Economic significance of Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 in the Gumelnița culture (5th mill. BC): from food to technical resources

The region between the Danube and the Carpathians is a key area for research into prehistoric periods, particularly those relating to the 5th millennium BC. This period is marked by the evolution of the Kodjadermen-Gumelnița-Karanovo VI technocomplex characterized by significant changes in human subsistence strategies, social organization, and technical innovations. Key evidence of these upheavals includes: stratified sites that were occupied for generations, with villages rebuilt in the same locations. Archaeologically, the increased frequency of hunting practices during the Gumelnița period is particularly evident in the intensive exploitation of red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758), both as a source of food and as a raw osseous material for the manufacture of equipment. Our study explores this phenomenon along two dimensions: 1) Economic value: the analysis of cervid remains provides insights into hunting strategies, seasonality, methods of collecting antlers from the skull or the butchering patterns of animal carcasses. Zooarchaeological data also contribute to understanding how cervids were integrated into the diet and, more generally, into the economy; and 2) Technical use: the role of cervids in artifact production. We will study which anatomical elements of the skeleton were used (bones, teeth, antler) and which operational patterns were applied to them to produce which types of objects. A discussion will focus on the case of red deer canines that were not used directly but reproduced as adornments in other raw materials. Comparisons will be made between phases A2 and B1 of the Gumelnița culture, and case studies will consider finds from a series of important tell settlements from the Lower Danube.