Poiana Ciresului (Roumanie): 20,000 year old pendant discovered

Source - http://www.archaiologia.gr/en/blog/2013/08/21/20000-year-old-pendant-discovered/

A 20,000-year-old stone pendant, with unique decorative elements, has been discovered in Piatra Neamt (north-west of Bucharest) by a team of researchers from Targoviste, director of the Gheorghe Dumitroaia Neamt County Museum Complex told Agerpres. The pendant is the third object of its kind ever discovered in Romania.

The discovery was made at the Paleolithic archaeological site from Poiana Ciresului. In the same area, archaeologists also discovered bones of reindeer and bison, since the settlement was used as a hunters’ camp, according to Dumitroaia.

Archaeological research in Poiana Ciresului, located in the Batca Doamnei area in Piatra Neamt County, started 20 years ago. However, this year’s discoveries are among the most important ones, as they complete data that was already available on the existence of the Gravettian culture in Romania. The Gravettian toolmaking culture was a specific archaeological industry of the European Upper Palaeolithic prevalent before the last glacial epoch.

Among the discoveries made at the Poiana Ciresului site in the past few years there was also a very well-preserved necklace made of snails, which is an extremely rare object. The newly discovered objects will be included in the Paleolithic artifacts collection of Targoviste History Museum, in the new section of human evolution. The department will open at “Stelea” Galleries.

The team of researchers believes that the archaeological site in Poiana Ciresului is the most important in South-East Europe for the Upper Paleolithic, given that here they discovered more items from the Upper Paleolithic period than in the whole country. For this reason the team wants to expand research. The research team is headed by University Professor Dr. Marin Carciumaru, who was also present in Piatra Neamt.