Use-wear and residue analysis of knapped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina (Serbia)

  • Anđa Petrović Sapienza University of Rome https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5027-5753
  • Cristina Lemorini Sapienza University of Rome
  • Stella Nunziante-Cesaro Scientific Methodologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (SMATCH) Italia
  • Dušan Mihailović University of Belgrade

Abstract


Following a series of published analyses ranging from architecture to prehistoric diet of the Iron Gates’ inhabitants, our research aims to present new results regarding use-wear analysis of knapped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina with a particular focus on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic in this region. Use-wear and residue analysis are applied using the low and high-power approach by Optical Light Microscope (OLM) observations combined with FTIR analysis.

Based on the results, some of the main activities that took place in Iron Gates are processing of hide, bone, antler, plants, and soft stone. It is very important to highlight the complexity of various processes, which make this already specific area more peculiar. A variety of both simple, but overall, more complex and composite activities are recorded with the elaborate preparation of the used materials, for example, hide. Particular processes, such as butchering, were noted both inside the houses, and also concentrated in precise, specific areas of the settlements, where only tools involved in the processing of hide and meat were found. The data obtained highlight the activities of these advanced hunter-gatherer-fishermen and first farmers communities. Together with spatial analysis, the dynamics and processes in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic are revealed, but also many questions regarding the specialization of the prehistoric settlements on the Danube are posed.

Author Biographies

Anđa Petrović, Sapienza University of Rome

Sapienza University of Rome
Laboratory of Technological and Functional Analyses of Prehistoric Artefacts
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00136, Rome
Italy

Cristina Lemorini, Sapienza University of Rome

Sapienza University of Rome

Stella Nunziante-Cesaro, Scientific Methodologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (SMATCH) Italia

Scientific Methodologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (SMATCH) Italia

