THE LOWER DANUBE IN PREHISTORY: LANDSCAPE

CHANGES AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS

PUBLICAIILE MUZEULUI JUDEEAN TELEORMAN

(III)

THE LOWER DANUBE IN PREHISTORY: LANDSCAPE

CHANGES AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS

Proceedings of the International Conference

Alexandria, 3 - 5 November 2010

Edited by
Steve Mills and Pavel Mirea

Contributors: Sorin Ailinci, Radian-Romus Andreescu, Douglass W. Bailey, Adrian Blescu,

Amy Bogaard, Albane Burens, Glicherie Caraivan, Laurent Carozza, Jean-Michel Carozza,
Dimitar Chernakov, Alexandra Coma, Mihai tefan Florea, Georges Ganetzovski, Maria Gurova,
Costantin Hait, Andy J. Howard, Ctlin Lazr, Mark G. Macklin, Boryana Mateva, Florian Mihail,
Cristian Micu, Katia Moldoveanu, Alexandru Morintz, Amelia Pannett, Valentin Radu,
Ruth A. J. Robinson, Cristian Schuster, Cosmin Ioan Suciu, Cristian Eduard tefan, Laurens Thissen,
Svetlana Venelinova, Valentina Voinea, Angela Walker

Editura Renaissance
Bucureti
2011

PUBLICAIILE MUZEULUI JUDEEAN TELEORMAN

(III)

The International Conference The Lower Danube in Prehistory: Landscape Changes and
Human-Environment Interaction was part of the Art-Landscape Transformations EC
Project 2007-4230, Cardiff University partner scenario Mgura Past and Present funded by the
European Union.
Organising Committee: Professor Douglass W. Bailey, Chairman (San Francisco State University),
Dr. Steve Mills, Vice-chairman (Cardiff University), Dr. Radian-Romus Andreescu, Vice-chairman
(Romanian National History Museum, Bucharest), Dr. Cristian Schuster, Vice-chairman (Vasile Prvan
Institute of Archaeology, Bucharest), Drd. Pavel Mirea, Secretary (Teleorman County Museum,
Alexandria).
Cover design: Pompilia Zaharia (Teleorman County Museum, Alexandria)

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naionale a Romniei

The Lower Danube in Prehistory: Landscape Changes
and Human-Environment Interactions/Proceedings
of the International Conference,
Alexandria 3-5 November 2010/
Editori: Steve Mills; Pavel Mirea
Bucureti, Editura Renaissance, 2011
ISBN 978-606-8321-01-1
I.

Steve Mills (Ed.)

II.

Pavel Mirea (Ed.)

903(282.243.75)
This volume has been supported by the Art-Landscape Transformation EC Project 2007-4230.
European Union Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency Culture Programme (2007-2013).

Renaissance 2011 - www.editurarenaissance.ro

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ISBN 978-606-8321-01-1
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FOREWORD

This volume is dedicated to the conference The Lower Danube in Prehistory:

landscape changes and human-environment interactions held in Alexandria between the 3rd
and 5th November 2010. The conference was funded by the European Commission as part
of the Art-Landscape Transformations Project 2007-4230 - Cardiff University partner
scenario: Mgura Past and Present. The Mgura project was developed by Cardiff University
and a local partner, the Teleorman County Museum, Alexandria. The project is a continuation
of the fieldwork conducted in the Teleorman Valley between 1998 and 2004 as part of the
Southern Romania Archaeological Project (SRAP); SRAP is a collaboration between Cardiff
University, the Romanian National History Museum and the Teleorman County Museum.
For three days, 36 specialists (archaeologists, archaeozoologists, geomorphologists,
and palaeobotanists) from Bulgaria, France, Great Britain, Romania and the U.S.A. met in the
Alexandria Museum. The participants gave presentations that focused chronologically from
the Neolithic to the Bronze Age and geographically throughout the Lower Danube Basin,
both north and south of the Danube and including the Danube Delta and western Black Sea
coast.
This volume includes papers that are based on some of the conference
presentations as well as other research relevant to the conference topics. In keeping with
the conference working sessions, the volume is divided into several sections: Landscape,
settlements and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, Landscape, demography and funerary
space, Seasonality, subsistence and raw material sourcing, and New approaches to
prehistoric landscape research.
The volume editors and the conference organisers (Cardiff University, School of
History, Archaeology and Religion, and the Teleorman County Museum) express their
gratitude to all of the participants and especially for the research contributions that drive
forward our understanding of the prehistory of south-eastern Europe and of the Lower
Danube area more specifically.

