Such raw materials were exploited by early Neolithic communities, as shown by the geo-archaeological studies conducted on some artefacts from the oldest dwellings belonging to the Neolithic. About 2 km south of the archaeological point, Teleghi, is located the northern edge of the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, composed of volcanic rocks such as grey andesites. Similar rocks, in the form of deposits, are also found on the left and right side of the Mureș River valley, at the north-western edge of Deva municipality and Șoimuș village. Thus, here we can mention the Upper Cretaceous sandstones and marls, also known by the name “Strate de Deva”, found in the structure of the terrace. The fact that the human groups from prehistory, antiquity, or the Middle Ages frequented the terrace, which we currently know by the toponym Teleghi, was also a consequence of the easy access to the raw material sources. Study Area and the Archaeological Context 2.1. New (unpublished) radiometric dates, obtained in the same 14C laboratory, show that the beginning of the site could be placed at the start of the 6th millennium cal BC. The obtained result gave the following date: 6897 ± 28 BP (Ro-AMS 11–11) the calibrated date (σ = 2) is 5841–5723 cal BC, with a probability of 95.4%”. “The faunal material sampled for 14C dating was analysed at “Horia Hulubei” National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Bucharest-Măgurele (Romania). The archaeological research supplied information on the chronological and cultural horizons from the Early Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The archaeological site of Şeghi, “also known by the names Sedi or Siediu, is located at about 3 km north from the city of Simeria and at about 1.0 km, on the southwest direction, from the village of Rapoltu Mare and from the confluence of the rivers Strei and Mureş”. 15 km east from the site Şoimuş-Teleghi), another site was studied from a bioarchaeological point of view, namely, the site from Rapoltu Mare-Șeghi, Rapoltu Mare commune, to which we will compare from this point forward. Sporadically, hunting and gathering molluscs were practised by the inhabitants, as indicated by archaeozoological results.įor this chronological interval and for the same area (ca. Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data resulting from this study suggest an open environment around the Early Neolithic settlement, where communities of the Starčevo-Criș culture mainly raised herds of cattle and sheep/goat. This morphotype, which originates from the inflorescence or the husk of Poaceae, is most likely derived from cultivated plants (cereals such as wheat, barley, etc.). ![]() ELONGATE DENDRITIC phytoliths are well represented. ![]() The strong dominance of grasses is attested through the phytoliths’ assemblages. The skeletal remains of wild mammal species are rare, belonging to red deer ( Cervus elaphus), roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus), aurochs ( Bos primigenius), wild boar ( Sus scrofa), and polecat ( Mustela putorius). The fact that pig remains are almost absent in the samples is significant, suggesting a mobility of the evaluated communities. In the archaeozoological samples, the remains coming from domestic mammals are the most frequent, being identified as cattle ( Bos taurus), sheep/goat ( Ovis aries/ Capra hircus), pig ( Sus domesticus), and dog ( Canis familiaris). Animal skeletal remains and phytoliths are the proxies analysed in this paper, offering data about the palaeoeconomy and palaeoenvironment of the Early Neolithic settlement. ![]() The present study tries to answer questions related to the beginnings of the neolithisation in this area, from an interdisciplinary perspective, valuing archeozoologically and archeobotanically the Starčevo-Criș site of Soimuș-Teleghi (Hunedoara County), dating to the 7th–6th millennium BC. Early Neolithic communities penetrated in southwestern Transylvania and were established in the Mureș Valley where they found suitable territories for domestic animal herds and probably plant cultivation.
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