arheologie medievistica in Romania
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Early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni -"Petruca" in Codrii Orheiului The settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is located in the central part of the Prut-Dniester area, in the point „Petruca” near Păhărniceni village, Orhei... more
Early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni -"Petruca"
in Codrii Orheiului
The settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is located in the central part of the Prut-Dniester area, in the point „Petruca” near Păhărniceni village, Orhei district, Republic of Moldova, at a distance of 40 km North of Chișinău, in the historical-geographical area Codrii Orhei (=The Orhei Forest) (Fig. 1, 2). It has a length of about 800 m on the East-West axis and about 500 m on the South-North axis (Fig. 5-6). It is located on a smooth plateau with northern orientation, at an altitude of 185-190 m, exceeding by about 158-160 m the water level of the river Răut, located 4 km north (Fig. 4-6).
The early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is a remarkable example of continuity of an agricultural community for over a thousand years in a small geographical area at the eastern extremity of the Romanian world. Located in the heart of the Orhei Codri, this settlement went through all the known historical stages of the Middle Ages in the Romanian space (Fig. 1, 2). The settlement is one of the few multilayered archeological sites which also has representative houses from most of the known historical epochs in the Carpathian-Dniester area. As a multi-layered archaeological site, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement has 12 phases, which belong to five major historical periods, including: I. The prehistoric period: a) the Cucuteni-Tripillia culture phase – 5th – 4th millennia BC, b) Multi-cordoned ware culture (Mnogovalikovaya) phase – 22th – 18th centuries BC, c) the phase of the Noua culture – 15th –13th centuries BC; II. Early Bronze Age: a) Chișinău-Corlăteni culture phase – 12th – 10th centuries BC, b) the phase of the Poienești-Lucașeuca culture – end of the 3rd – 1st centuries BC; III. Late Ancient period: the phase of the Sântana de Mureș-Cerneahov culture – 3rd – 4th centuries; IV. Early Medieval Age – a) the phase of the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca culture (5th – 7th centuries), b) the Lozna-Dodești type culture phase (8th – 9th centuries), c) the Dridu culture phase (10th – 11th centuries), d) the Brănești type culture phase (12th – 13th centuries) and e) Lozova-Vorniceni type culture phase (first half of the 14th century) and V. Late Middle Ages: the phase of the Moldavian medieval culture (15th – 16th centuries). The medieval habitat within the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement compared to other historical periods is the most representative, summing up over 78.0% of the total identified archaeological materials.
The Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement was discovered in 1957. After a control survey from 1958 (P. Bârnea), the settlement had been studied through systematic archaeological excavations in 1961-1963 – on an area of 376 m2 (I. Hîncu) and in 1988 – on a surface of 860 m2 (Gh. Postică and V. Kavruk). The cultural layer of the settlement has a thickness varying from 0.80-1.10 m to 1.20-1.40 m. Compared to other sites of the same period in the eastern Carpathian area, the early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni is notable for the intensity of the archaeological material. Within the site, on an area of 1236 m2 were discovered: 28 constructions (dwellings, outbuildings, autonomous fire constructions, metallurgical installations, ditches from fencing, household pits) (Tab. 2), 27351 fragments of medieval pottery (Tab. 3-23), 242 pieces of inventory (Tab. 25), 636 pieces of iron ore (= 51.1 kg), 1331 pieces of iron slag (= 149.2 kg), 1427 pieces of burnt clay, 359 fragments of burnt clay trays, 92 fragments of burnt clay nozzles from metallurgical furnaces (Tab. 24) and 5506 animal bones (Tab. 26).
The analysis of the archeological material, denotes a predominance of the vestiges from the 10th – 14th centuries – 21760 ceramic fragments (79.6% of the total number of medieval ceramics), followed by the period of the 5th – 9th centuries – 3519 fragments (12.9%) and the 15th – 16th centuries – 2072 fragments (7.5%).