Steve Mills and Pavel Mirea

CONTENTS

Foreword

I. LANDSCAPE, SETTLEMENTS, AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION

Mark G. MACKLIN, Douglass W. BAILEY, Andy J. HOWARD, Steve MILLS, Ruth A.J. ROBINSON,
Pavel MIREA, Laurens THISSEN
River Dynamics and the Neolithic of the Lower Danube Catchment
Radian-Romus ANDREESCU, Katia MOLDOVEANU

Dynamic of Neolithic Habitation in Teleorman Valley, Southern Romania

9
15

Laurent CAROZZA, Cristian MICU, Jean-Michel CAROZZA, Costantin HAIT, Adrian BLESCU,
Valentin RADU, Albane BURENS, Florian MIHAIL, Sorin AILINCI, Mihai FLOREA

Lhabitat Chalcolithique de Taraschina (Mila 23 - Roumanie) et le peuplement ancien du delta du

Danube durant la premire moiti du 5me millnaire avant notre re

31

Valentina VOINEA, Glicherie CARAIVAN

Human - Environment Coevolution in Western Black Sea Coastal Region (5th Millennium BC)

49

Georges GANETZOVSKI

Nouvelles dones sur le neolithique ancien dans le Nord-Ouest de la Bulgarie

Cosmin Ioan SUCIU

Early Vina Culture Dynamic in South-Easthern Transylvania

Svetlana VENELINOVA

Archaeological Researches of the Ivanovo Chalcolithic Tell, Shumen Region in 2008-2010

61
75
87

II. LANDSCAPE, DEMOGRAPHY, AND FUNERARY SPACE

Ctlin LAZR

Some Observations about Spatial Relation and Location of the Kodjadermen-Gumelnia-Karanovo VI

Extra Muros Necropolis
Dimitar CHERNAKOV

Newly Discovered Chalcolithic Necropolis near Kosharna tell

Cristian SCHUSTER

Landscape and Demographic Dynamics in Southern Romanian Bronze Age

95
117
133

Alexandra COMA

Some Human - Environmental Interactions in Necropolises of the Neolithic and Metal Ages on the
Territory of Romania

145

III. SEASONALITY, SUBSISTENCE, AND RAW MATERIAL SOURCING

Angela WALKER, Amy BOGAARD

Preliminary Archaeobotanical Results from Teleor 003/ Mgura Buduiasca

151

Valentin RADU

Exploitation des ressources animales aquatiques aux priodes no- et nolithique dans la valle de
Teleorman

161

Amelia PANNETT

Lithic Exploitation in the Neolithic of the Teleorman Valley, Southern Romania: Preliminary
Discussion of Results

167

Boryana MATEVA

Exploiting Flint Deposits in Northeastern Bulgaria in the Chalcolithic

Maria GUROVA

A Late Chalcolithic Flint Assemblage from the Site of Kosharna, Russe District

173
179

IV. NEW APPROACHES TO PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE RESEARCH

Doug BAILEY

Towards an Archaeology of Pit-Huts: a Proposition from Contemporary Art

Steve MILLS

The Potential of Historic Landscape Characterisation for the Lower Danube Area

197
203

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

Bringing the Past into the Present. Restoring Landscape Around Archaeological Sites with the Help
of Old Maps

221

Alexandru S. MORINTZ

Topographic Considerations Regarding the Archaeological Site from Iepureti, Location La Izlaz
(Giurgiu County)

233

Pavel MIREA

A Neolithic Microlandscape - the Story of Complex 40 from Mgura-Buduiasca (Teleor 003),

Teleorman County, Southern Romania

241

Contributors

257

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT. RESTORING LANDSCAPE AROUND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH THE HELP OF OLD MAPS
Mihai tefan FLOREA,
Cristian Eduard TEFAN

