The Mesolithic bone industry from Kula, eastern Serbia

Abstract

The Iron Gates area (Serbia and Romania) is well known for its extraordinary Mesolithic finds, first discovered almost fifty years ago, which initiated still ongoing debate on the relations between foragers and farmers and the very origin of Neolithic communities in this region. The questions regarding relative and absolute chronology and social relations have received the most attention, while some aspects of the material culture are still not analysed in detail, especially when it comes to the sites on the right (Serbian) bank of the Danube. Most sites are situated in the Upper and Lower Gorge, and the only site with an excavated Mesolithic sequence downstream from the Gorge is Kula near Mihajlovac. In this paper a small collection of about fifty bone and antler artefacts from Kula is analysed. This is the first analysis of the material from the right bank of Danube to be focused on the bone industry only. The analysis incorporates the questions of raw material choice, technique of manufacture and typological classification. Antler was the dominant raw material, but also large and medium-sized ungulate bones were used for making pointed tools, projectile tips, chisels, wedges, percussion tools, hafts and sleeves. They were made at the site and most were used for hunting and woodworking. Decorative or non-utilitarian objects were not discovered. The limited tool-type range, along with other archaeological evidence, suggests that Mesolithic settlement at Kula may have had a different character from those in the Upper Gorge.