Long-distance imported lithic raw materials at the upper palaeolithic sites of the Bistrița Valley (Carpathian Mountains), Eastern Romania

In the Bistrița valley, a variety of different materials were used for producing knapped tools during the Upper Palaeolithic. Among these, chert is the most common. Previous research carried out in this region has indicated the possible use of flint imported from the Moldavian Plateau (over 100km away) although until now no petrographic studies have been carried out in order to verify this assumption. More recently the authors of this paper have suggested also the Dobrudja region (300km away) as an origin of some lithic artefacts. Indeed, the material from which some of the chert artefacts in the Bistrița valley were made is of good quality and visually appears very similar to the flint found in the Moldavian Plateau. In order to help determine the provenance of the chert artefacts, some of the suspected imported artefacts were observed in thin section. They were compared to thin sections of geological samples from known sources of Moldavian flint, Balkan flint from the Dobrudja region, and local cherts. The results of this study support the theory of imported flint from the Moldavian plateau as well as the Dobrudja region, although the majority of material appears to be of local origin. Full reference: Crandell, O.N., Niţă, L., and Anghelinu, M.. 2013. Long-Distance Imported Lithic Raw Materials at the Upper Palaeolithic Sites of the Bistrița Valley (Carpathian Mts.), Eastern Romania. Lithics: the Journal of the Lithic Studies Society 34: 30-42. Keywords: trade, flint, Upper Palaeolithic, Gravettian, Eastern Carpathians