Abstract: The use of cartographic documents and descriptive data related to the landscape
surrounding archaeological sites can be an efficient method to show how human interventions alter
the configuration of the environment. With the help of increasingly more accessible modern methods
and equipment (such as GPS, GIS, Total Station), cartographic documents can be connected to field
data and used in more specialised analyses for archeological research and for the protection of
archaeological monuments.
Key words: tell settlements; GIS; mapping; digital terrain model; landscape.
Introduction
How can we reconstruct the landscape of a small region if the available published
information no longer conforms to the present day situation? This was the question to which we
needed to find an answer when the results of a campaign to register a number of tell type settlements
located in Arge and Dmbovia Counties turned out to be discouraging (only 15 of 32 settlements
mentioned in the technical literature for the study area were identified in the field during our
expedition - see Plate I). It is well known that the effects of human communities on the environment
are brought about by means of technology and knowledge (Dincauze 2000 p. xvii). Human activities
(e.g., massive deforestation, gravel mines in riverbeds, intensive land works for agriculture, industry,
and demographic explosions) and also natural phenomena (e.g., floods, droughts, landslides and
earthquakes) brought about significant landscape changes. The study area has certain particularities
with respect to human intervention on the environment. If we consider only the last four decades, we
can observe that after aggressive land work activities to transform most of the area into land suitable
for agricultural or industrial purposes (1970-1990), the land changed rapidly. Thus, after 1990, on the
one hand agricultural land was used for large real-estate projects, and, on the other hand, agricultural
properties were fragmented (Plates II, III). Such changes caused by human activity can be very
harmful for archaeological monuments, with some being totally lost although still mentioned in recent
technical literature (Olteanu 2002; Olteanu et al. 2003).
Method
At the preliminary stage we tried to identify tell type settlements on military topographic
maps from the 1970s (1:25000 scale, Gauss-Krger projection, Krasovski-1942 ellipsoid, the Baltic
Sea altimetrical reference system) for four case-studies: Gumelnia-Mgura Calomfirescu, Viina-La
Mgur, Ioneti-Pe Ioneasca/Palade and Corbii Mari-Mgura.
The second stage consisted of identification of the sites in the field using landscape details
described in the technical literature that we compared with the above mentioned maps. We observed
from the very beginning major changes in the landscape surrounding the settlements. Bibliographic
descriptions as well as map details overlap only partially with the actual configuration of the terrain.
This observation encouraged us to extend landscape data collection by means of GPS and Total
Station.
A precise investigation of the cartographic and bibliographic archives was necessary to
enable us to reconfigure (as far as we can) the landscape because several settlements have
completely disappeared. The data obtained was digitized and the maps were standardised in the
Stereo 1970 reference system, Datum Dealul Piscului 1970, to allow layering in a GIS. The
superposition of data sets was necessary to observe possible landscape changes through time. All
data was analysed using various GIS1 programs which helped us to geographically reference the
raster data, to vector the digitized maps and to obtain the digital terrain model.
Sources
I.
Cartographic sources used in our work are as follows:
a) 3rd Military Mapping Survey of Austro-Hungary. This set belongs to the AustroHungarian Empire territories mapping carried out in three stages. The third surveying campaign (Neue
Steve MILLS and Pavel MIREa (eds.) The Lower Danube in Prehistory: Landscape Changes and Human
Environment Interactions - Proceedings of the International Conference, Alexandria 3-5 November 2010: 221-232.

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

222

b) Artillery firing plans. Before World War I Romania did not have a unified mapping
system. From 1916 standardisation of earlier projection and nomenclature systems was used to
ensure uniformity. In this context, maps were made with the Cholensky variant of the Lambert conical
projection. Shortly after they were published in 1:20000 scale maps in this projection and known as
artillery firing plans. These sheets were updated continuously until 1959 when the Gauss-Kruger
projection was imposed;
c) Military Topographic Department maps edited until 1962: Gauss-Kruger projection,
1:25,000 scale maps; Department of Military Topography maps edited in the 1970s and 1980s: GaussKruger projection, 1:25000 scale maps;
d) Maps edited by the Ministry of Agriculture: in the 1960s and 1970s Gauss-Kruger
projection, 1:5,000 scale maps.
II.
Ortophotoplans realised by the ANCPI (National Agency for Cadastre and Land
Registration) edition 2005-2006, stereographic 1970, Datum Dealul Piscului 70.
III.

Oblique aerial photography 2007-2008.