Within the medieval settlement from Păhărniceni, there are six phases of inhabitation, which correspond to the cultural aspects of the Prut-Dniester area: a) the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca type phase (5th – 7th centuries), b) the Lozna-Dodești type (8th – 9th centuries), c) the Dridu type (9th – 11th centuries), d) the Brănești type (12th – 13th centuries), e) the Lozova-Vorniceni type (14th century) and f) the Moldavian medieval type (15th – 16th centuries).
In the settlement were discovered 13 medieval houses, including 3 – from the 5th – 7th centuries, 5 – from the 8th – 9th centuries and another 5 – from the 10th – 13th centuries. Among them, there are two categories of dwellings: a) terrestrial, represented by a construction from the 5th – 7th centuries (no. 26) and b) deep, represented by 12 constructions (Fig. 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 36), including, 2 from the 5th – 7th centuries (no. 32, no. 44), 5 from the 8th – 9th centuries (no. 1-B, no. 1-C, no. 4, no. 25, no. 33) and another 5 from the 10 – 13th centuries (no. 1-A, no. 2, no. 3, no. 30, no. 31). The houses are divided into two types by their building method: a) houses with overlapping beam structure (“Blockbautechnik” type) - documented in 7 cases: no. 44 (5th – 7th centuries), no. 1-B, no. 1-C, no. 25, no. 33 (8th – 9th centuries) and no. 1-A, no. 2 (10th – 13th centuries) and b) dwellings with a structure built on pillars – documented in 5 cases: no. 32 (5th – 7th centuries), no. 4 (8th – 9th centuries) and no. 3, no. 30 and no. 31 (11th – 14th centuries). The fire constructions in the houses include 18 installations, represented by stone ovens (11 constructions), clay ovens (one construction) and open hearths (6 constructions).
The discovered auxiliary and production constructions are represented by 13 complexes, including an outbuilding from the 8th – 9th centuries (no. 39-A), 5 household pits – from the 8th –9th centuries (no. 1, no. 43) and the 10th – 14th centuries (no. 4, no. 38, no. 35), a stone oven from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1), 3 hearths of fruit drying from the 10th – 13th centuries (no. 1, no. 27, no. 34), 3 furnaces for reducing iron ore from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1, no. 2, no. 29) and an ore enrichment furnace from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1).
Paleobotanic analyzes showed that in the early medieval period in the settlement of Păhărniceni, soft wheat, rye, barley, oats and millet corn were grown. At the same time, archaeozoological analyzes showed the following composition of the herd of domestic animals in the early medieval period: cattle – 41.5%, ovicaprine – 19.1%, pig – 24.5% and horse – 14.9%.
Out of a total of 242 pieces of inventory, 212 pieces represent household tools (household tools – 68 pieces, textile tools – 87 pieces, leather tools - one piece, agricultural tools – 4 pieces, metallurgy and blacksmith tools – 28 pieces, tools for construction works – 6 pieces), 1 piece of clothing, 20 ornaments, 6 pieces of worship and 3 pieces of armament. Among them are 2 pieces made of silver, 5 of bronze, 6 of copper, 78 of iron, 1 of lead, 5 of glass, 14 of shale, 3 of sandstone, 93 of burnt clay, 30 of bone and 5 of ceramics. Most of the listed objects date from the 10th – 14th centuries – 223 units, followed by the 8th – 9th centuries – 15 pieces and the 5th – 7th centuries – 4 pieces. Among the most common are the following pieces: 49 iron knives, 80 clay / shale / ceramic spindles, 19 bone awls, clay nozzles from metallurgical furnaces, 6 beads of bass or burnt clay, 4 bronze / glass bracelets, 3 bone amulets, 3 iron arrows and 2 bronze pendants.
The Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement is organically part of the territorial group of early medieval settlements in the historical-geographical region of Codrii Orheiului. This territorial group includes 41 archeological sites, which in proportion of 80% have structures made up of 2-4 levels of early medieval habitation, the settlements with a single cultural horizon being rare (Fig. 2, Tab. 27). This group of settlements are located in the lower part of the Răut river basin, occupying an area of about 40x40 km. Within this group of settlements, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” location occupies the central place. Through a complex multi-layered structure, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement presents itself as a unique archaeological phenomenon, a model of early medieval habitation in the Codrii Orheiului area, which at the same time has a special historical and cultural significance for the entire Romanian space.
in Codrii Orheiului
The settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is located in the central part of the Prut-Dniester area, in the point „Petruca” near Păhărniceni village, Orhei district, Republic of Moldova, at a distance of 40 km North of Chișinău, in the historical-geographical area Codrii Orhei (=The Orhei Forest) (Fig. 1, 2). It has a length of about 800 m on the East-West axis and about 500 m on the South-North axis (Fig. 5-6). It is located on a smooth plateau with northern orientation, at an altitude of 185-190 m, exceeding by about 158-160 m the water level of the river Răut, located 4 km north (Fig. 4-6).
The early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is a remarkable example of continuity of an agricultural community for over a thousand years in a small geographical area at the eastern extremity of the Romanian world. Located in the heart of the Orhei Codri, this settlement went through all the known historical stages of the Middle Ages in the Romanian space (Fig. 1, 2). The settlement is one of the few multilayered archeological sites which also has representative houses from most of the known historical epochs in the Carpathian-Dniester area. As a multi-layered archaeological site, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement has 12 phases, which belong to five major historical periods, including: I. The prehistoric period: a) the Cucuteni-Tripillia culture phase – 5th – 4th millennia BC, b) Multi-cordoned ware culture (Mnogovalikovaya) phase – 22th – 18th centuries BC, c) the phase of the Noua culture – 15th –13th centuries BC; II. Early Bronze Age: a) Chișinău-Corlăteni culture phase – 12th – 10th centuries BC, b) the phase of the Poienești-Lucașeuca culture – end of the 3rd – 1st centuries BC; III. Late Ancient period: the phase of the Sântana de Mureș-Cerneahov culture – 3rd – 4th centuries; IV. Early Medieval Age – a) the phase of the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca culture (5th – 7th centuries), b) the Lozna-Dodești type culture phase (8th – 9th centuries), c) the Dridu culture phase (10th – 11th centuries), d) the Brănești type culture phase (12th – 13th centuries) and e) Lozova-Vorniceni type culture phase (first half of the 14th century) and V. Late Middle Ages: the phase of the Moldavian medieval culture (15th – 16th centuries). The medieval habitat within the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement compared to other historical periods is the most representative, summing up over 78.0% of the total identified archaeological materials.
The Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement was discovered in 1957. After a control survey from 1958 (P. Bârnea), the settlement had been studied through systematic archaeological excavations in 1961-1963 – on an area of 376 m2 (I. Hîncu) and in 1988 – on a surface of 860 m2 (Gh. Postică and V. Kavruk). The cultural layer of the settlement has a thickness varying from 0.80-1.10 m to 1.20-1.40 m. Compared to other sites of the same period in the eastern Carpathian area, the early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni is notable for the intensity of the archaeological material. Within the site, on an area of 1236 m2 were discovered: 28 constructions (dwellings, outbuildings, autonomous fire constructions, metallurgical installations, ditches from fencing, household pits) (Tab. 2), 27351 fragments of medieval pottery (Tab. 3-23), 242 pieces of inventory (Tab. 25), 636 pieces of iron ore (= 51.1 kg), 1331 pieces of iron slag (= 149.2 kg), 1427 pieces of burnt clay, 359 fragments of burnt clay trays, 92 fragments of burnt clay nozzles from metallurgical furnaces (Tab. 24) and 5506 animal bones (Tab. 26).
The analysis of the archeological material, denotes a predominance of the vestiges from the 10th – 14th centuries – 21760 ceramic fragments (79.6% of the total number of medieval ceramics), followed by the period of the 5th – 9th centuries – 3519 fragments (12.9%) and the 15th – 16th centuries – 2072 fragments (7.5%).
Within the medieval settlement from Păhărniceni, there are six phases of inhabitation, which correspond to the cultural aspects of the Prut-Dniester area: a) the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca type phase (5th – 7th centuries), b) the Lozna-Dodești type (8th – 9th centuries), c) the Dridu type (9th – 11th centuries), d) the Brănești type (12th – 13th centuries), e) the Lozova-Vorniceni type (14th century) and f) the Moldavian medieval type (15th – 16th centuries).
