Angela Simalcsik

• Doctor of Medicine
• Researcher at Romanian Academy

Articolul prezintă date antropologice detaliate, obţinute în urma analizei resturilor scheletice provenite din 11 morminte din necropola de la Strahotin-Ponoare (jud. Botoșani, România), sit arheologic cercetat în anii 1981-1988 de Paul Șadurschi, care a scos la lumină vestigii din 28 de morminte, majoritatea de incineraţie. Materialul osteologic e...

Analiza resturilor scheletice umane din cimitirul medieval de la Costești-Cier/Lângă Școală a fost realizată printr-o abordare interdisciplinară, pentru a descifra evoluția culturală și socială a comunității. În intervalul anilor 2012-2023 au fost descoperite 54 de complexe funerare, incluzând morminte de inhumație și reînhumări, dar și oase recupe...

The Yamnaya archaeological complex appeared around 3300 bc across the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and by 3000 bc it reached its maximal extent, ranging from Hungary in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. To localize Yamnaya origins among the preceding Eneolithic people, we assembled ancient DNA from 435 individuals, demonstrating t...

În anii ´20 ai secolului trecut, arheologul C. S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor a cercetat o serie de movile funerare în zona de câmpie a Olteniei, în localitățile Plenița și Perișor din județul Dolj. În timp ce săpăturile de la Plenița au fost publicate, descoperirile de la Perișor au fost doar menționate în literatura de specialitate, fără a fi prezentate î...

Barrow T1 at Târgu Frumos-Vest de oraș, subjected to interdisciplinary research in 2019-2020, yielded 12 burials. Of these, only ten contained human skeletal remains. Nine skeletons originated from Bronze Age graves, and one was attributed to the Roman Era. The Yamnaya horizon is represented by five adult males that exhibit robust skeletal characte...

A relatively recent find has yielded novel data on the burial behaviour of the humans living during the second period of the Iron Age in the Lower Mureș valley area. It is a cremation underneath a stone mantle mound, whose grave goods contained dress and adornment items datable by late 2nd century BC and first half of the 1st century BC. The paleoa...

The archaeological research carried out in 2021 in the perimeter of the archaeological site from Crivești-"Dealul Viei" (Strunga commune, Iași County) led to the discovery of 11 features, among which a grave, a pit with uncertain functionality, a hearth and eight household pits. All datable features belong to the first half of the Late Iron Age, be...

S ummary The nomadic Sarmatians dominated the Pontic Steppe from 3rd century BCE and the Great Hungarian Plain from 50 CE until the Huns’ 4th-century expansion. In this study, we present the first large-scale genetic analysis of 156 genomes from 1st- to 5th-century Hungary and the Carpathian foothills. Our findings reveal minor East Asian ancestry...

The preventive archaeological investigations from 2015 from the former Episcopate, at present the Archbishopric of Roman and Bacău (the new title was decided by the decision of the Holy Synod on September 13, 2009) gave the opportunity to research a new segment of the outer courtyard of the religious sanctuary. The obtained results allowed the comp...

The Yamnaya archaeological complex appeared around 3300BCE across the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and by 3000BCE reached its maximal extent from Hungary in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. To localize the ancestral and geographical origins of the Yamnaya among the diverse Eneolithic people that preceded them, we studied ancient...

This article aims to introduce readers to the world of trepanned skulls, specifically focusing on cases from the Iron Age. This is a fascinating and intriguing topic for various fields. We will begin by defining cranial trepanation and then briefly present the origin, antiquity, and spread of this intervention, as along with the typology proposed b...

Între anii 1994 și 1997, în urma exploatării unui sit arheologic din satul Ciulnița (județul Ialomița) ca sursă de sol pentru Autostrada Transeuropa N-S, au fost realizate săpături arheologice de salvare. Descoperirile au fost valorificate monografic, însă recent informațiile disponibile cu privire la tumulii II și III au fost completate de analiza...

Three new graves belonging to the Poienești-Lucașeuca Culture discovered at Mihoveni�Cahla Morii (Șcheia commune, Suceava County, Romania). In 2017, two Poienești�Lucașeuca type cremation burials were accidentally discovered in the Mihoveni-Cahla Morii site. Through this study, we want to introduce these discoveries into the specialised literature,...