IV.
CORINE
(Coordination
of
Information
on
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/COR0-landcover/page001.html2.

the

Environment)

V.
a)

Specific bibliographic sources:

Lahovari, G.I., Brtianu, I.C. and Tocilescu, G.G., 1898-1902. Marele dicionar
geografic al Romniei alctuit i prelucrat dup dicionarele pariale pe judee (I-V), Bucureti:
Stabilimentul grafic J. V. Socec.
b)
*** Atlas de semne convenionale pentru hrile topografice la scrile 1:10000 i
1:5000. Direcia topografic militar, Ministerul Forelor Armate ale R.P.R. ed. 1961.
Case sudies
I. Gumelnia-Mgura Calomfirescu, Clrai County, LMI code: CL-I-s-B-14563. A tell type
settlement located on an erosion bank with dimensions 283x235m, situated 5km east of Oltenia. It
was systematically researched in the 1920s and in 1960 Vladimir Dumitrescu made a sondage. After a
comparative analysis of the maps we observe that the landscape remains relatively unchanged, the
only major modification being represented by the animal farm located on the active terrace during the
socialist period, now destroyed. Paradoxically, the settlement was rescued because for a long period
of time a vineyard was planted on the terrace. The only mention of the Gumelnia micro toponym
was found in the artillery firing plan with the code 4540 made after a topographic plan dating from
1898 (Pl. IV, Pl. V).
II. Viina-La Mgur, Dmbovia County, LMI code: DB-I-s-B-20223. A tell type settlement,
now totally destroyed, about 100m in diameter and 3-4m in height, identified after field research in
1980. The situation is similar to that at Gumelnia. The available maps provided the data for the Viina
settlement reconstruction plan materialised in a digital terrain model (Pl. VIII, Pl. IX).
III. Ioneti-Pe Ioneasca/Palade, Dmbovia County, LMI code: DB-I-m-B-17061.03. A tell
type settlement, with dimensions 52x44m and 1m height; researched in the 1930s by Dumitru Berciu.
For this settlement we also made a digital terrain model that pointed to the existence of a Neajlov
River palaeochannel that can not be observed in the field or in the ortophotoplan (Pl. VI).
IV. Corbii Mari-Mgur, Dmbovia County, LMI code: DB-I-s-B-17011. A tell type
settlement, with dimensions 48x44m, located in the Neajlov meadow, researched in 1989 by Valentin
Drob. The tell is affected by agricultural works in the present. Again the digital terrain model pointed
to the existence of Neajlov palaeochannels that are also visible in the field. The permanent cultivation
of the land on which the settlement is located led to its flattening. Traces of the sondages made in
1989 are still visible today in the field. (Pl. III, Pl. VII).
Conclusions
Our analysis may prove to be very useful in highlighting the advanced degradation of the tell
type settlements. In spite of the existing legislation which places them on the Historical Monuments
List, many of these settlement types were partially or totally destroyed as a consequence of human
interventions, especially after the Second World War. The only solution for reconstructing the
settlements and their surrounding landscape remains the use of data provided by the cartographic

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT. RESTORING LANDSCAPE AROUND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH THE HELP OF OLD MAPS

223

and bibliographic documents mentioned above. These types of documents are more accessible today
because the data are no longer held secret by the Military Topographic Department making our work
easier.
Our analysis is preliminary and with great potential for future projects of larger extent with
interdisciplinary teams which may lead to a more balanced research of tell type settlements. The
present map of tell type settlements in Romania shows us small areas in which the sites are
concentrated (Teleorman, Bucani, Arge-Dmbovia, Mostitea) and areas in which tell settlements
are few or missing altogether (Giurgiu, Clrai) (Andreescu and Mirea 2008; tefan 2010).
Acknowledgements
Many thanks are due to Monica Constantin for translating the text into English.
Notes
1.

For the GIS analyses see also Chapman and Van de Noort 2001:366-8

2.

