Fern Horine, the British Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, visited the Department of Archaeology’s excavations in the village of Climăuții de Jos on the banks of the river Dneistr.
Image above: Professor Paul Pettitt, Ambassador Horine and her husband David, with Durham undergraduates excavating another area of the camp site. Here, stone tools were knapped (shown dotted around the trench centre) and mammoth tusk was worked.
Co-directed by our Department's Professor Paul Pettitt and by Dr Vitalie Burlacu of the Orheiul Vechi Cultural-Natural Reserve, the excavations focus on a 25,000-year-old camp of Palaeolithic mammoth hunters. Six undergraduates and six PGRs (postgraduate research students) form the UK team.
Professor Paul Pettitt with Ambassador Horine and her husband David. Durham students are excavating a trench with 25,000-year-old camp site elements, including an articulated vertebral column of a mammoth, a pelvis or scapula of a mammoth and fragments of tusk, surrounded by stone tools. The mammoth elements were probably used as a substructure to a tent.
So far, the excavations have unearthed various mammoth bones and tusks, stone tools, and a piece of jewellery made from a pierced fossil mollusc shell stained red with ochre. Research questions include establishing the age of the earliest members of Homo sapiens in the region, the migration patterns of their animal prey including mammoth, reindeer and bison; the hunting methods used, and the spatial organisation of their campsite. The team – and the British Embassy – seek to develop collaborations between the two countries and to raise the profile of Palaeolithic (‘Stone Age’) archaeology in the region.
Professor Paul Pettitt, Ambassador Horine and her husband David, standing next to a trench being excavated by Durham students. Mammoth tusk was found in the far section (wall).
Our Department of Archaeology is a leading centre for the study of archaeology and is ranked =5th in the world (QS World University Rankings by subject 2024). We are an inclusive, vibrant and international community. Our students develop knowledge and gain essential and transferable skills through research-led teaching and lab-based training.
