Early Neolithic burials from Grumăzeşti – Deleni, Neamţ County, Romania

Abstract

Human skeletal remains of at least three individuals were unearthed during excavations at the Early Neolithic site of Grumăzesti – Deleni in northeast Romania (Moldova region) between 1968 and 1978. They comprise the articulated skeleton of an adult buried in a crouched position (M1), and the disarticulated remains of another adult and a juvenile found together in another part of the site and interpreted by the principal excavator, S. Marinescu-Bilcu, as a disturbed burial (referred to here as M2/ 1– 2). The human remains are described and analysed in terms of state of preservation, age-at-death, sex, stature and pathology. Results of radiocarbon dating and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from M1 and radiocarbon dates on herbivore bones from the site are presented and discussed.