Dušan Mihailović, University of Belgrade

University of Belgrade

References

Antonović, D. 2006, Stone tools from Lepenski Vir. Cahiers des Portes de Fer, Monographies 5, Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, 155 p.
Binder, D. & Gassin, B. 1988, Le débitage laminaire chasséen apres chauffe: technologie et traces d'utilisation. In: lndustries lithiques. Tracéologie et Technologie (Beyries, S., Ed.), BAR International Series Vol. 411(1) British Archaeological Reports, Oxford:93-125. (in French) (“The Chassean laminar production after heating treatment: Technology and use-wear traces”)
Boeriu, C., Bravo, D., Gosselink, R. & van Dam, J. 2004, Characterisation of structure-dependent functional properties of lignin with infrared spectroscopy. Industrial Crops and Products, 20: 205-218. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2004.04.022
Bogosavljević-Petrović, V. & Starović, A. 2013, Balkanski kremen iz zbirke za stariji neolit Narodnog muzeja u Beogradu. Zbornik Narodnog muzeja, 21(1): 77-108. (in Serbian) (“Balkan flint from the Early Neolithic collection at the National Museum in Belgrade”)
Bökönyi, S. 1972, The vertebrate fauna. In: Europe’s first monumental sculpture: New discoveries at Lepenski Vir (Srejović, D., Ed.), Thames and Hudson, London: p. 186-189.
Bonsall, C., Cook, G.T., Hedges, R.E.M., Higham, T.F.G., Pickard, C. & Radovanović, I. 2004, Radiocarbon and Stable Isotope Evidence of Dietary Change from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages in the Iron Gates: New Results from Lepenski Vir. Radiocarbon, 46(1): 293-300. doi:10.1017/S0033822200039606
Bonsall, C., Radovanović, I., Roksandić, M., Cook, G.T., Higham, T.F.G. & Pickard, C. 2008, Dating burials and architecture at Lepenski Vir. In: The Iron Gates in Prehistory: New Perspectives (Bonsall, C., Boroneanţ, V. & Radovanović, I., Eds.), Archaeopress, Oxford: p. 175-204.
Borić, D, 2011, Adaptations and transformations of the Danube Gorges foragers (c. 13.000-5500 BC): An overview. In Beginnings - New Research in the Appearance of the Neolithic between Northwest Anatolia and the Carpathian Basin (Kraus, R., Ed.), Verlag Marie Leidorf Gmbh, Rahden: p. 157-203.
Borić, D. 2016, Posmrtni obredi na Lepenskom Viru: obrasci pogrebne prakse. Iskopavanja Dragoslava Srejovića / Deathways at Lepenski Vir: Patterns in Mortuary Practice. Excavations of Dragoslav Srejović, Serbian Archaeological Society, Belgrade, 565 p.
Borić, D. 2019, Lepenski Vir Chronology and Stratigraphy Revisited. Starinar, 69: 9-60.
Borić, D. & Dimitrijević, V. 2007, Apsolutna hronologija i stratigrafija Lepenskog Vira. Starinar, 57: 9-55. (in Serbian) (“Absolute chronology and stratigraphy of Lepenski Vir”)
Borić, D., Grupe, G., Peters, J. & Mikić, Ž. 2004, Is the Mesolithic-Neolithic subsistence dichotomy real? New stable isotope evidence from the Danube Gorges. European Journal of Archaeology, 7(3): 221-248. doi:10.1177/1461957104056500
Borić, D., Higham, T., Cristiani, E., Dimitrijević, V., Nehlich, O., Griffiths, S., Alexander, C., Mihailović, B., Filipović D., Allué, E. & Buckley, M. 2018, High-Resolution AMS Dating of Architecture, Boulder Artworks and the Transition to Farming at Lepenski Vir, Scientific Reports, 8: 14221. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31884-7
Borić, D. & Miracle, P. 2004, Mesolithic and Neolithic (dis)continuities in the Danube Gorges: New AMS dates from Padina and Hajdučka Vodenica (Serbia). Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 23(4): 341-371. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0092.2004.00215.x
Borić, D. & Stefanović, S. 2004, Birth and death: Infant burials from Vlasac and Lepenski Vir. Antiquity, 78: 526-546. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00113201
Bosch Reig, F., Gimeno Adelantado, J. V., Moya Moreno, M.C.M. 2002, FTIR quantitative analysis of calcium carbonate (calcite) and silica (quartz) mixtures using the constant ratio method. Application to geological samples. Talanta, 58: 811-921. doi:10.1016/S0039-9140(02)00372-7
Clemente-Conte, I. 1997, Thermal alterations of flint implements and the conservation of microwear polish: Preliminary experimental observations. In: Siliceous Rocks and cultures, (Ramos Millán, A. & Bustillo, M.A. Eds.), Universidad de Granada, Granada: p. 525-535.
Cristiani, E., Radini, A., Edinborough, M. & Borić, D. 2016, Dental calculus reveals Mesolithic foragers in the Balkans consumed domesticated plant foods. Proceeding of National Academy of Sciences, 113(37): 10298-10303. doi:10.1073/pnas.1603477113
Dimitrijević, V. 2000, The Lepenski Vir fauna: bones in houses and between houses. Documenta Praehistorica, 27: 101-117.
Dimitrijević, V. 2008, Lepenski Vir animal bones: What was left in the houses? In The Iron Gates in prehistory New perspectives (Bonsall, C., Boroneanţ, V. & Radovanović, I., Eds.), BAR International Series Vol. 1893, Archaeopress, Oxford, 117-130 p.
