:

BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
AND MUSEUM

PREHISTORIC RESEARCH
IN BULGARIA:
NEW CHALLENGES

Proceeding of the National Prehistory Conference

Peshtera 26-29.04.2006

Edited by
Maria GUROVA

Sofia
2008
Ъ

Ъ :

26-29.04.2006

2008
 39

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: Triticum monococcum L. ( ),
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( ), Triticum durum/aestivum ( ), Triticum aestivum L. (
), Hordeum vulgare L. ( ) (Do 1992; , , 1980;
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.
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,
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,

(Boyadziev 1995; Görsdorf, Bojadziev 1996).

,
40 . .    : , 2007

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   • –   41

10981; Skakun 1993 a, b).

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42 . .    : , 2007

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:
9300 , 8000 7500 (Peltenburg
et al., 2000). PPNB ,
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   • –   43

r alia; - (~ 6000 BC) ;

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,
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(Tellenbach 1983, 82-83).

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83). , ,

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44 . .    : , 2007

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- ,
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( .3 3) (Mellaart 1970, 175).
(VI-V) (Cauvin 1983, 72, fig. 5). ,
‘ ’ -
koinè (vide supra).
– terra incognita
.
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III-IV (Gabriel 2000, 236).

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   • –   45

X IX) ,
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, -
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( I) (Boyadziev 1995, 179; Gördsdorf 1997, 379;
Roodenberg et al. 1989/90, 76; Roodenberg 1995, 172; Roodenberg 1999, 200; Thissen 1999,
31). ,
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2000).
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46 . .    : , 2007

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- ,

.
( . Thissen 2000
b) (Perlès 2001, 61).
– - – via ,
.

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via .
,
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(Efstratiou 2005).

‘ ’:
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(
).
   • –   47

.
/
, - . ,
8
, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” ,
. ,
, .

, 1998: . , .
.–
, XIX, 1998, 7-20.
1958: . . -
.– : . 80 . ,
1958, 369-387.
1999: M. . -
.– , 2, 1999, 66-76.
2001: M. .
.– , 3-4, 2001, 38-47.
1992: . . .– : . ( .).
( ). 25. , 1992,
144-152.
, . 1980: . , . .
. . , .
– , 5, 1980, 11-34.
, 1980: . , . .
. – Studia Praehistorica, 4, 1980, 5-90.
1999: . . - -
.– : . ( .). . -
1998-1999. - , 1999, 123-131.
1987: . . .– , 2, 1987,
39-47.
1990: . . -
: .– -
XVII,1990, 9-24.
1992: . . ( ).
25. , 1992.
2006: . . . -
, 2006.
1925: . . . . -
, 1925.

8
Thissen 2000 b.
48 . .    : , 2007

, , , , , , 2002: .
, . , . , . , . , . , . . -
. 29. , 2002.
2002: . . . . . ,
2002.
1983: . p . . – VIII. ,
1983.
, 1993: . , . .
( - ). , 1993.
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Prehistoric agricultural tools – indicators of the process of neolithization

Maria Gurova

Absrtact

As an introduction to the topic of the article the author would like to present some thoughts
and arguments for choosing this problem and focusing the attention to the prehistoric sickles
– an important element of the Neolithic productive economy.
Why are sickles an important indicator of the process of neolithization?
– They fit well into both main theories of the Neolithic expansion: human migration and cul-
tural diffusion, as well as into the idea of local variations of the multifactor Neolithic “impact”;
52 . .    : , 2007

– They are conservative and long-lasting element of the material culture and their origin
and evolution can be traced back;
– They are immanent and indisputable part of all variations and interpretations of the so-
called “Neolithic package” versus “Neolithic repertoire”;
– They are indisputable attributes to the so called “Neolithic revolution” (in spite of the
varied interpretation of this term);
– Despite their various types (as handle shape or material and mode of flint insertion)
sickles can be surely recognized due to the presence of handles and/or to the specific micro-
wear traces on the flint inserts.
During the last decade the author had the chance to make use-wear analysis of the flint
assemblages from the Neolithic layers of the main tells in Thrace – Karanovo, Azmak, Kapi-
tan Dimitrievo and Drama-Gerena (Early and Middle Neolithic); as well as from the open-air
Early Neolithic settlement of Kovačevo (Blagoevgrad district). (Fig. 1) A pilot study of the
flint assemblage from Koprivets (Ruse district) was also made. According to its context, this
assemblage refers to the “monochrome phase” of the Early Neolithic. So far this phase is only
sporadically attested and its stratigraphic position is yet to be specified. The study of the flint
assemblages from the Early Neolithic settlements at Dzhulyunitsa (near Veliko Turnovo) and
Yabalkovo (near Dimitrovgrad) is still in progress. The use-wear analysis is made by using mi-
croscopes MBC 10 (x 100) and METAM P1 (x 400).
From the very beginning of the Karanovo I culture in South-western Bulgaria and Thrace,
an abundance and considerable typological diversity of sickle inserts was present. Almost all
sickle inserts are characterized by angular diagonal polish which indicates their oblique inser-
tion in arched (or slightly curved) wooden or antler handles. (Fig. 2) This observation, although
not innovatory, confirms the existence and active use of the so-called “Karanovo type” sickle
(known from the publications of Mikov and Georgiev about the eponymous tell) during the
Neolithic (Fig. 3). The “Karanovo type” sickle as well as all main attributes of the Neolithic
culture in present Bulgaria appeared already developed in the very beginning of the period. So
a logical question raises of where its roots and proto-shapes were and how this specialized ag-
ricultural tool reached the Balkan Peninsula – a key zone for the spread of neolithization across
Europe. The earliest evidence for prototype of this sickle is from Syria: the period is PPNB
and the sites – tells alula, Assouad and Sabi Abyad II. On the basis of published information
the author has traced the distribution of the tool from the Levant to the Balkan Peninsula along
2 main possible routes: through the Mediterranean and Aegean islands to Peloponnesus and
then north to Thessaly and Northern Greece; through Central to North-western Anatolia and
the coastal areas of the Aegean and Marmara sea (Fig. 4). There is no a single answer to the
question how the sickle “joined” the Thracian Early Neolithic “package” as well as there is no
single and generally accepted scenario of the Neolithization of even neighboring regions such
as Southern and Northern Bulgaria. The problem is open … and the challenges are enough.
   • –   53

. 1. I–
( 100).
54 . .    : , 2007

. 2. : 1. ( . , . ); 2 – ( . 1958,
371, . 2); 3 – ( Sidera 1998, 225, fig. 9); 4- ( 2002, 287, .96).
   • –   55

. 3. : 1-2 – I; 3 – VI.

. 4.
a