Mobility and social identity in the Mid Upper Paleolithic: New personal ornaments from Poiana Cireșului (Piatra Neamț, Romania)

Most of the Paleolithic art and ornamentsdiscovered in Romania come from the site of PoianaCireșului. Four Paleolithic layers have been studied at this site—the oldest one belongs to the Early Gravettian period between 30 ka and 31 ka BP. The ornamentsdiscovered in this layer include perforated shells from three species of mollusks: freshwater Lithoglyphus naticoideand Lithoglyphusapertus as well as Homalopoma sanguineum(an exclusively Mediterranean species). PoianaCireșului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineumshells were found, and the importance of this discovery is stressed even more by the very long distance between the site and the nearest source located over 900 km away. This find suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area as well as a possible movement of populations from the south of the continent to the east of the Carpathians with significant implications in understanding human group mobility and the origin of the Early Gravettian in this area. Furthermore, PoianaCireșului is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoidesshells were used. The unique association of perforated shells—not found in any other Gravettian settlement—contributes to the identity of the Paleolithic community of PoianaCireșului through their ornaments.