Сърнево. Вкопани структури от късния неолит, ранната и късната желязна епоха и римския период. Том 1. Къснонеолитното ямно поле
Sarnevo. Pits from the Late Neolithic, the Early and Late Iron Age, and the Roman Period. Volume 1. The Late Neolithic pit field. ISBN 978-954-9472-51-6 (print). ISBN 978-954-9472-52-3 (online)
Keywords:
Спасително археологическо проучване, късен неолит, VI хил. пр. Хр., ямно поле, праисторически ритуали, археологическа карта, радиовъглеродно датиране, биоархеология, археометрия, Archaeological rescue excavation, Late Neolithic, 6th mill. calBC, pit field, prehistoric rituals, landscape archaeology, radiocarbon dating, bioarchaeology, archaeological scienceAbstract
In the last decade, several Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic (late 6th and 5th mill. BC) pit fields were identified and excavated in a large area significantly contributing to the knowledge of prehistoric ritual practices in the Eastern Balkans. After several millennia, in the Iron Age, the same places had been often used for similar purposes. Such is the case with the archaeological site of Sarnevo. It is located on the Azmaka Creek, in Radnevo Municipality, Stara Zagora District (Upper Thrace), and was excavated (total area of 6750 m²) over three seasons from 2008-2010, within the framework of a development-based project for the Trakia highway. The uncovered remains date to the second phase of the Late Neolithic Karanovo III–IV period (according to the Bayesian analysis of the radiocarbon dates, the Neolithic pit field was in use for a relatively short period of time: 5375/5320 – 5335/5290 cal BC); the second phase of the Early Iron Age (10th to 6th century BC); the Late Iron Age (5th to 3rd century BC); 2nd–3rd and 3rd–4th century AD.
This volume presents the excavation results of the Late Neolithic pit field and the analyses of its artifact assemblages. Twenty-one chapters by 22 authors include the research background and methodology, stratigraphy and chronology of the site; its physical geography, geology and environment; an archaeological map of the microregion along the Azmaka Creek at Sarnevo; the results of the magnetic survey and the archaeological excavation (the Late Neolithic pit field and the respective ‘ritual package’ of the Sarnevo community); the artifact assemblages, with detailed catalogs (ceramic vessels, figurines, cult tables, chipped discs and polishers, spindle whorls and loom weights, ornaments from clay, stone, shell and minerals, bone and stone industry); radiocarbon dating; faunal and plant remains; as well as geological, mineralogical, petrographic and gemological analyses of artifacts.
This volume is the first complete publication of a prehistoric pit field in Bulgaria and represents a significant contribution to the debate on this type of archaeological sites.
