Log in | Register Download PDF Download PDF Share this article Article metrics Views: 2 Downloads: 0 Citations: none found No altmetrics found. Article Tools Print this article How to cite item Email this article (Login required) Email the author (Login required) Ads Home About Editorial Board Contact Articles Archive How to cite CC-BY 3.0 License and copyright information Publication dates NEWS Excavations of an Early Neolithic Site at Tăşnad, Romania Location The town of Tăşnad, in north-west Romania, is situated at the western end of the Tăşnad Hills which rise to a height of up to 230m above sea-level; the site ‘Sere’ is situated south-west of the town near a thermal spa on the banks of the Cehal river, a tributary of the Ier. The Cehal valley opens towards the Ier and Someş plains which form the north- easternmost part of the Great Hungarian Plain, a marshy area until the large-scale drainage-works of the 19th and 20th centuries. Even today, the Cehal valley is quite swampy, especially at the confluence with the Ier. The Austrian military maps demonstrate large-scale forest-clearance during the last three centuries; at the end of the 18th century, the site itself was still forested. Several prehistoric sites from diferent periods are located on the first and second terraces of the Cehal, at altitudes of around 140m. Discovery In the 1970s, a canal was built to divert the waters of the Cehal river, which led to the discovery of ‘Sere’ by Neţa Iercoşan who started excavations there in 1989 (Iercoşan, 1995), later continued between 1995 and 1999. An Early Neolithic pit-house and numerous pits were discovered on this occasion, as well as human remains. Because of the rapid expansion of the Tăşnad spa, surrounding a thermal well, János Németi and Ciprian Astaloş carried out rescue excavations in 2001–02 and, since 2004, Cristian Virag has been directing further, ongoing, rescue excavations with research extended (from 2006) to the second terrace of the Cehal, where features from the Late Bronze Age have been discovered. Archaeology The site ‘Sere’ contains settlement remains from the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the Roman period. The most numerous features belong to the Early Neolithic Criş culture (Fig. 1) and consist of pits, pit-houses, graves, hearths, ovens and post-built houses. In many areas, these features are overlain by an occupation layer which likewise contains numerous finds. The Neolithic remains were found at depths of between 0.6–1.2m, meaning that they have been protected from disturbance by modern agriculture and are thus very well preserved. The excavated Criş artefacts consist mainly of pottery sherds, chipped stone tools, axes, querns, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines (Băcueţ-Crişan and Virag, 2007), clay stamps (pintaderas), clay altars, loom-weights and spindle-whorls. The head of one human figurine is triangular in shape, with two incised lines marking the eyes and the nose in relief (Fig. 2). The posterior part of a steatopygian figurine was also found. There are numerous bones of cattle, pig, ovicaprids and wild boar, as well as aurochs’ horn-cores and red deer antlers. Ciprian Astaloş 1 , Ulrike Sommer 2 , Cristian Virag 1 Satu Mare County Museum, Satu Mare, 21 Vasile Lucaciu, 440031 Romania 1. UCL Institute of Archaeology, London WC1H 0PY, United Kingdom 2. Excavations of an Early Neolithic Site at Tăşnad, Roman... http://www.ai-journal.com/article/view/ai.1614/341 1 von 5 25/10/2013 11:43