The Early Chalcolithic and Late Chalcolithic at Sultana–Ghețărie site (southern Romania). A look from the pots
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57573/be-ja.16.1-19Keywords:
Boian–Vidra, Cernavoda III, ceramic technology, grog temper, pXRF analysis, Lower Danube prehistoryAbstract
This study examines two prehistoric pottery assemblages from the Sultana–Ghețărie site (southern Romania), excavated in 2021 from distinct contexts: an Early Chalcolithic pit (Boian–Vidra tradition, ca. 4950–4650 cal BC) and a Late Chalcolithic pit (Cernavodă III tradition, ca. 3650–3350 cal BC). Through macroscopic analysis and geochemical characterization (pXRF), the research investigates depositional, technological, and functional patterns, focusing on fragmentation, tempers, clay sources, forming methods, surface treatments, decoration, and firing techniques. The results reveal technological features shared by both assemblages that can be understood as common prehistoric practices and/or adaptations to local resources (e.g., the frequent use of grog temper in fine clays lacking sandy inclusions), alongside distinct vessel shapes, finishing practices, and decorative repertoires reflecting different cultural traditions. Functional patterns also diverge: the Early Chalcolithic repertoire was oriented toward vessels used for liquids, individual consumption, and food processing, while the Late Chalcolithic assemblage emphasized shared use, storage, and processing of solid materials. These findings highlight long-term adaptations to local resources, while also underscoring the technological and social transformations that accompanied shifting cultural horizons in the Lower Danube over a span of 1,500 years.
Downloads
References
Andreescu, R.R., Lazăr, C.A., Florea, M., Dumitrașcu, E., Opriș, V., Voicu, M., Crăciunescu, I., Golea, M., Darie, A., Bălășescu, A., Radu, V., Vasile, G., Ignat, T., Mărgărit, M., Nicolae, C., Sandu, R., Șendrea, L., Parnic, V., Neagu, M., Chitonu, M., Pârvan, I. 2015. Sultana, com. Mânăstirea, jud. Călăraşi. Punct: Malu Roşu. Cronica cercetărilor arheologice. Campania 2005, 134–136.
Berciu, D. 1961. Contribuţii la problemele neoliticului în România în lumina noilor cercetări. București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Române.
Bulatović, A., Kapuran, A. 2016. Cultural contacts between communities of southwestern Romania and the central Balkans in the fourth millennium BC. In Popa, C.I. (ed.) The Carpathian Basin and the Northern Balkans between 3500 and 2500 BC: Common Aspects and Regional Differences. Alba Iulia: Mega, 183–201.
Comșa, E. 1967. Unele date cu privire la sfârșitul perioadei de trecere de la epoca neolitică la epoca bronzului în sud-estul Olteniei (În lumina săpăturilor de la Siliștioara). Studii și Cercetări de Istorie Veche 18.2, 207–221.
Comșa, E. 1974. Istoria comunităţilor culturii Boian. București: Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
Diamandi, S., Roman, P. (eds) 2001. Cernavodă III–Boleráz. Ein Vorgeschichtliches Phänomen zwischen dem Oberrhein und der Unteren Donau. Symposium Mangalia/Neptun (18–24. Oktober 1999) (Seria Studia Danubiana, Series Symposia II). București: Vavila Edinf Srl.
Hervella, M., Rotea, M., Izagirre, N., Constantinescu, M., Alonso, S., Ioana, M., Lazăr, C., Ridiche, F., Soficaru, A.D., Netea, M.G., de-la-Rua, C. 2015. Ancient DNA from South-East Europe reveals different events during early and middle Neolithic influencing the European genetic heritage. PLOS ONE 10.6; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0128810
Hofmann, R., Bălășescu, A., Kirelis, W., Darie, A., Radu, V., Sliesariev, Y., Toma, A., Dal Corso, M., Golea, M., Filatova, S., Ignat, T., Opriș, V., Vasile, G., Covătaru, C., Lazăr, C., Müller, J. 2025. Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic Sultana–Ghețărie, Lower Danube: First Results and Interpretation on Site Formation, Absolute Dating, Subsistence Economy and Material Culture. Journal of Neolithic Archaeology 27, 207–248; https://doi.org/10.12766/jna.2025.7
Ignat, T., Opris, V., Voicu, M., Andreescu, R., Lazăr, C. 2012. Ceramica din locuinţa nr. 5 de la Sultana ‘Malu Roșu’. Analiză primară (I). Buletinul Muzeului Judeţean Teleorman 4, 71–132.
