Ciprian Astalos (UCL) - 2015-16 Students
astalos_ciprian@yahoo.com

Ground Stones in the Neolithic of Western Romania

The main purpose of my study is to analyze the details of a new technology that appeared in the Carpathian Basin together with the advent of the first agrarian communities in the 6th millennium BC. My research focuses on the technological study of ground stone artefacts in the Neolithic of North-Western Romania, based on materials from selected archaeologically excavated settlements. Ground stones, in other words those stone tools obtained through abrasion like polished axes and querns, may offer important answers regarding the new social technologies brought from the Near East (e.g., craft production and specialization, food preparation) as well as human relationships in both their economic (migration paths, trade routes, exchange networks) and symbolic dimensions. Studying a still unexplored research topic for the Romanian archaeology will have a significant impact on the understanding of the early farming societies across Europe.