Dimitrijević, V., Živaljević, I. & Stefanović, S. 2016, Becoming sedentary? The seasonality of food resource exploitation in the Mesolithic-Neolithic Danube Gorges. Documenta Praehistorica, 43: 103-122. https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.43.4
Domański, M. & Webb, J. 1992, Effect of heat treatment on siliceous rocks used in prehistoric lithic technology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 19(6):601-614.
Filipović, D., Allué E.A. & Borić, D. 2010, Integrated carpological and anthracological analysis of plant record from the Mesolithic site of Vlasac, Serbia. Journal of Serbian Archaeological Society, 26: 145-161.
Gönen, M., Öztürk, S., Balköse, D., Okur, S. & Ülkü, S. 2010, Preparation and Characterization of Calcium Stearate Powders and Films Prepared by Precipitation and Langmuir-Blodgett Techniques. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 49: 1732-1736. doi:10.1021/ie901437d
Gurova, M. 2008, Toward an understanding of Early Neolithic populations: a flint perspective from Bulgaria. Documenta Praehistorica, 35: 111-129. doi:10.4312/dp.35.8
Gurova, M., Andreeva, P., Nikolov, A., Barbov, B. & Kostadinova-Avramova, M. 2020, Heat alterations of flint artefacts: Archaeological evidence, experiments and analyses. Bulgarian e-Journal of Archaeology, 10(1): 111-141. URL: https://be-ja.org/index.php/journal/article/view/be-ja-10-1-2020-111-141
Gurova, M., Andreeva, P., Stefanova, E., Stefanov Y., Kočić, M. & Borić, D. 2016, Flint raw material transfers in the prehistoric Lower Danube Basin: An integrated analytical approach. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 5: 422-441. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.12.014
Halbrucker, É., Fiers, G., Vandendriessche, H., De Kock, T., Cnudde, V. & Crombé, P. 2021, Burning flint: An experimental approach to study the effect of fire on flint tools. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 36: 02854. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102854
Hénichart, J.P., Bernier, J. L., Roman, M. & Roussel, P. 1982, Identification of calcium palmitate in gallstones by infra-red spectroscopy. Clinica Chimica Acta, 118: 279-287. doi:10.1016/0009-8981(82)90014-6
Jovanović, B. 1987, Die Architektur und Keramik die Siedlung Padina B im eiserner Tor, Jugoslawien. Germania, 65: 1-16. (in German) (“The Architecture and Pottery from settlement Padina B in Iron Gates”)
Jovanović J., de Becdelièvre, C., Stefanović, S., Živaljević, I., Dimitrijević, V. & Goude, G. 2019, Last hunters-first farmers: New insight into subsistence strategies in the Central Balkans through multi-isotopic analysis. Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Science, 11: 3279-3298. doi:10.1007/s12520-018-0744-1
Kozłowski, Ј. & Kozłowski, S. 1984, Chipped stone industries from Lepenski Vir. Preistoria Alpina, 19: 259-293.
Madejová J. 2003, FTIR techniques in clay mineral studies. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 31:1-10. doi:10.1016/S0924-2031(02)00065-6
Madejová J. & Komadel, P. 2001, Baseline studies of the clay minerals society source clays: Infrared methods. Clays and Clay Minerals, 49(5): 410-432. doi:10.1346/CCMN.2001.0490508
Mihailović, D. 2004, Chipped stone industry from horizons A and B at the site of Padina in the Iron Gates. In: Late Foragers and Early Farmers of the Lepenski Vir - Schela Cladovei Culture in the Iron Gates Gorges. A metamorphosis of Technologies or Acculturations (Acts of the XIVth UISPP Congress, Liege 2001), BAR International Series Vol. 1302, Archaeopress, Oxford, 61-68 p.
Mitrović, М. 2018, Industrije okresanog kamena u mezolitu Đerdpa. Ph.D thesis at the Department of Archaeology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 268 p. (in Serbian) (“Knapped stone industries in the Iron Gates Mesolithic”)
Olausson, D. 1983, Experiments to investigate the effects of heat treatment on usewear on flint tools. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 49: 1-13.
Patterson, L. 1995, Thermal damage of chert. Lithic Technology, 20(1): 72-80.
Petrović, A. & Moscone, D. 2019, Flint, Quartzite and Fire: Alteration of tool surface on micro-scale. In EAC11 Experimental Archaeology Conference 2-4 May 2019, Trento, Italy, Program: Papers, Posters, Excursions (Grimaldi, S., Paardekooper, R., Costa, A. & Zielińska, M., Eds.), EXARC, University of Trento, Trento: p. 49.
Petrović, A., Lemorini, C., Nunziante Cesaro, S. & Živaljević, I. 2020, To fish or not to fish? Fish processing at Iron Gates: An experimental approach. In Meso’2020 -Tenth International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe 7-11 Sep 2020 Toulouse France, book of abstracts (Perrin, T., Marquebielle, B., Philibert, S. & Valdeyron, N., Eds.), University Toulouse, Toulouse: p. 310.