Ignat, T., Luca, A., Dimofte, D., Lazăr, C., Constantin, F., Bugoi, R. 2019. Multidisciplinary study on prehistoric pottery from Southeastern Romania. ArcheoSciences, revue d’archéométrie 43.2, 165–185; https://doi.org/10.4000/archeosciences.6592
Koutouvaki, E., Amicone, S., Kristew, A., Ștefan, C.E., Berthold, C. 2021. Shared traditions and shard conservatism: pottery making at the Chalcolithic site of Radovanu (Romania). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 13; https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01417-x
Lazăr, C., Bălăşescu, A., Crăciunescu, I., Covătaru, C., Danu, M., Darie, A., Dimache, M., Frujină, O., Golea, M., Haită, C., Ignat, T., Manea, B., Mărgărit, M., Opriş, V., Radu, V., Sava, T., Sava, G., Ștefan, D., Vasile, G. 2017. Gumelnița: then and now. The research results of the 2017 fieldwork. Studii de Preistorie 14, 119–174.
Lazăr, C., Opriș, V., Ignat, T., Manea, B., Frujină, O., Covătaru, C., Darie, A., Bălășescu, A., Radu, V., Vasile, G., Golea, M., Mărgărit, M., Popescu, G., Dimache, M., Pîrvulescu, D., Streinu, M., Șandric, B., Tufaru, M., Iancu, A., Dinu, G., Parnic, V., Căpiță, C., Zavalaș, T., Dima, A., Sava, T. 2020. Gumelnița: research results of the 2018 and 2019 fieldwork seasons. Revista de Cercetări Arheologice și Numismatice 6, 13–100.
Lazăr, C., Opriș, V., Ignat, T., Manea, B., Covătaru, C., Darie, A., Bălășescu, A., Radu, V., Vasile, G., Golea, M., Mărgărit, M., Popescu, G., Dimache, M. 2021. Gumelnița: research results of the 2021 fieldwork season. Revista de Cercetări Arheologice și Numismatice 7, 11–52.
Lazăr, C., Vasile, G., Mărgărit, M. 2012. Some considerations about a new grave discovered at Sultana–Ghețărie (Southeastern Romania). Studii de Preistorie 9, 101–111.
Lazăr, C. 2023. A brief history of tell settlements and archaeological research in the Mostiștea Valley, Romania. Studii de Preistorie 20, 201–234.
Mattila, T.M., Svensson, E.M., Juras, A., Günther, T., Kashuba, N., Ala-Hulkko, T., ... & Jakobsson, M. 2023. Genetic continuity, isolation, and gene flow in Stone Age Central and Eastern Europe. Communications Biology 6; https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05131-3
Morintz, S., Roman, P. 1968a. Aspеkte des Ausgangs des Äneolithikums und der Übergangsstufe zur Bronzezeit im Raum der Niederdonau. Dacia N.S. 12, 45–128.
Morintz, S., Roman, P. 1968b. Asupra perioadei de trecere de la eneolitic la epoca bronzului la Dunărea de Jos. Studii şi Cercetări de Istorie Veche 19.4, 553–573.
Müller, J., Ignat, T., Parnic, V., Bălășescu, A., Dal Corso, M., Dreibrodt, S., Filatova, S., Eckmeier, E., Hofmann, R., Kirleis, W., Rabbel, W., Radu, V., Golea, M., Toma, A., Schlütz, F., Schmücker, A., Șerbănescu, A., Sliesariev, Y., Zolchow, M., Bindea, V.I., Roth, C., Covătaru, C., García-Vázquez, A., Lazăr, C. 2025. Tell Sultana–Malu Roșu: first results and interpretation on site formation, absolute dating, subsistence economy and material culture from the excavation in 2021. Journal of Neolithic Archaeology 27, 37–88; https://doi.org/10.12766/jna.2025.3
Naydenova, E. 2010. Actual research status of the Chalcolithic cultures Polyanitsa and Boian. Studii de Preistorie 7, 71–79.