The article develops a topic rarely discussed in the literature – osteitis pubis, identified in the old adult man buried in feature 41 of the Hoisești‑Fântâna Maiorului necropolis in Iași County. The skeleton is partially represented and well preserved. The following pathologies were registered: periodontitis, degenerative osteoarthritis, thoracic...

This article presents a case of artificial cranial modification discovered in a Middle Bronze Age grave in the Ciulnița locality of Romania. The skeletal remains from Grave 38 in Mound II belonged to an adult male and indicated a circular/annular or fronto-sincipito-occipital type of artificial cranial modification, depending upon the classificatio...

With origins in Late Palaeolithic, intentional cranial deformation is a well-known custom throughout humankind history. In this article, we discuss the most ancient find of this type known north of the Lower Danube, yielded by a burial mound investigated at Smeeni (Buzău County, southern Romania). The find, dated to the first half of the 3rd millen...

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the anthropological data that have accumulated over time regarding the human skeletal remains unearthed in the burial features at the Iclod Pămăntul Vlădicii Neolithic site. The need for reassessment and re-evaluation of osteological collections from older excavations, such as the one at Iclod, is emphasize...

In the paper we present the case of a 40-45 years-old adult male, representative of the Sarmatian communities, for whom an impressive burial mound was built. This tumulus was excavated in 2015 through preventive excavation in Filipeni (Leova, Republic of Moldova). Antemortem trauma was identified on one of the skeletal elements – a vertebra with an...

The analysed skeletal series comes from the necropolis located in Hoisești‑Fântâna Maiorului (Iași County, Romania). It consists of 31 individuals, of which 18 are adults (12 males and six females) and 13 are sub‑adults (12 children and a teenager). The average age of death in adults is 37.7 years for males and 35.0 years for females. The sex ratio...

The paper is based on the study of skulls with traces of artificial deformation discovered in archaeological sites in Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Israel, Syria, Armenia, Cyprus and Iran. What we set out to do is a pioneering attempt to bring together in one study all the discoveries regarding artificially deformed skulls in this area, from the second half...

The article presents the case of an adult male with a biological age of at least 60 years, with numerous pathologies and musculoskeletal stress markers. His skeleton was discovered in the perimeter of the Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii” settlement, in a catacomb type of grave pit investigated in 2019. The discovery belongs to the Early Iron Age,...

The grave from Fîrlădeni-La Văleanu (Căușeni District, Republic of Moldova), which is part of a still unexplored medieval necropolis, was discovered in 2015 and dated, according to the funeral ritual, in the 17th-18th centuries CE. The skeleton belongs to a female, with a biological age at death of approx. 17-18 years. Biomorphometric characteristi...

The article presents the case of an adult male with a biological age of at least 60 years, with numerous pathologies and musculoskeletal stress markers. His skeleton was discovered in the perimeter of the Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii” settlement, in a catacomb type of grave pit investigated in 2019. The discovery belongs to the Early Iron Age,...

This article presents the anthropological data resulting from the analysis of the skeletons from the two graves investigated in a tumulus located in the north of the Pruto-Nistrean area, namely, tumulus 1 from Rogojeni in the Șoldănești district. Both graves date from the Early Bronze Age, being assigned to the Yamnaya migratory communities. The in...

In the focus of this article are two graves G18 and G51 discovered in the Iclod B-D cemetery, one of the two cemeteries related to the well-known fortified settlement at the Iclod-Pămăntul Vladicii point, chronologically framed at the border between the Neolithic and the Copper Age. The graves are distinguished from the rest by several aspects, but...

The grave from Fîrlădeni-La Văleanu (Căușeni District, Republic of Moldova), which is part of a still unexplored medieval necropolis, was discovered in 2015 and dated, according to the funeral ritual, in the 17th-18th centuries CE. The skeleton belongs to a female, with a biological age at death of approx. 17-18 years. Biomorphometric characteristi...

The authors highlight the outcomes of preventive archaeological research carried out at the Neamț Monastery, in Neamț County (eastern Romania) in 2019. Though it was a limited type of research, consisting of the investigation of two surfaces (i.e., a survey inside and a section outside the church founded in 1497 by Stephen the Great (1457-1504), th...

