#Exhibit of the Month

This is a case for needles, unusually large in size. It was used in the Stone Age as a container for storing and preserving small and fragile items. The case was discovered by the famous researcher Ilie Borziac in 1996 during archaeological excavations at a multi-layered Upper Paleolithic site in the village of Cosauți, Soroca district. The artifact was found at a depth of 9.7-9.85 m in a loess-like occupation layer, among the remains of a seasonal deer hunter camp (in the so-called occupation layer 5). The occupation layer was dated by radiocarbon method to 18140 ± 180. The object is 17.6 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter. It was made of a thin-walled tubular bone, probably of a large bird (eagle, bustard or gull). The ends of the object were cut across. A round hole 5 mm in diameter with carefully polished edges was made at one of the ends.

The entire surface of the product is polished to a shine. It is ornamented with notches. The notches are applied rhythmically around the entire perimeter. They, without a doubt, indicate that the work was made by human hands. The length of the notches is 3-3.5 mm. They are located transversely, grouped in three rows. The number of notches in the rows is 8/8, 16/10, 14/7, with an average distance between notches of 4 mm.

The researchers who addressed the issue of the functionality of this rare archaeological piece, put forward several hypotheses. One of them is that the artifact probably had a multifunctional practical utility. According to one hypothesis, the presence of a hole at one end of the object indicates that it is a flute. This opinion was called into question due to the identification of only one obvious hole on the surface of the artifact. Most likely, the presence of the hole indicates that a thread was passed through it to hang the case with needles in order to protect and secure it. On the other hand, the relatively large size of this object also allows it to be used as a coupling. According to another version, this kind of vestiges could be used by hunters to remove skins from hunted animals, as a tube for pumping air under the skin of small animals in the process of skinning them. This not only greatly facilitated the removal of the skin, but also kept the subcutaneous fat intact.

Specimens of equally large sizes, similar to the one found at the ford on the Dniester, made of tubular bone with cut off epiphyses, were discovered at several Neolithic sites in Yakutia. Here they were used as needle cases. Some of them were found with needles inside, which confirmed their practical functionality.

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Journal „Tyragetia"

ISSN 1857-0240 E-ISSN 2537-6330

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

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Journal “Tyragetia”, published by the National Museum of History of Moldova, is accredited (category B) and listed in the National Register of scientific journals.

The journal was founded in 1991, the first issue saw the light in 1992. 15 issues have been published by 2006 with a frequency of one volume per year.

The new series of the journal is being published starting with 2007 in two issues annually: Vol. 1. Archaeology. Ancient History and Vol. 2. History. Museology.

In the new series of the journal “Tyragetia” are published studies of archaeology, history, museology, results of archaeological-historical interdisciplinary research, studies on heritage protection etc. The published materials cover the geographic area of the Balkan-Carpathian-Pontic space and the entire Eurasian continent.

The journal aims at promoting results of scientific investigations conducted by collaborators of the National Museum of History of Moldova and researchers from institutions in Moldova and from abroad.

28 issues of the journal were published in the period 2007-2020, with 860 scientific articles signed by authors from Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Germany, USA, Poland, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, etc.

The journal is included in the following databases:

Guidelines for authors

Ethical principles

The journal "Tyragetia" is guided in its activity by ethical principles set out in COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors

The journal asks authors to pay attention to the following aspects:

- the journal does not publish materials that may be considered plagiarized;

- for publication are only accepted novel, previously unpublished materials. The author is obliged to inform the editorial board if submitted article was submitted for publication in other journals or if there is an already published modified version of the same article;

- the editorial board is taking consideration of the fact that submitted for peer review and publication materials are confidential. Unpublished material will not be used under any circumstances by the editor, reviewers or publishers for personal purposes or any other purpose;

- we encourage all authors to be respectful and to be guided by academic fairness in articles containing criticism of colleagues. Otherwise, the editor reserves the right to reject or edit the material to meet these requirements;

- analysis and review of materials by the editorial board of the journal focuses exclusively on scholarly value, clarity of presentation and scholarly ethics requirements. The process of accepting articles for publication excludes all discrimination based on sex, age, race, religion, nationality or any other discriminatory criterion.

