Late Tripolye Culture Settlement Spatial Pattering: Case study from the Gordineşti II-Stînca goală site, Northern Moldova

Abstract

Abstract The Gordineşti II-Stînca goală is an archaeological site located in the northern part of the Moldavian Plateau in Edineț Region. Chronologically this settlement is linked to the later phase of the Tripolye Culture. Currently, in archaeological literature, the problems of human occupation, land management, and spatial arrangement of settlements in Moldova during the Eneolithic are highly understudied. In this paper, we present the results of recent archaeological works focusing on the spatial patterning of housing structures, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey, and desk-based Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) analysis, that has been undertaken to further the understanding of the spatial organisation of the Gordineşti II-Stînca goală settlement. The results indicate the high archaeological potential of this site, with the likely presence of multiple housing structures arranged in a planned and functional manner.