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, peo...

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, peo...

The article presents the context and multiple investigations of an unexpected discovery, made during the 2020 excavations, from the Ruginoasa-Dealul Ruginii Chalcolithic site in north-eastern Romania. The site, known before our research (aerial photography, geomagnetic survey, test trenches) only for its visible traces of WW2, belongs to the Cucute...

Significance Subsistence shifts from hunting and gathering to agriculture over the last 12,000 y have impacted human culture, biology, and health. Although past human health cannot be assessed directly, adult stature variation and skeletal indicators of nonspecific stress can serve as proxies for health during growth and development. By integrating...

In 2015, at Alcedar, a village located in northeastern Bessarabia, on the bank of the Dniester, six burial graves were discovered by chance. These tombs are part of a late Mediaeval cemetery, belonging to the old place of worship, i.e. the wooden church attested in Alcedar in 1807 in the Parish registers of Bessarabia. The defuncts were buried acco...

Odată identificaţi, indicatorii stresului musculo-scheletic/ocupaţional, numiţi și adaptări funcţionale sau entezopatii mecanice, pot aduce o serie de informaţii legate de activitatea cotidiană a unui individ, iar corelaţi cu starea de sănătate și stilul de viaţă, conturează osteo-biografia unei comunităţi sau populaţii. Acest studiu aduce în discu...

Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ~12,000 years before present (BP). Subsistence shifts from hunting and gathering to agriculture are hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a simulta...

Ancient DNA sampling methods-although optimized for efficient DNA extraction-are destructive, relying on drilling or cutting and powdering (parts of) bones and teeth. As the field of ancient DNA has grown, so have concerns about the impact of destructive sampling of the skeletal remains from which ancient DNA is obtained. Due to a particularly high...

The paper discusses the results of trial archaeological investigations undertaken into the recently discovered site of Broscăuți –Hârtop (Botoșani County), in the north-eastern part of today’s Romania. The site is strongly affected by landslides, leading to restrictive excavation possibilities and a focus on partially destroyed features. A Late Cha...

The archaeological excavations undertaken by the members of the Institute of Archaeology in Iași, in the courtyard of the famous Pogor House, brought to light several human remains and other archaeological artifacts belonging to the soviet soldiers, that were buried there after the end of World War II. The Soviet cemetery from Pogor House was disma...

A NEW NECROPOLIS DISCOVERED IN TREBUJENI (ORHEIUL VECHI, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA). ANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA. Until 2014, on the territory of the former medieval city of Orheiul Vechi four necropolises were known, of which two attributed to the Golden Horde (14th century) and others two to the period of the Moldovan city (15th-17th centuries). The necropoli...

The necropolis from Strahotin - Ponoare, Dângeni commune, Botoșani County is among the most representative monuments of the early Late Iron Age in the East Carpathian Area. It was excavated by the late Botoșani archaeologist, Paul Șadurschi. Its untimely death in 2010 prevented the publication of the finds. Considering the importance of the finds,...

Ancient DNA sampling methods--although optimized for efficient DNA extraction--are destructive, relying on drilling or cutting and powdering (parts of) bones and teeth. As the field of ancient DNA has grown, so have concerns about the impact of destructive sampling of the skeletal remains from which ancient DNA is obtained. Due to a particularly hi...

The Sântana de Mureş-Černjachov necropolis from Tigheci (The 2018 Campaign). Palaeoanthropological Data. In 2018, the archaeological investigations in the Sântana de Mureș-Černjachov necropolis in Tigheci were focused on recue of partially destroyed burial graves. Five graves (G.6 - G.10) and a portion of another partially destroyed burial pit or g...

Among the numerous vestiges of the Iron Age at Saharna Mare / "Dealul Mănăstirii", there are 11 finds of human remains, which are of particular interest for the interdisciplinary research of the site. In this article, we propose combining archaeological data with anthropological ones. The analyzed skeletal material comes from six types of archaeolo...

The Cucuteni-Trypillia complex (CTC) flourished in eastern Europe for over two millennia (5100–2800 BCE) from the end of the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Its vast distribution area encompassed modern-day eastern Romania, Moldova and western/central Ukraine. Due to a lack of existing burials throughout most of this time, only little is known a...