EEA grants free access to all its data/applications provided that the user agrees: - to acknowledge
the source as follows: Copyright EEA, Copenhagen, 2007 - to display a link to the EEA web site
http://www.eea.europa.eu - not to use the data/applications for commercial purposes unless the
Agency has expressly granted the right to do so; Ministry of Environment and Sustainable
Development: http://www.mmediu.ro; The Danube Delta National Institute for Research and
Development : http://www.indd.tim.ro.
References
Andreescu, R. and Mirea, P. (2008) Tell settlements: a pattern of landscape occupation in the Lower
Danube, in D.W. Bailey, A. Whittle and D. Hofman (eds.): Living Well Together? Settlement
and Materiality in the Neolithic of South-East and Central Europe. pp. 28-34, Oxford: Oxbow
Books Limited.
*** Atlas de semne convenionale pentru hrile topografice la scrile 1:10000 i 1:5000. Direcia
topografic militar, Ministerul Forelor Armate ale R.P.R. ed. 1961.
Chapman, H.P. and Van de Noort, R. (2001) High-Resolution Wetland Prospection, using GPS and
GIS: Landscape Studies at Sutton Common (South Yorkshire), and Meare Village East
(Somerset), Journal of Archaeological Science 28(4): 365-75.
Dincauze, D. (2000) Environmental archaeology: principles and practice. Cambridge UK; New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Lahovari, G.I., Brtianu, I.C. and Tocilescu, G.G. (1898) Marele dicionar geografic al Romniei alctuit
i prelucrat dup dicionarele pariale pe judee (I), Bucureti: Stabilimentul grafic J.V.
Socec.
(1899) Marele dicionar geografic al Romniei alctuit i prelucrat dup dicionarele pariale pe
judee (II), Bucureti: Stabilimentul grafic J.V. Socec.
(1900) Marele dicionar geografic al Romniei alctuit i prelucrat dup dicionarele pariale pe
judee (III), Bucureti: Stabilimentul grafic J.V. Socec.
(1901) Marele dicionar geografic al Romniei alctuit i prelucrat dup dicionarele pariale pe
judee (IV), Bucureti: Stabilimentul grafic J.V. Socec.
(1902) Marele dicionar geografic al Romniei alctuit i prelucrat dup dicionarele pariale pe
judee (V), Bucureti: Stabilimentul grafic J.V. Socec.
Olteanu, G. 2002. Repertoriul arheologic al judeului Dmbovia. Trgovite: Cetatea de Scaun.
Olteanu, G., Crstina, O. and Cprroiu, D. (2003) Repertoriul arheologic al judeului Dmbovia.
Trgovite: Cetatea de Scaun.
tefan, C.E. (2010) Settlement types and enclosures in the Gumelnita culture. Trgovite: Cetatea de
Scaun.

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

224

Plate I.

Arge-Dmbovia research area.

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT. RESTORING LANDSCAPE AROUND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH THE HELP OF OLD MAPS

Plate II.

The projection of settlements on Corine Landcover 2000.

225

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

226

Plate III.

The projection of settlements on Corine Landcover 2006.

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT. RESTORING LANDSCAPE AROUND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH THE HELP OF OLD MAPS

227

1a

1b

1c

Plate IV. 1a - Digital terrain model of the Gumelnia settlement; 1b - Gumelnia. N-S altimetrical
profile; 1c - Gumelnia. E-V altimetrical profile; 2 - Gumelnia. Oblique aerial photography.

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

228

2
Plate V.

1 - Gumelnia. Artillery firing plan, scale 1:20000; 2 - Gumelnia. Ortophotoplan.

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT. RESTORING LANDSCAPE AROUND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH THE HELP OF OLD MAPS

2
Plate VI. 1 - Ioneti-Pe Ioneasca/Palade. Digital terrain model with ortophotoplan;
2 - Topographical plan - scale 1:5000.

229

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

230

2
Plate VII. 1 - Corbii Mari-Mgur. Digital terrain model with ortophotoplan;
2 - Corbii Mari-Mgur. The tell settlement.

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT. RESTORING LANDSCAPE AROUND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH THE HELP OF OLD MAPS

Plate VIII. 1 - Viina-La Mgur. Topographical map, scale 1:25000;

2 - Viina-La Mgur. Artillery firing plan, scale 1:20000.

231

Mihai tefan FLOREA, Cristian Eduard TEFAN

232

2a

2b

2c

Plate IX.
1 - Viina-La Mgur. Digital terrain model; 2a - Viina-La Mgur. NE-SV altimetrical
profile; 2b - Viina-La Mgur. NV-SE altimetrical profile; 2c - Viina-La Mgur. Altimetrical profile
of the tell settlement (NE-SV).