UN NOU TIP DE SCEPTRU DE PIATRĂ ÎN PREISTORIA ROMÂNIEI
A new stone scepter type within the prehistory of Romania

Summary/Abstract: The item we present has been identified with the occasion of a fortuitous discovery made in 1964, in the northern part of the village Popricani (Iaşi County, Romania), on the high side, above River Jijia. The item was carved out of a quite soft sandstone plate, which allowed the sketching of some anatomical features. The maximal length of the object is 129 mm, and the maximal width (at the grips) – 73 mm, diminishing gradually towards the end of the beak, where it reaches only 20 mm. The plate is 17 mm thick. The item represents in a quite realistic manner, the head, the beak and the long neck of a water bird, the shape being obtained by cutting, except for the eyes which are rendered by means of cavities. Based on the rather accurately rendered details, we can say that the represented bird belongs to the order of Anseriformes, whose most famous representatives are the goose and swan. By its general aspect, the item falls into the category of zoomorphic stone scepters, that illustrate various animals, in realistic or abstract versions. Indirect data suggest as dating either the Upper Eneolithic (in the Cucuteni culture environment) or in the Late Bronze Age - Early Hallstatt.

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