Preliminary data regarding archaeological and interdisciplinary research at Crihana Veche (Cahul District). Excavations of 2016 and 2017. The article presents the results of the archaeological and interdisciplinary investigations on the estate of the Crihana Veche village (Cahul district), carried out within two archaeological campaigns (2016 and 2...

Rescue excavations on the cemetery of Chernyakhov type from Tigheci. The Tigheci necropolis of Chernyakhov culture is located on the north-east edge of the village on the northern slope of the Tigheci River valley and on the east side of an approximately north-south oriented valley, called the Valea Coznei/Cozna Valley, near La Lutărie natural land...

Preliminary data on the rescue excavations of the necropolis in the north-eastern part of the Costești-Gârlea medieval town from 2017. Among the various components that make up the medieval archaeological assemblage of Costești-Gârlea there is a large cemetery with burials, located on the left side of the valley of the Botna River, in the north-eas...

Une tombe médiévale avec d’anneaux à boucles decouverte à Butuceni, la région d’Orhei (notes préliminaires). Les recherches archéologiques de 2018 dans la fortification de Butuceni-West, au-delà des résultats prévus, a apporté une surprise. Déjà pour la deuxième année consécutive, sur le promontoire de Butuceni, les pluies torrentielles de l’été on...

Interdisciplinary research at the Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii” site, Rezina District. The archaeological researches carried out during 2017-2019 in the southwestern sector of the Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii” site resulted in the discovery of several archaeological structures (dwellings, auxiliary constructions, household pits, etc.), as...

The present paper aims to analyse two graves and other stray finds dated to the Roman period and discovered in 1979 and 1983 in the site of Ripiceni-La Stâncă (Botoșani County/RO). Grave 1 belongs to an adult female (around 55-60 years old) with the skull intentionally deformed in the first years after her birth. The calvaria of the deceased no. 2...

The aim of this paper is to present a series of discoveries attributed to the Turkic nomadic populations (11 th-12 th centuries), resulting from archaeological research conducted in 2018 and 2019 in several burial mounds placed in the localities of Târgșoru Nou and Inotești from Prahova County, as well as Lunca from Buzău county. It includes descri...

The aim of this paper is to present a series of discoveries attributed to the Turkic nomadic populations (11th– 12th centuries), resulting from archaeological research conducted in 2018 and 2019 in several burial mounds placed in the localities of Târgșoru Nou and Inotești from Prahova County, as well as Lunca from Buzău county. It includes descrip...

A SARMATIC TOMB DISCOVERED AT MUNTENI, GALAȚI COUNTY-Abstract-In 2020, in Munteni, Galați county, at a location known as "Ferma Prisaca", a burial tomb was unearthed. The tomb is located on the3 edge of a hill, a place from where clay is frequently taken, both for domestic needs and for construction. The bones were piled around the skull and were c...

Necropolis No. 2 from Pietroasele. Archaeological and palaeoanthropological data. Necropolis no. 2 from Pietroasele was discovered in 1976. During the several excavation (archaeological) campaigns 48 burial (43 inhumation burials, 4 cremation burials and one cenotaph) were discovered. The archaeological material from the graves is rich and varied,...

The Cucuteni-Trypillia complex (CTC) flourished in eastern Europe for over two millennia (5100-2800 BCE) from the end of the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Its vast distribution area encompassed modern-day eastern Romania, Moldova and western/central Ukraine. Due to a lack of existing burials throughout most of this time, only little is known a...

THE SÂNTANA DE MUREŞ-ČERNJACHOV NECROPOLIS FROM TIGHECI (THE 2017 CAMPAIGN). PALAEOANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA. Between 2013 and 2015, the Sântana de Mureș-Černjachov necropolis (IV century AD) from Tigheci was investigated through the surface prospecting by the specialists of the National Archaeological Agency. In 2015, archaeologists from the National A...

Rezumat: Primele cercetări perieghetice pe teritoriul satului Crihana Veche au fost întreprinse în 1966, când se descoperă şi primele situri arheologice. În 1992 a fost cercetat un grup de patru tumuli, din care trei scitici. În tumulul 2 au fost cercetate trei morminte de inhumaţie şi două şanţuri, în formă de semicerc, ce flancau mormintele din p...

