Maria GUROVA

Maria GUROVA is an Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She specializes in chipped stone assemblages from the Holocene sequence in the Balkans, SW Anatolia, and the southern Levant, with a focus on raw material procurement, techno-typological analysis, and functional interpretation of flint artefacts. Her work often explores the distinction between sacred and utilitarian objects in prehistoric contexts.

Research Interests include:

• Lithic raw material provenance and distribution networks
• Use-wear and residue analysis
• Technological evolution of prehistoric tools (e.g., superblades, denticulates)
• Neolithic and Bronze Age cultural interactions
• Geoarchaeology and archaeomineralogy

Key Publications (2024–2025) analyze agricultural toolkits in NW Bulgaria, flint outcrop discrimination, Early Bronze Age pile-dwellings, and superblade biographies. Her World Neolithic Congress 2024 paper contextualizes Bulgarian prehistory within the Fertile Crescent's Neolithisation. Earlier works (2023–2014) examine Bronze Age sickles, Tash Bair assemblages, and Quaternary lithic industries.

She participates in international projects like the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP) and collaborates across institutions, including institutions in Tübingen and Sofia University. Her methodologies integrate macro/micropetrography, LA-ICP-MS, GIS, and experimental archaeology.