Stolniceni – Excavation results from the 2017 campaign

During extensive field work, different aspects of the large Tripolye settlement Stolniceni I in northwest Moldova were investigated by an international team. These investigations allow a reassessment of these population agglomerations from the first half of the 4th millennium BCE in Moldova and their comparison with more eastern Tripolye sites. The investigations carried out in 2017 included the completion of the archaeo-magnetic survey of the settlement and the targeted archaeological excavations of various types of contexts. Besides the investigation of a ditch enclosing the site and test trenches in different parts of the settlement, the excavations focused mainly on two areas in the north of the settlement: On the one hand, excavations were carried out in a pottery production complex, including the uncovering of a pottery kiln, several pits and a dwelling. On the other hand, one specific ‘ash-mound-like’ anomaly was investigated which are arranged in regular intervals at the periphery of the settlement. The archaeological excavations were accompanied by comprehensive archaeobotanical analyses, which provide an insight into the subsistence and wood selection in the settlement, as well as permitting environmental reconstructions. A larger series of 14C-datings proves the occupation of the settlement Stolniceni I over a longer period between about 3925 and 3700 BCE

Bericht über die archäologischen Arbeiten in Petreni, Republik Moldau / Raport cu privire la cercetările arheologice de la Petreni, Republica Moldova

Im Rahmen der Untersuchungen wird eine feinchronologische Auflösung des Cucuteni-Tripol ́e-zeitlichen Fundortes Petreni angestrebt, welcher auf einer Fläche von ca. 30 ha ca. 500 Häuser im Siedlungsplan umfasst. Darüber hinaus soll das vollständige Ergraben von kompletten Befundeinheiten, d. h. von Gebäuden mitsamt den dazugehörigen Gruben, und das ganzheitliche Auswerten der Gefäße je Hausbefund schließlich die Datengrundlage für konkrete Hochrechnungen zur Einwohnerzahl Petrenis bilden

Rezultatele preliminare ale cercetărilor arheologice întreprinse în anul 2016 în aşezarea neoeneolitică de la Nicolaevca V / Preliminary results of the archaeological investigations in the Neolithic and Copper Age site of Nicolaevca V during the 2016 excavation season

The small scale excavations conducted in 2016 on the site of Nicolaevca V had as objective to substantiate the existing interpretation of the geophysical plan and to date the anomalies from the two areas of the site. By making three archaeological excavations of various sizes we found out that the anomalies in the northern part of the settlement relate to the Precucuteni-Tripolye A stage of the Cucuteni-Tripolye culture, while the anomalies in the southern part date back to the Neolithic and belong to the Linear Pottery Culture. On the early Copper Age settlement there were partially investigated a large underground complex (probably dugout) and a burnt surface dwelling. The investigation of the Linear Pottery culture settlement allowed us to obtain a complete section of a longhouse with its inner space and two afferent long pits