In 2015, five graves belonging to a plane Sarmatian cemetery dated in the 1st-2nd centuries AD were discovered at Medeleni-Ungheni. At least four of the five graves discovered at Medeleni were disturbed in antiquity. Four skeletons belonged to adult individuals (only women) and one skeleton comes from a child. Life expectancy at birth for this demo...

The aim of this study is to provide extensive information regarding the results of the archaeological research carried out during the autumn of 2017 in Coada Izvorului locality, Măneşti commune (Prahova County). Within less than two weeks, the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology excavated using mechanised equipment an earth mound with...

This paper focuses on the re-analysis of a feature from the Late Neolithic Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă-Columbia D (Constanţa County, Romania), excavated at the middle of the last century. The analysis took place in several stages: processing of archaeological information, anthropological re-evaluation, combination of the two sets of data, and in...

Symbolic trepanation is an invasive procedure, performed on living individuals, without creating a direct connection between the endocranial space and the outer world. Most cases of symbolic trepanation come from the archaeological discoveries made in the Carpathian Basin and in Bulgaria, dating from Early and Middle Age. For the space between Prut...

The emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21...

In 2015 at Medeleni-Ungheni were discovered five graves belonged to a plane Sarmatian cemetery dated in the 1 st-2 nd centuries AD. At least four of the five graves discovered at Medeleni were disturbed in antiquity. Four skeletons belonged to adult individuals (only women) and one skeleton comes from a child. Life expectancy at birth for this demo...

With the migration of the Sarmatians to the west, the artificially / intentionally deformed skulls area begins to expand. On the territory of Romania this practice has never become a mass phenomenon. Sarmatic funerary complexes on the territory of Romania with skeletons with artificial deformed skulls are quite numerous. Unfortunately, only few are...

The authors present their historical and anthropological observations concerning bone fragments belonging to a person buried in the 4th century AD in the monastical rupestral complex in Dumbraveni, Constanta county, in Dobruja (4th-6th century AD). It is believed that this person, buried inside the rupestral monastery is marked from an anthropologi...

European farmers' first strides from the south The early spread of farmers across Europe has previously been thought to be part of a single migration event. David Reich and colleagues analyse genome-wide data from 225 individuals who lived in southeastern Europe and the surrounding regions between 12000 and 500 BC. They analyse this in combination...

Marți, 25 aprilie 2017, trecut de ora 10: după o revenire fulgerătoare a iernii, azi Primăvara pare să fi învins. Am ajuns în Smeeni la cules de cochilii de melci. Dincolo de garduri...un complex agroindustrial, hale și tractoare, alei de ciment, alte acareturi. O groapă ce se cască sub nivelul terasei, plină de mărăciniș crescut haotic, e martorul...

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming involved profound cultural and technological changes. In Western and Central Europe, these changes occurred rapidly and synchronously after the arrival of early farmers of Anatolian origin [1; 2 ; 3], who largely replaced the local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers [1; 4; 5 ; 6]. Further east, in the B...

Data S1. Dataset of Ancient Samples Used for Population Genetic Analyses, Related to Figures 1, 2, and S3 and STAR Methods

Data S2. Results of the Outgroup f3 Statistics for the Romanian Genomes, Related to Figures 2 and S3 and STAR Methods

Farming was first introduced to southeastern Europe in the mid-7th millennium BCE - brought by migrants from Anatolia who settled in the region before spreading throughout Europe. However, the dynamics of the interaction between the first farmers and the indigenous hunter-gatherers remain poorly understood because of the near absence of ancient DNA...

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming involved profound cultural and technological changes. In Western and Central Europe, these changes occurred rapidly and synchronously after the arrival of early farmers of Anatolian origin [1–3], who largely replaced the local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers [1, 4–6]. Further east, in the Baltic regi...

BEAR CLAWS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF URSIDAE WITHIN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF THE FIRST AND SECOND IRON AGE EAST OF THE CARPATHIANS The cremation burial of a warrior rider discovered at Mana (Orhei), endowed with an important set of weapons of Latène type, ritually destroyed, also contained 10 distal phalanges of brown bear's hind paws (Ursus Arct...