Oanță-Marghitu, S. 2003. “Fenomenul Cernavoda III–Boleráz”: după 30 de ani. Cercetări Arheologice 12, 109–138; https://doi.org/10.46535/ca.12.15
Opriș, V. 2025. Emergence and Spread of a Neolithic South-Eastern European Pan-cultural Technological Tradition: Grog-tempered Pottery in Southern Romania During the Late Sixth and Fifth Millenniums BC. European Journal of Archaeology 28.3, 326–344; https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2025.4
Opriş, V., Bălăşescu A., Lazăr, C. 2012. Consideraţii privind un complex aparţinând culturii Boian descoperit în necropola de la Sultana-Malu Roşu, jud. Călăraşi. Studii de Preistorie 10, 61–84.
Opriș, V., Ignat, T., Lazăr, C. 2017. Technological analysis of Boian pottery from Sultana. Studii de Preistorie 14, 93–109.
Opriș, V., Lazăr, C. 2014. Notă privind un suport specific culturii Boian, faza Vidra, descoperit la Sultana-Ghețărie. Cercetări Arheologice 21, 371–384.
Papageorgiou, I. 2020. Ceramic investigation: how to perform statistical analyses. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01142-x
Petrescu-Dîmbovița, M., Vulpe, A. 2001. Istoria românilor. Moştenirea timpurilor îndepărtate. Bucureşti: Editura Enciclopedică.
Popescu, G.M., Covătaru, C., Opriș, I., Bălășescu, A., Carozza, L., Radu, V., Haită, C., Sava, T., Barton, C.M., Lazăr, C. 2023. Sine Qua Non: Inferring Kodjadermen–Gumelnița–Karanovo VI Population Dynamics from Aggregated Probability Distributions of Radiocarbon Dates. Radiocarbon 65, 463–484; https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2023.6
Roman, P. 1976. Complexul Orlea-Sadovec. Studii și Cercetări de Istorie Veche și Arheologie 27.2, 147–169.
Schiffer, M.B. 1996. Formation processes of the archaeological record. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
Stoicescu, D., Duliu, O.G., Opriş, V., Manea, B., Mariş, I., Voinea, V., Mirea, P., Parnic, V., Dimache, M., Lazăr, C. 2023. Non-Destructive Textural Characterization of Southern Romanian Neolithic and Chalcolithic Pottery Using Digital Image Analysis on Tomographically Reconstructed Sections. Heritage 6, 6634–6647, https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6100347
Șerbănescu, D., Trohani, G. 1978. Cercetările arheologice pe Valea Mostiștei. In Vrabie, V. (ed.) Ilfov. File de Istorie. București: Comitetul de Cultură și Educație Socialistă a Județului Ilfov, 18–32.
Thissen, L. 2017. The First Balkan Neolithic in the Lower Danube Plain and the Making of a Pottery Tradition. In Reingruber, A., Tsirtsoni, Z., Nedelcheva, P. (eds) Going West? The Dissemination of Neolithic Innovations between the Bosporus and the Carpathians. New York: Routledge, 79–90.
Torcică, I. 2013. Descoperiri Cernavodă III în situl de la Măgura Buduiasca (judeţul Teleorman). Studii de Preistorie 10, 155–170.
Zmeykova, I. 2001. The Cernavodă III Culture in North-Eastern Bulgaria. In Diamandi, S., Roman, P. (eds) Cernavodă III–Boleráz. Ein Vorgeschichtliches Phänomen zwischen dem Oberrhein und der Unteren Donau, Symposium Mangalia/Neptun (18 –24. Oktober 1999) (Seria Studia Danubiana, Series Symposia II). București: Vavila Edinf Srl, 213–235.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The authors retain full copyright on the articles or other publications.
All materials are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License, under which materials may be distributed or reproduced freely, provided the original is unchanged and is quoted correctly.
