Back to the Roots. Ablest Prospection Techniques for Rediscovering the Chalcolithic Settlement of Cucuteni—Cetățuie, Romania: A Short Retrospective, Novel Recent Data, Prospects for the Future

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter we discuss the important contribution of non-invasive surveys, along with minimally invasive pedological analyses, in the evaluation, re-evaluation and rigorous documentation of buried archaeological heritage. We propose also an overview of the research background, especially by discussing some key moments in promoting these interdisciplinary methods and techniques in Romanian archaeology. Therefore, we consider a review of the contributions to geophysical research, as well as the main initiatives in the field of pedological studies applied to archaeological contexts. The aim is to highlight the indisputable need for such initiatives in a modest national historiographical landscape.In support of our approach, we have chosen to focus on one of the most well-known and publicised prehistoric archaeological monuments in Romania, the eponymous site of the Chalcolithic Cucuteni Culture (toponym Cetățuie). The site has benefited from special attention over time, but still with multiple questions without an answer.138 years from its discovery and over 50 years from the latest archaeological research, the site is still surprising. Previous research, reflected in dozens of articles, studies and monographs and considered quasi-completed, is, as the latest investigations prove, away from an outcome. Older observations suggested the existence of a prolongation of habitation or satellite settlements near the known settlement on the Cetățuie promontory, but suppositions were not confirmed by previous research. Recent magnetometer surveys and pedological investigations have revealed that the Cucuteni settlement has expanded considerably at a time, with a few tens of highly fired dwellings arranged on rows, with accessways between them, enclosed by other ditches. The new information radically changes the conception over the planimetry and the dynamics of habitation on Cetățuie, opening the way for a large project on the research of this famous settlement, in the context of the European Chalcolithic.