Archaeological Techniques and Research Center
Bronze Age Fortified Settlement Excavation and Survey
June 13 - July 10, 2010
The Eastern Carpathian mountains are central to the prehistory of Transylvania and Moldavia, as a source of mineral wealth, including copper, gold, and salt, and as an barrier to movement between the two regions. Identifying the cultural connections and the movement of people across the Carpathians is essential to understanding the prehistoric development of Transylvanian and Moldavian cultures. In the Ciuc Depression, near the city of Miercurea Ciuc, the Ghimes pass connected the Olt River valley (a major north-south corridor in Transylvania) to the Siret river in Moldavia. As a testament to the importance of the Ghimes pass, a multi-occupation site is situated near both ends.
During the Middle Bronze Age (2300 B.C. – 1500 B.C.) this pass served as the contact zone between Transylvanian and Moldovan cultural groups. The area was occupied by first by the Costişa-Ciomortan culture, primarily located in Moldova, and the later Wietenberg culture in Transylvania. Recent research has suggested that the pass may have served as a cultural boundary between the Bronze Age settlements in eastern Transylvania, called Costisa-Ciomortan, and the Costisa sites in Moldavia. Evidence for a Transylvania variant of this culture group can be found, among other places, at the fortified settlement near the western end of the pass, named Soimeni.
The fortified site of Soimeni, which means "of the eagles", sits near the Ghimes pass and the gateway between Transylvania and Moldavia. Previous excavations at the site located an embankment and ditch, and a structure which may have been a tower. Excavations within the embankment have discovered structures belong to different Bronze Age occupations: an earlier Costisa-Ciomortan occupation and a later Wietenberg occupation. Additionally, two burials have been found at the site, one belonging to an infant and the other to a young child. On account of its locations near the mountain pass, this settlement was of significant strategic and social importance.
During the 2010 field season we will be continuing excavation of one of the Wietenberg structures. We will be documenting the relation of the Wietenberg structure to the earlier cultural levels, as well as the structures relation to the embankment. We will also conduct a geographic survey of the settlement and local landscape, using a total station (EDM) and GPS units, in order to evaluate the settlement’s relation to the nearby Ghimes pass.
Soimeni Tell
Bronze Axes
