## 4 Discussion
Additionally, the identification of some founding rituals supports the existence of such practices which, together with the presence of pigments, indicate an active spiritual life, based on specific rituals, but which cannot be associated with funeral rituals, which are still insufficiently known. Moreover, the presence of miniature vessels and pigments in prominent settlements with some prestige objects indicates the existence of elite, which may have been engaged in a series of religious rituals involving the use of pigments. However, ethnographic accounts suggest that the boundaries between the symbolic and practical domains are often blurred, and both can coexist in the same object, tradition or practice [1]. As mentioned, identifying the sources of pigment used in the Middle Bronze Age is a great challenge, but through physicochemical analyses and archaeological finds, some important directions can be drawn. Thus, regarding the area of provenance of the red pigment from _Batca Daamnei_, based on current information, three possible sources of jarosite located in the Eastern Carpathians can be indicated (Figure 17), in the counties of Suceava (Iacobeni), Harghita (Santimbru-Bai) and Covasna (Baraolt). Of these, only in the Iacobeni area is the presence of jarosite and jacobsite, a mineral mixture that would correspond to the results obtained from these case studies. Regarding the area of provenance of the pigment, some studies indicate a possible source of manganese pigments in the sedimentary-metamorphic ores of the Eastern Carpathians,  
Figure 17: Map of the settlements (white arrows) with miniature vessels (1. Costisa—_Cettituia_; 2. Pauleni—_Dambul Cettitu_; 3. Piatra Naumt—_Batca Daamnei_; 4. Poduri—_Dealul Ghindaru_; 5. Silistea—_Pe Cettituie_), metal finds from the area of interest (white circle) and the current sources of ocher exploitation ([PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]). the Bistrifei Mountains region, the Iacobeni area [15; 75]. Furthermore, the investigation of iron-manganese ratios [14] could be used to identify the possible source of origin, the following values being highlighted: 1/20--normal values for common soils; under 1/10-3/10--values for the Iacobeni area and 8/10-10/10--values for the Kryvyi Rih area. Thus, based on our ratios, which are 1/2-1/8, their source can be established, and according to the results obtained after comparing these values, the provenance of the pigments used was identified as being from the Iacobeni area. Moreover, in the absence of more detailed analyses on a reference sample, it is premature to indicate the source of raw material as the Iacobeni area. At this time, without further detailed investigation, we maintain the necessary scientific reservations regarding the source of the pigment, since our results could only be supported by circumstantial evidence at this point. However, the distance from the settlement to the possible indicated area would have allowed the pigments to be extracted. The hypothesis can also be supported by the mentioned archaeological discoveries, which demonstrate that the workspace was frequented by prehistoric communities to obtain raw materials. Next, regarding the limonite from the Siliste--_Pe Cetatuie_ settlement, the alluvial nature was established, but there are no mineral deposits in the vicinity of the area that would allow its formation. Thus, the yellow pigment was brought from other areas and processed for use. In this sense, the color obtained would be yellow, but the discovery from the _Batca Doammei_ settlement suggests a preference for the red color. Moreover, hot preparation of this pigment may indicate that the yellow ocher was transformed into red ocher by heating to temperatures above approx. 250 \({}^{\circ}\)C [32], which could be the case in the Silistea settlement. In this case, from a technological point of view, two possible stages of pigment processing were identified, one represented by the raw material (yellow ocher) and the other represented by the finished product (red ocher).