Attitudes towards prehistoric objects in Romanian folk culture (19th-20th century)

Abstract

In the present study we intend to reconstruct the attitudes of Romanian peasants towards the vestiges of prehistoric material culture. They have been in contact with a diversity of prehistoric artefacts: polished and perforated stone axes, silex arrow tips, chisels, scrapers, spindle whorls, jewellery, etc. We try to find answers to the following questions: What people thought about the origin of prehistoric artefacts? What meanings were associated with such artefacts? What was their place in the collective imaginary? Which were the uses of these objects?

Keywords

• archeology
• popular beliefs
• collective imaginary
• prehistoric artefacts
• thunderstones
• magical practices