GROUND STONE TOOLS FROM MOȘNIȚA NOUĂ – OBJECTIVE 4 SITE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/jaha.13.2.2026.1472Keywords:
Neolithic ground stone tools, chisel, quern, axe, adze, stone bracelet, Vinča culture, polished stoneAbstract
The rescue digging of the year 2025 from Moșnița Nouă-Objective 4 site, caused by the real estate project of constructing five buildings, required the archaeological research of five surfaces, noted S1-S5, covering each aproximatly 200 square meters. They were discovered 54 complexes, all pits withe different destination, dated to the Vinča culture, probably the A3 phase, considering the pottery sherds they contained. Ninetheen of those complexes had ground stone tools comprising chisels, axes, adzes, querns, millstones, polishers and a bracelet, counting a total of 41 pieces, with the prevalence of querns followed by the chisels, but the unsharped tools were the majority. Most of the items, especially the chisels, axes and adzes were deteriorated, having significant exfoliations or being fragmentated especially on the cutting edge or on the hafting edge. Considering that last aspect but also the usage of soft rocks (mostly limestones and sandstones), we conclude that the ground stone industry was modest in this community as in other from the region due to the lack of close stone resources; however the assembly of stone tools and the extend of the field research give us a pertinent idea of what this neolithic industry looked like in a usual community from the middle Neolithic.
Downloads
References
COMȘA 1969
Comșa, M., Donées concernant la civilisation Vinča du sud·ouest de la Roumanie, Dacia 13, 11-44.
DRAȘOVEAN/ȚEICU/MUNTEAN 1996
Drașovean, F./Țeicu, D./Muntean, M., Hodoni. Locuirile neolitice și necropola medievală timpurie (Reșița: Muzeul de Istorie al județului Caraș Severin).
DUMITRESCU 1954
Dumitrescu, H., Hăbășești. Monografie arheologică (București: Editura Republicii Academiei Populare Române).
DUNCA 2015
Dunca, M., Etape ale prelucrării uneltelor din piatră șlefuită în situl de la Porț-”Corău”, Acta Musei Porolissensis 37, 39-51.
DUNCA 2016
Dunca, M., Clasificarea uneltelor din piatră șlefuită din situl de la Porț-”Corău”, Analele Banatului S.N. 24, 87-105.
DUNCA 2019
Dunca, M., Chisels of polished stone in the Neolithic of north-west Romania, Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 6/2. DOI: 10.14795/j.v6i2.396.
DUNCA 2019a
Dunca, M., Utilajul litic șlefuit de la Zăuan-Dâmbul cimitirului. In: Forțiu, S. (ed.), Arheovest VII/1, In Honorem Sabin Adrian Luca, Interdisciplinaritate în arheologie, Timișoara, 23 noiembrie, 2019 (Szeged), 105-118.
DUNCA 2025
Dunca, M., Utilajul litic șlefuit din neoliticul și eneoliticul timpuriu în nord-vestul României: studiu de caz: situl de la Porț-„Corău” (Timișoara: Editura Universității de Vest).
DUNCA/BĂCUEȚ CRIȘAN 2018
Dunca, M./Băcueț Crișan, S., The ground stone industry at Pericei-Keller tag. A secondary production center?, Documenta Praehistorica 45, 2018, 52-63. DOI: 10.4312dp.45.5
FÁBREGAS VALCARCE/ DE LOMBERA HERMIDA/ RODRÍGUEZ RELLÁN 2012
Fábregas Valcarce, R./de Lombera Hermida, A./Rodríguez Rellán, C., Spain and Portugal: long chisels and perforated axes. Their context and distribution. In: Pétrequin, P./Cassen, S./Errera, M./ Klassen, L./Sheridan, A. (eds.), Jade. Grandes haches alpines du Néolithique européen Ve et IVe millénaires av. J.-C., Tome 2 (Franche-Comté), 1108-1135.
IGNAT 1987
Ignat, D., Așezarea neolitică de la Tășad (jud. Bihor) aparținând grupului Suplacu de Barcău, Crisia XVII, 9–17.
IGNAT 1998
Ignat, D., Grupul cultural neolitic Suplacu de Barcău (Timișoara: Mirton).
LAZAROVICI/MAXIM 1993
Lazarovici, Gh./Maxim, Z., Săpăturile arheologice de la Iclod (Campania 1988), Apulum 27-30, 23-57.
MARȚIȘ/POPESCU 2002-2003
Marțiș, F./Popescu, O., Uneltele de piatră şlefuită din locuirile neolitice de la Hodoni (jud. Timiş), Analele Banatului, S.N., 10-11, 21-43.
MĂRUIA et alii 2012
Măruia, L./Floca, C./Berzovan, A./Borlea, O./Micle, D./Stavilă, A./Bolcu, L., Geografia istorică a zonei Moșnița Veche. Rezultatele cercetărilor arheologice de teren (Cluj-Napoca: BioFlux).
MICU/HAITĂ/MIHAIL 2005-2006
Micu, C./Haita, C./Mihail, F., Quelques observations sur les pieces en pierre polie découvertes dans l’etablissement eneolithique de Carcaliu (dép. de Tulcea), Peuce S. N. 3-4, 9-40.
PÉTREQUIN et alii 2012
Pétrequin, P/Cassen, S/Klassen, L./Fábregas Valcarce M., La circulation des haches carnacéennes en Europe occidentale. In: Pétrequin, P./Cassen, S./Errera, M./Klassen, L./Sheridan, A. (eds.), Jade. Grandes haches alpines du Néolithique européen Ve et IVe millénaires av. J.-C., Tome 2 (Franche-Comté), 1015-1045.
PÉTREQUIN et alii 2019
Pétrequin, P./Cassen, S./Errera, M./Pailler, Y./Prodéo, F./Pétrequin, A-M./Sheridan, A., Disc-rings of Alpine rock in western Europe. Typology, chronology, distribution and social significance. In: Gleser, R./Hofmann, D. (eds.), Contacts, Boundaries & Innovation in the Fifth Millennium. Exploring developed Neolithic societies in central Europe and beyond (Leiden), 305-334.
ȘTEFAN et alii 2017
ȘTEFAN, C. E.,/DIMACHE, M.,/PETCU, Rz./PALCU, D., The polished stone industry from Șoimuş – la Avicola (Ferma 2), Hunedoara county, Materiale și Cercetări Arheologice (serie nouă) 13, 171-198.
https://ran.cimec.ro/?codran=157843.03 accesed in 24.03.2026.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 JOURNAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal, we use CC BY-NC-ND license (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs) wich only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).





