A hoard of astragals discovered in the Copper Age settlement at Iepureşti, Giurgiu County, Romania

Abstract

This article presents the discovery of 25 abraded and perforated ovicaprid astragals in a burned house at the Gumelnita Copper Age settlement at Iepuresti in Southern Romania. They were analysed in terms of their processing, of the taphonomic processes that affected them (burning), and of their spatial distribution. These astragals were also analysed in the wider context of more or less similar discoveries made mainly south and east of the Carpathian Mountains, in Romania, but also south of the Danube, in Bulgaria.

Keywords

• abraded and perforated astragals
• Copper Age
• Gumelnita settlement
• spatial analysis
• contextual analysis