Preliminary investigations on the chipped stone industry of the Copper Age settlement of Malnaş Băi (Málnásfürdő)-Füvenyestető (Covasna County, Romania)

The chipped stone collection unearthed during the 2014-2016 archaeological excavations from the Copper Age settlement at Malnaş Băi was analysed from a multidisciplinary perspective. The aims were to differentiate between the processing technologies of the local rocks and of the long-distance raw materials and to assess the technological traditions that characterise their production. The elemental composition of a selected sample set of the artefacts determined using Prompt Gamma Activation analysis (PGAA) verified the presence of both local and long-distance raw materials. In addition, the PGAA results corroborated that differentiation in both categories requires further field work and comparison. Attribute analysis, typology and use-wear investigations were employed for identifying the main features of the lithic industry in each class of raw materials. These results showed that it might be possible to differentiate between two technological traditions. One of them is represented by the on-site production of small blades made of obsidian, in the Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztúr specific technology. As the PGAA proved, this raw material is a long-distance commodity, but the technological structure of the assemblage suggests its local processing. The other tradition, visible in the flint (also a long-distance material, though not knapped on-site) and local raw materials, is more characteristic for the Copper Age from the east of Carpathian Mountains, meaning the production of medium-long blades through the punch technique. As for the retouching technology and the use of implements, no differentiation based on raw materials could be observed. These preliminary investigations on the chipped stone artefacts from Malnaş Băi allowed the identification of long-distance transfer of lithic materials and technologies and to address their role in the large networks that existed during the Copper Age.