Purdy, B. & Brooks, H. 1971, Thermal Alteration of Silica Minerals: An Archeological Approach. Science, 173(3994): 322-325.
Poduska, K., M., Regev, L., Berna, F., Mintz, E., Milevski, I., Khalaily, H., Weiner S. & Boaretto, E. 2012, Plaster characterization at the PPNB Site of Yiftahel (Israel) including the use of 14C: Implications for plaster production, preservation, and dating. Radiocarbon, 54(3-4): 887-896. doi:10.1017/S0033822200047536
Prost, A., Dameme, E.H., Driard, J. & Leydecker, J., P. 1989, Infrared study of structural OH in Kaolinite, Dickite, Nacrite, and poorly crystalline Kaolinite at 5 to 600K. Clays and Clay Minerals, 37(5): 464-468. doi:10.1346/CCMN.1989.0370511
Radović, M. & Stefanović, S. 2015, An osteobiography from Lepenski Vir: Paramasticatory use of teeth and musculoskeletal stress of a woman dated to the Early Neolithic. In Muge 150th The 150th Anniversary of the Discovery of Mesolithic Shellmiddens (Bicho, N., Detry, C., Price, D. Eds.), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge: p. 267-278.
Radovanović, I. 1981, Ranoholocenska kremena industrija sa lokaliteta Padina u Đerdapu. Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, 139 p. (in Serbian) (“Early Holocene Flint Industry from the Site of Padina in the Iron Gates”)
Radovanović, I., 1992, Mezolit Đerdapa. Ph.D thesis at the Department of Archaeology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 454 p. (in Serbian) (“The Iron Gates Mesolithic”)
Radovanović, I. 1996, The Iron Gates Mesolithic. International Monographs in Prehistory, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 382 p.
Raíces, M., Rubén Gargantini, P., Chinchilla, D., Crespi, M., Téllez-Iñón, M. T. & Ulloa, R. M. 2003, Regulation of CDPK isoforms during tuber development. Plant Molecular Biology, 52: 1011-1024. doi:10.1023/A:1025478315648
Roksandic, M. 2000, Between foragers and farmers in the Iron Gates Gorge: Physical antropology perspective. Documenta Praehistorica, 27: 1-100.
Roksandic, M. 2012, Mobile and terrestrial but firmly rooted on the river banks: Biological anthropology of Lepenski Vir and the Iron Gates Gorge Mesolithic. Advances in Anthropology, 2(3): 117-124. doi:10.4236/aa.2012.23014
Rutkoski, A. R., Miller, G. L., Maguire, L., Eren, M. I., Bebber, M. R. 2019, The effect of heat on lithic microwear traces: An experimental assessment. Lithic Technolology: 1-10. doi: 10.1080/01977261.2019.1690617
Sauer, G. & Wuthier, R. 1988, Fourier Transform Infrared Characterization of Mineral Phases Formed during Induction of Mineralization by Collagenase-released Matrix Vesicles in vitro. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 263(27): 13718-13724.
Schmidt, P., Masse, S., Laurent, G., Slodczyk, A., le Bourhis, E., Perrenoud, C., Livage, J. & Fröhlich, F. 2012, Crystallographic and structural transformations of sedimentary chalcedony in flint upon heat treatment. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39(1): 135-144. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.012
Schwanninger M., Rodrigues J. C., Pereira H. & Hinterstoisser, B. 2004, Effects of short-time vibratory ball milling on the shape of FT-IR spectra of wood and cellulose. Vibration Spectroscopy, 36: 23-40. doi:10.1016/j.vibspec.2004.02.003
Srejović, D. 1969, Lepenski Vir: Nova praistorijska kultura u Podunavlju. Serbian Literary Cooperative, Belgrade, 328 p. (in Serbian) (“Lepenski Vir: New prehistoric culture in Podunavlje”)
Stuart, B., H., Forbes, S., Dent, B., B. & Hodgson, G. 2000, Studies of adipocere using diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 24: 233-242. doi:10.1016/S0924-2031(00)00097-7
Šarić, J. 2014. Artefakti od okresanog kamena u starijem I srednjem neolitu na tlu Srbije. Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, 299 p. (in Serbian) (“Early and Middle knapped stone artefacts from Serbia”)
Vaculíková L. & Plevová E. 2005, Identification of clay minerals and micas in sedimentary rocks. Acta Geodynamica et Geomaterialia, 2: 167-175.
Woodfield, H., K., Sturtevant, D., Borisjuk, L., Munz, E., Guschina, I.A., Chapman, K. & Harwood J.L. 2017, Spatial and Temporal Mapping of Key Lipid Species in Brassica napus Seeds. Plant Physiology, 173: 1998-2009. doi:10.1104/pp.16.01705
Živaljević I., Popović D., Snoj A. & Marić S. 2017, Ancient DNA analysis of cyprinid remains from the Mesolithic-Neolithic Danube Gorges reveals an extirpated fish species Rutilus frisii (Nordmann, 1840). Journal of Archaeological Science, 79:1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.002
Published
15-Dec-2021
How to Cite
Petrović, A., Lemorini, C., Nunziante-Cesaro, S., & Mihailović, D. (2021). Use-wear and residue analysis of knapped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina (Serbia). Journal of Lithic Studies, 8(2), 29 p. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.6695