Phytolith evidence of cereal processing in the Danube Delta during the Chalcolithic period

Mihaela Danu (1) , Erwan Messager (2) , Jean-Michel Carozza (3) , Laurent Carozza (4) , Laurent Bouby (5) , Sylvie Philibert (6) , Patricia C. Anderson (7) , Albane Burens-Carozza (4) , Cristian Micu (8)

1 Université de Iasi
2 EDYTEM - Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne
3 LIENSs - LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés
4 GEODE - Géographie de l'environnement
5 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
6 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés
7 CEPAM - Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age
8 ICEM - ICEM

Recent excavations at Taraschina, south-eastern Romania, have revealed an extensive Chalcolithic settlement in the heart of the Danube Delta. Based on ceramic data, Taraschina was attributed to the Gumelniţa Culture and dated to the mid 5th millenium BC by radiocarbon dating. Phytolith analysis was conducted at Taraschina in order to reconstruct some activities carried out by the Chalcolithic populations in the Danube Delta. The study was undertaken on the site sediments, as well as on additional deposits sampled around the site by coring. The results show that phytoliths characterizing cereal processing are attested in archaeological deposits, as well as in the surrounding sequence. Our study highlights an important signal of cereal processing in the heart of the Danube Delta, 6000 years ago.

Keywords: Cereals processing; Phytoliths; Danube Delta; Chalcolithic

Domains: Archaeology and Prehistory; Social Anthropology and ethnology

Mihaela Danu, Erwan Messager, Jean-Michel Carozza, Laurent Carozza, Laurent Bouby, et al.. Phytolith evidence of cereal processing in the Danube Delta during the Chalcolithic period. Quaternary International, 2018, ⟨10.1016/j.quaint.2018.03.033⟩. ⟨hal-01992854⟩