also called ancient DNA (aDNA), the things are different and the possibilities to analyse the substrate of genetic information are limited to bone fragments or teeth. Even in these conditions, the DNA analysis is a very accurate and powerful tool for getting useful information in Archaeology.