Inside a Cucuteni Settlement: Remote Sensing Techniques for Documenting an Unexplored Eneolithic Site from Northeastern Romania

Abstract

This paper presents recent results of an integrated non-invasive investigation carried out in a previously unexplored settlement from northeastern Romania, belonging to the last great Eneolithic civilisation of Old Europe, the Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex. Although there is a long history of research concerning this culture, at only a handful of sites has archaeological research completed a comprehensive planimetric image. This makes it impossible to determine a typological evolution of the internal organisation of Cucutenian sites, both diachronically, across the three great phases of the culture (A, A−B and B for the Romanian area), and spatially, from SE Transylvania to the Republic of Moldova, and towards the steppes of the Ukraine. Accordingly, in certain environmental conditions, many essential behavioural aspects of Cucutenian communities are far from understood. Consequently, the generalisation and integration of non-invasive prospecting methods—Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), aerial photography, earth resistivity, magnetometry, and their integration through Geographic Information System (GIS)—clearly represents a feasible alternative for deciphering the Cucuteni culture. These complementary investigation methods were applied for this case study, emphasis being put on the conjoint use of datasets from each technique. On the basis of results recently obtained from the Războieni–Dealul Mare/Dealul Boghiu site, innovative characteristics are described concerning intra-site spatial organisation, a typology of the fortification systems, the existence of ritual or delimitation ditches, and the presence of habitations outside fortified areas.

Keywords

• ALS data
• aerial images
• geophysics
• Eneolithic
• intra-site spatial organisation
• Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex
• northeastern Romania