A newly-discovered stone pendant from the Upper Palaeolithic of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț (Romania) and its wider context

Cârciumaru, Marin; Nițu, Elena-Cristina; Otte, Marcel; Pettitt, Paul; Cîrstina, Ovidiu; Leu, Marian; Lupu, Florin-Ionuț; Ghiță, Horia

Abstract

In 2022, a stone pendant was recovered from the Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian I) level of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț, Romania. Dating to ∼24,096-22992 cal. BP, it is made on an oval-shaped quartz/quartzite pebble of 29 mm maximum dimensions. It bears 11 discrete incisions around its circumference, and a perforation to allow for suspension. Unlike other known Gravettian pendants from the Romanian sites of Mitoc-Malul Galben, the Cioarei-Boroșteni cave and additional items from Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț, this pendant bears no decoration on either face, and the incisions on its circumference are superficial and hardly visible, adding to the picture of variability of Eastern European personal ornamentation. We present it here, discussing its significance as part of a chronologically and regionally constrained visual symbol in Eastern Europe during the 24th millennium BP.

Citation

Cârciumaru, M., Nițu, E.-C., Otte, M., Pettitt, P., Cîrstina, O., Leu, M., Lupu, F.-I., & Ghiță, H. (2024). A newly-discovered stone pendant from the Upper Palaeolithic of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț (Romania) and its wider context. L'Anthropologie, 128(4), Article 103282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2024.103282

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 12, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 12, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-11
• Deposit Date: Oct 11, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 11, 2024
• Journal: L'Anthropologie
• Print ISSN: 0003-5521
• Publisher: Elsevier Masson
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 128
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 103282
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2024.103282
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2954591