Defining activity areas in the Early Neolithic (Starčevo-Criş) of southeastern Europe: A spatial analytic approach with ArcGIS at Foeni-Salaş (southwest Romania).

Through the years, there has been a great deal of archaeological research focused on the earliest farming cultures of Europe (i.e. Early Neolithic). However, little effort has been expended to uncover the type and nature of daily activities performed within Early Neolithic pit house dwellings in the northern Balkans. In this paper, we conduct a spatial analysis of the Early Neolithic (Starčevo-Criş culture) pit house levels of the Foeni-Salaş site in Romania to determine the kinds and locations of activities that occurred in these pit houses. Artefacts were piece-point plotted in the field to allow for their precise distributions to be identified within and between pit houses. Given the low frequencies of most artefact types, visual techniques are used to identify patterns. Such precise spatial data distribution yields a fuller understanding of how space was used at Foeni-Salaş. The results show that different types of activity areas are present within each of the pit houses. Comparison of interior to exterior artefact distributions demonstrates that most activities take place within pit house. Some of the activities present include weaving, food preparation, butchering, hide processing, pottery making, ritual, and other activities related to the running of households, and that each pit house was probably occupied by a small family unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]