Structure of the journal

The journal has the following sections:

I. Studies

II. Materials and research

III. Reviews and book presentations

Upon need, two other compartments are added: Tribute and In memoriam

Instructions for authors

Contributions should be submitted in Romanian, Russian, English, German, French.

The volume of the manuscripts shouldn’t exceed 100,000 signs, (approximately 2,5 ens), including bibliography, summaries and illustrations.

The texts of the contributions should be submitted as digital copies: Microsoft Word; Times New Roman (with diacritics specific to the text language); Font size 12; Spaсe 1,5.

Articles should have keywords (5-7 words) and summaries (max. 1500 signs) in three languages: Romanian, Russian, English (German or French).

Plates (illustrations) should be provided in clear graphic (GRAYSCALE, format TIF, JPG – minimum 300 dpi and higher) and should respect the maximum size of page mirror (16×23,5 cm or 7,5×23,5, including the legend). Each object on the plate will be numbered using numbers (if necessary letters), using font Georgia, font size 10. Illustrative material must also be accompanied by a list of illustrations (Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, font size 10) with a comprehensive legend in Romanian, Russian, English (German or French).

Bibliographic notes should be presented in original, inside the manuscript text: (Teodor 2005, 172, fig. 7/4-6; Müller 1953, 123, Abb. 15/4-6; Петров 1999, 15, рис. 3/4-6).

Explanations, comments and references to archive and museum funds will be made at the footer (continuous numbering).

References to illustrations (figures) from text should be done in parenthesis, in short, according the following example (fig. 2/7; Abb. 2/7; рис. 2/7).

Bibliography should be presented in alphabetical order at the end of the text.

Citation of monographs:

Boardman 1988: J. Boardman, Grecii de peste mări. Colonizarea greacă și comerțul timpuriu (București 1988).

Козуб 1974: Ю.I. Козуб, Некрополь Ольвiï V-IV ст. до н.e. (Киïв 1974).

Citation of articles published in collections of scholarly articles:

Behren 2005: Claudia von Behren, Sklaven und Freigelassene auf bosporanischen Grabreliefs. In: (Ed. V. Cojocaru) Ethnic Contacts and Cultural Exchanges North and West of the Black Sea from the Greek Colonization to the Ottoman Conquest (Iași 2005), 167-194.

Ванчугов 1981: В.П. Ванчугов, Поселение позднего бронзового века Ялпуг-IV в Нижнем Подунавье. В сб.: (Отв. ред. П.О. Карышковский) Памятники древних культур Северо-Западного Причерноморья (Киев 1981), 91-102.

Citation of works published in periodical editions (journals, yearbooks etc.):

Postică 2005: Gh. Postică, Complexul monumental din piatră din secolul XV descoperit în citadela Orheiului Vechi. Revista Arheologică S.N. I/2, 2005, 371-387.

Рехо 1973: М. Рехо, Атическа рисувана керамика в тракийския погребален контекст. Наблюдения върху съдовете, открити в България. Aрхеология 31/2, 1973, 11-19.

Citation of materials published in volumes of symposiums and scholarly conferences:

Trohani 2004: G. Trohani, Aspects concernant des rituels de fondation chez les geto-daces. Tracians and circumpontics world. Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Thracology, Chișinău-Vadul lui Vodă, 6-11 september 2004, II (Chișinău 2004), 332-337.

Бибикова 1972: В.И. Бибикова, О доместикации лошади на Юго-Востоке Европы. Матерiали XIII конференцiï Iнституту археологiï АН УРСС, Киïв, 1968 (Киïв 1972), 106-110.

If abbreviations are used in text and bibliography, a list of abbreviations should be attached in the end.

Data about the author is attached at the end of the text: name, surname; academic degree; position; institution; address; telephone, fax, e-mail.

Deadlines

To facilitate the timely issue of the journal please respect the deadline for paper submission – March 1 of each year.

Taxes

The journal does not charge for processing and editing articles. Authors receive a copy of the journal in which the article was published without any charge.

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The journal allows authors to hold and keep copyrights on articles without restrictions.