BrainMap

Alexandru Ciornei

PhD

scientific researcher III - INSTITUTUL DE ARHEOLOGIE "VASILE PIRVAN"

Researcher

Web of Science ResearcherID: AAA-3482-2019

Curriculum Vitae (26/01/2021)

Expertise & keywords

FIRE: Experimental investigations of stone artifact burning to infer prehistoric behavioral patterns in Late Pleistocene Romania Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de cercetare pentru stimularea tinerelor echipe independente - TE-2021
PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1071 2022 - 2024

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: INSTITUTUL DE ARHEOLOGIE "VASILE PIRVAN"

Project partners: INSTITUTUL DE ARHEOLOGIE "VASILE PIRVAN" (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://www.trialbyfire.ro

Abstract:

The interaction of humans with the fire goes before the period when they had control over it. Despite numerous accounts for the presence of fire in Paleolithic sites, burned chert is in general only treated quantitatively. A qualitative evaluation of the Paleolithic fire sites will bring a more nuanced picture of the specific part the fire played in the life of a Paleolithic community.

The FIRE project advances a new field of research in Paleolithic archaeology, by approaching the relation between hominins and fire through the analysis of the burnt chert pieces from two sites north of Danube.

The objectives of FIRE are: to conduct an experiment that shows the physical modifications undergone by chert tools during the process of burning; to develop an analytical model based on the identification of the values where relevant changes occur in the physical properties of chert; to apply the results to the study of burned chert assemblages coming from two Upper Paleolithic sites. The expected outcomes are obtaining information on fire temperatures (hence on the type of fuel), on the re-use of combustion features, and on behavioral patterns related to fire management.

Last Foragers of the Ice Age: Reassessing the Late Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Romania Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie, 2020
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-0653 2021 - 2023

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "VALAHIA" TARGOVISTE

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "VALAHIA" TARGOVISTE (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://iceageforagers.wordpress.com

Abstract:

The project proposes a thorough and interdisciplinary reassessment of the Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP, ca. 20-11 ka cal BP) archaeological record between the Eastern Romanian Carpathians and the Prut River (Eastern Romania). The specific aims are: (1) a robust numerical chronology of the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM)- early Holocene interval; (2) a high-resolution, multi-proxy paleoenvironmental reconstruction of this interval, based on comprehensive sampling and analyses of relevant loess and loess-derivate archives harboring LUP layers; (3) a refinement of the regional LUP archaeological taxonomy, based on hands-on study of both old and newly recovered lithic collections and reconsideration of eleven key archaeological sites; (4) a detailed assessment of LUP settlement and mobility patterns, following GIS mapping and modelling of recorded findspots, quantitative assessments of lithic assemblages, lithic raw material sourcing, and subsistence behavior. The project proposes a diachronic look at the relationship between the organization of technology, mobility and environmental variation at a regional scale. The initiative builds up as a chronological and geographical extension of previous research focused on the Eastern Carpathians and aim at introducing the regional record of Eastern Romania into the complex natural and cultural picture of post-LGM Europe.

Late Glacial forager adaptations in the Eastern Romanian Carpathians: the Ceahlău Basin record Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0262 2017 - 2019

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "VALAHIA" TARGOVISTE

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "VALAHIA" TARGOVISTE (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "VALAHIA" TARGOVISTE (RO)

Project website: https://ceahlauhuntergatherers.wordpress.com/

Abstract:

The project's main goal is a multi-scale understanding of Upper Paleolithic behavioral adaptation in their immediate and wider environmental and cultural contexts in a key region from central-eastern Europe, namely the Ceahlău Basin in the Eastern Romanian Carpathians, where 21 find spots have been explored archaeologically from the 1950’s on. The vast majority of human occupations here have been attributed to Gravettian and Epigravettian technocomplexes, but older and younger presences have also been reported. The project takes advantage of the exceptionally high density of settlements and of their chronological breadth, covering virtually the whole span of Upper Paleolithic, for an innovative reappraisal of the adaptive shifts experienced by local hunter-gatherer against changing climatic settings, in the wider context of UP in Eastern Romania and beyond.

The project address three related questions about human ecology that can help to improve our understanding of forager adaptations in central-eastern Europe: (1) To what extent did the cultural and bio-geographic forager responses to the changing environments of the Marin Isotope Stages 3-2 in the Ceahlău Basin area vary across sites and environmental context? (2) How is variation through time in techno-economic choices, land-use patterns and resource exploitation related to early and later Upper Paleolithic lithic industries across MIS 3-2? (3) What sort of relationships are evident between variation in human ecological and cultural behaviors? The research objectives and methodology are specifically designed to provide answers to these questions. They include a detailed state-of-the-art paleoenvironmental and chronometric assessment of the key geological archives and archaeological sequences, fresh field researches and surveys, and a comprehensive reassessment of previous archaeological information from 5 key settlements in the area.

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