In the settlement were discovered 13 medieval houses, including 3 – from the 5th – 7th centuries, 5 – from the 8th – 9th centuries and another 5 – from the 10th – 13th centuries. Among them, there are two categories of dwellings: a) terrestrial, represented by a construction from the 5th – 7th centuries (no. 26) and b) deep, represented by 12 constructions (Fig. 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 36), including, 2 from the 5th – 7th centuries (no. 32, no. 44), 5 from the 8th – 9th centuries (no. 1-B, no. 1-C, no. 4, no. 25, no. 33) and another 5 from the 10 – 13th centuries (no. 1-A, no. 2, no. 3, no. 30, no. 31). The houses are divided into two types by their building method: a) houses with overlapping beam structure (“Blockbautechnik” type) - documented in 7 cases: no. 44 (5th – 7th centuries), no. 1-B, no. 1-C, no. 25, no. 33 (8th – 9th centuries) and no. 1-A, no. 2 (10th – 13th centuries) and b) dwellings with a structure built on pillars – documented in 5 cases: no. 32 (5th – 7th centuries), no. 4 (8th – 9th centuries) and no. 3, no. 30 and no. 31 (11th – 14th centuries). The fire constructions in the houses include 18 installations, represented by stone ovens (11 constructions), clay ovens (one construction) and open hearths (6 constructions).
The discovered auxiliary and production constructions are represented by 13 complexes, including an outbuilding from the 8th – 9th centuries (no. 39-A), 5 household pits – from the 8th –9th centuries (no. 1, no. 43) and the 10th – 14th centuries (no. 4, no. 38, no. 35), a stone oven from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1), 3 hearths of fruit drying from the 10th – 13th centuries (no. 1, no. 27, no. 34), 3 furnaces for reducing iron ore from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1, no. 2, no. 29) and an ore enrichment furnace from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1).
Paleobotanic analyzes showed that in the early medieval period in the settlement of Păhărniceni, soft wheat, rye, barley, oats and millet corn were grown. At the same time, archaeozoological analyzes showed the following composition of the herd of domestic animals in the early medieval period: cattle – 41.5%, ovicaprine – 19.1%, pig – 24.5% and horse – 14.9%.
Out of a total of 242 pieces of inventory, 212 pieces represent household tools (household tools – 68 pieces, textile tools – 87 pieces, leather tools - one piece, agricultural tools – 4 pieces, metallurgy and blacksmith tools – 28 pieces, tools for construction works – 6 pieces), 1 piece of clothing, 20 ornaments, 6 pieces of worship and 3 pieces of armament. Among them are 2 pieces made of silver, 5 of bronze, 6 of copper, 78 of iron, 1 of lead, 5 of glass, 14 of shale, 3 of sandstone, 93 of burnt clay, 30 of bone and 5 of ceramics. Most of the listed objects date from the 10th – 14th centuries – 223 units, followed by the 8th – 9th centuries – 15 pieces and the 5th – 7th centuries – 4 pieces. Among the most common are the following pieces: 49 iron knives, 80 clay / shale / ceramic spindles, 19 bone awls, clay nozzles from metallurgical furnaces, 6 beads of bass or burnt clay, 4 bronze / glass bracelets, 3 bone amulets, 3 iron arrows and 2 bronze pendants.
The Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement is organically part of the territorial group of early medieval settlements in the historical-geographical region of Codrii Orheiului. This territorial group includes 41 archeological sites, which in proportion of 80% have structures made up of 2-4 levels of early medieval habitation, the settlements with a single cultural horizon being rare (Fig. 2, Tab. 27). This group of settlements are located in the lower part of the Răut river basin, occupying an area of about 40x40 km. Within this group of settlements, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” location occupies the central place. Through a complex multi-layered structure, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement presents itself as a unique archaeological phenomenon, a model of early medieval habitation in the Codrii Orheiului area, which at the same time has a special historical and cultural significance for the entire Romanian space.