7 July 2009 | Human traces dating from the Early Mesolithic Period were recently discovered at the Schela Cladovei archaeological site in south-western Romania by experts from the University of Edinburgh and of the “Vasile Parvan” Bucharest Institute of Archaeology.

The unearthed finds indicate the beginning of human sedentary life, the transition from the food-gathering, fishing and hunting stage to a primitive civilization dating from 7100 to 5500 BC, Professor Adina Boroneanţ, the archaeological team’s coordinator recently told the Romanian press agency Agerpres.

“It is the first time when, for a period specific to the Romanian Neolithic, we come upon one of a kind traces. These are the ruins of an artisan centre producing malachite beads. We found such pieces in both unprocessed and processed stage. And what is more interesting, we even found the silex tools used to manufacture these ornaments,” Boroneanţ explained.

The findings from this year’s excavations, which will continue through the beginning of August, included fired ceramic pottery, oven vessels, arrow peaks and several fragments of a worship altar, the publication noted.

The traces have led the archaeologists to believe that the existence of the Schela Cladovei site, located on the left bank of the Danube, between the river and the railway and road from Timisoara to Bucharest, spans over 4,000 years.

“Taking into account that, however, there is a 300-year hiatus in the human existence on the banks of the Danube, we can assert that people withdrew deeper inside the territory, where they were better protected against flooding. So, somewhere nearby there must be a still undiscovered settlement,” Boroneanţ said.

The Schela Cladovei archaeological site was first excavated in the 1960s by Professor Vasile Boroneanţ. Between 1992 and 1996, Professor Clive Bonsall from the University of Edinburg conducted excavations at the site in partnership with Boroneanţ. According to information published on the website of the university’s School of History, Classics and Archaeology, by “employing strict sampling and recovery techniques, the excavations have provided better information on the economies of the two periods of occupation, and added substantially to our knowledge of architecture, burial practices and technology.”

“This part of Romania is highly important for understanding the crucial transition from the formation of human groups, and from hunting to farming, that occurred 8,000 years ago,” Bonsall told the publication.

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