Observations sur l’industrie en obsidienne découverte à Șoimuș – La Avicola (Ferma 2) / Notes on the obsidian industry discovered at Şoimuş – La Avicola (Ferma 2)

Abstract

Rescue excavations in 2011 on the Deva‐ Orăștie section of the A1 motorway brought to light a Turdaș‐ type Neolithic site, with two occupation horizons. The first was characterized by sunken huts, and the second by surface dwellings that were part of a continuous destruction level comprising burnt daub, hearths, fragments of clay floors with an underlay of river boulders, postholes, and a very rich archaeological assemblage (including pottery, bones and lithics). The archaeological finds from the site are quite varied, comprising coarse and fine pottery, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, lithics and worked bone. Among the lithic industry, 25.45% is represented by obsidian artefacts, making this the largest such assemblage from a Romanian Neolithic site. Artefacts were produced using simple blade, bladelet or flake technique. Tools, which are quite varied, represent 15% of the assemblage. pXRF analysis of obsidian artefacts from the site shows that the obsidian originated in the Carpathian 1 source area in southeast Slovakia.