O îndeletnicire cu multe necunoscute. Prelucrarea pieilor de animale în perioada bronzului târziu
A Craft Surrounded by Mystery. Animal Hides Processing During the Late Bronze Age

Summary/Abstract: In this article, we feature the most significant technological stages of animal hides processing during the Late Bronze Age, in the North-West Pontic area. The topic is challenging because this occupation – due to organic raw material use – left no direct archaeological evidence. From this perspective, the reconstruction of the entire technological process involves both archaeological information, ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological data. Hence, we start with the relevance of animal breeding within the economy of Late Bronze Age communities, and we discuss the technological stages of animal hides processing to turn them into raw material. Unfortunately, because it is a perishable item, no animal hides artefacts have been found in archaeological contexts. However, the occupation providing this organic product has been partially reconstructed indirectly, relying on the artefacts used for scraping, cleaning, cutting, and perforating. Thus, the authors enumerate the bone artefacts used (i.e., notched scapulae, „skates”, piercers and bronze items used for hides perforation). Along with natural fibres processing, animal hides processing has been intensely practised: on the one hand, because the raw material was available and, on the other, because people obtained an entire array of products from these organic materials.

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