Search

Animal and plant remains recovered from two archaeological sites in Iași city (NE Romania) were analyzed in this work. The aim of this study was to contribute to the economic and environmental evaluation of an old urban settlement. The analyzed sites, both of value in archaeological preventive research, are dated to the 18th–19th centuries. The archaeozoological analysis consisted of anatomical, taxonomic, and taphonomic identifications, quantification, estimations of age at slaughter and sex, and osteometry. The results revealed that the animal remains are of domestic origin, as indicated by traces of butchering, and can be mainly described in terms of their frequencies (i.e., number of identified specimens and minimum number of individuals), selection for slaughter, morphology, and size. The results show that animal husbandry (e.g., cattle, sheep/goat, pig, and horse) had significant importance in the economy of the settlement, and cattle were preferred for consumption. Few remains were identified for wild mammals (i.e., red deer, wild boar, and hare), birds, and mollusks. The phytolith analysis indicated that some plant resources were used in the economy of this settlement. The identification of opal silica bodies revealed the presence of grasses and cultivated cereals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site from Enisala-Palanca has been known in the specialized literature since the 1970s. Archaeological researches have revealed the existence of several living horizons dating from the Eneolithic (Gumelniţa Culture), the Early Iron Age (Babadag Culture) and the Medieval Period (14th-15th centuries), a period from which also dates an inhumation necropolis. This article is dedicated to the analysis of faunal remains coming from contexts attributed to the Babadag Culture (9th century BC). The collected faunal remains are numerous (3591) and coming from molluscs, fish, turtles, birds and mammals. There have been identified fragments coming from domestic mammals (1211 fragments attributed to seven species) and wild mammals (147 fragments attributed to seven species).

The archaeological researches carried out during 2017-2019 in the southwestern sector of the Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii” site resulted in the discovery of several archaeological structures (dwellings, auxiliary constructions, household pits, etc.), as well as rich and varied archaeological finds, which allowed their attribution to the early Hallstattian (Cozia-Saharna) and Thraco-Getic habitation layers. Simultaneously with the archaeological research, soil samples were taken for analysis from the cultural layer, from the pit 4/2018 and from an urn. Also, quite significant samples of the remains of the paleofauna were taken from the layer and from the complex, which were also subjected to careful analysis. At the same time, anthropological research of the skeleton from a catacomb burial in the habitation layer of the Early Iron Age, as well as the incomplete skeleton found near structure no. 3 from the Getic layer, were carried out.

The present study aims to briefly present the results of a preventive archaeological research, recently concluded in the peninsular area of Constanţa city. As a result of the archaeological excavations carried out here, it could be noticed that the high area of the ancient Tomis had a long and prominent dwelling. The phases belonging to the archaic and classical Greek period, as well as those from the late Hellenistic, Roman and late Roman periods, were identified. The rich archaeological material, as well as the state of preservation of the uncovered edifices, shows an uninterrupted housing for more than a millennium. The study has an introductory character, proposing a preliminary presentation, which later will be developed into a wider material, in which the results of several archaeological research carried out in the area will be corroborated.

Animal remains and phytoliths deriving from the Early Neolithic site of Rapoltu Mare-Seghi (Hunedoara County, Romania) are used for obtaining data regarding the palaeoenvironment of a Starčevo-Cris community. Bioarchaeological information in this paper is important considering that the beginning of the neolithization in the southwest Transylvania is still poorly documented. Archaeozoological analysis offers information on the settlement palaeoeconomy and phytoliths are reliable markers for the vegetal environment in this area. The most animal remains come from domestic mammals, especially cattle (Bos taurus) and sheep / goat (Ovis aries / Capra hircus); few remains of dog (Canis familiaris) and wild mammals (aurochs -- Bos primigenius and wild boar -- Sus scrofa) have been also identified. The absence of pig (Sus domesticus) suggests that the Starčevo-Cris community of Rapoltu Mare-Seghi had a high mobility, specific to shepherds. Phytoliths assemblages show the net dominance of grasses, several subfamilies of Poaceae family being attested. ELONGATE DENDRITIC forms are quite well represented, suggesting an anthropogenic accumulation; but it does not just mean that the cereal cultivation was practiced by the Rapoltu Mare-Seghi community. Bioarchaeological data indicate an open environment around the settlement, where people bred especially cattle and sheep/goat flocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tyragetia is the property of National Museum of History of Moldova and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The archaeological site Ulmetum fortress (located in Pantelimon Commune, Constanța county) was declared a historical monument of national importance (class A), being entered in the List of Historical Monuments - LMI (CT-I-s-A-02726.01) and National Archaeological Register - RAN (62618.01). The first stage of the research dates from the years 1911-1914 (Vasile Pârvan), when the walls of the fortress were uncovered (resulting in an area of about 2 ha) and the towers, of various shapes (circular at the corners, rectangular on the route of the curtains, in the form of U in the area of the two main gates), were investigated. The second stage of research (starting in 2004, and continuing today) allowed establishing a relative chronology of the entire archaeological site. The fortress seems to have been built at the end of the 4th century, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (379-395), over the remains of a mixed settlement (civil and military) from the 2nd- 4th century AD. An intense habitation is found in the 5th century AD, then a horizon of abandonment (between the last quarter of the 5th century and the middle of the 6th century AD due to Hunnic attacks), being then identified from an archaeological point of view a partial restoration in the 6th century AD, during the reign of Justinian (527-565). The Avar-Slavic attacks from the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century AD. deteriorated any form of continuity of living in the fortification. Only after almost three centuries the area seems to be populated again, during the entire period between the 9th-11th centuries (medieval-early period), perhaps even more with the return of Byzantine rule in the north of Dobrogea (after 971 AD). In the south-western sector (extramuros), an Ottoman-period hovel were discovered, dated on the basis of the discovered ceramics, to the 17th-18th centuries. In the specialized activity, a series of multidisciplinary researches were carried out. Thus, a PIXE analysis of the ceramic material paste was carried out, as well as anthropological studies on the material from the graves identified in the intramuros space (which dates from the beginning phase of the fortress and illustrates an important event in the history of late Roman Dobrogea - the entry of migratory populations after 376). Thus, this work presents preliminary results of the study of faunal remains recovered from the archaeological complexes dated V-VIth centuries AD. Remains from molluscs (Unio sp.), fish (the identified species is common carp), reptiles (a dermal plate from a turtle's shell), birds (most from the hen), and mammals were identified in the faunal sample. Most of the remains come from domestic mammals, but fragments from wild ones have also been identified. The identified mammal species are: cattle, sheep, goat, pig, horse, donkey, dog, camel, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, auroch, hare, fox. For domestic mammals, the highest proportion have the remains from cattle and sheep/goats; for wild mammals, red deer and roe deer have the highest proportion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]