273 Archäologie in Eurasien 31 – 14_Hansen – Seite 273 – 27. 7. 15 Pietrele – A Lakeside Settlement, 5200–4250 BC Svend Hansen Abstract Without metals a modern industrywould not have come into being, nor would there have been any developments that would have led to its emergence. Archaeological investigations conducted since 2004 at Pietrele have made important contributions to the understanding of the Copper Age in Southeast Europe includ- ing the construction of a chronological frame- work, based upon radiocarbon datings that can be connected with stratigraphically confirmed sequences in pottery. From research on the flat settlement it has become clear that this set- tlement not only existed during the time of the settlement mound, but at least 500 years ear- lier. For the first time it appears possible that the history of the 5 th millennium BC can be traced in one single settlement. In the past ten years a great deal of new research has changed the picture of this period, especially regarding chronology. Introduction The Copper Age in Southeast Europe was indeed one of the most dynamic periods of time in the development of European culture. The mining of copper ores and the casting of new metals not only gave an archaeological epoch its name, but doubtlessly introduced sweeping changes to the extant agrarian economy. Without metals a mod- ern industrywould not have come into being, nor would there have been any developments that would have led to its emergence. The immediate consequences may have been primarily region- ally restricted, yet theywere so strong, that in many areas these developments soon took on an irreversible nature. 1 At first, the metals cop- per and gold marked this development, above all in the Carpathian Basin and Southeast Eur- ope, and only there does the use of the term “Copper Age” make sense. 2 In most of the other regions in which this term is used or debated, it would be better discarded. For example, arsenic alloys are characteristic of the so-called Copper Age of the 3 rd millennium BC on the Iberian Pe- ninsula; thus, technically the term ‘Bronze Age’ instead of ‘Copper Age’ would seem more appro- priate there. Furthermore, the widespread use of the term ‘Copper Age’ embraces several, com- pletely different developments within a 3000- year period of time. 3 The potential inherent in copper ores was surely not fully assessable initially, yet the properties of this new metal must have presented a chal- lenge to ways of thinking. Until that time a mate- rial that displayed such varied qualities, could be manipulated in such manifold ways, and with which every object could be reproduced pre- cisely, was unknown. 4 Above all, even when ex- tensively used, the material itself was practically inexhaustible. Once copper ore was mined, the processing, production, use and re-use formed a continuous cycle. Accompanying the emer- gence of metallurgywere not only technical inno- vations, but also changes in social conditions. 5 The finds from burials exhibit a clear gradation in the value of grave goods. 6 The point remains open as to whether metal was the cause of social differentiation or whether social inequality and an imbalanced distribution of power exerted cru- cial impulses on the development of metallurgy: quite probably there was interplay of both fac- tors. In the past ten years a great deal of new research has changed the picture of this period, espe- cially regarding chronology. Thus, the exces- sively richly furnished graves in the cemetery at Varna (Fig. 1), previously assigned to the end of the 5 th millennium BC, were re-dated to the mid- dle of the 5 th millennium BC. 7 New 14 C dates from the sequence of settlement in Pietrele (Fig. 2) likewise moved the time of the Gumelni- a culture back to the third quarter of the 5 th mil- lennium BC. 8 Without exaggerating, it can be stat- ed that Pietrele will be the future anchor of the Copper Age chronology on the Lower Danube Riv- er. Essentially ‘closed’ find contexts in houses are available for the pottery sequence. In this re- gard, the large number of complete vessels is especially fortunate; ultimately, they allow a re- calibration of the ceramic sequence of the Lower Danube (Reingruber in this volume). According to the most recent compilation of 14 C dates from Serbia by D. Borić, the phase Vinča D already ended between 4650 and 4600 BC, followed by the phases Proto-Tiszapolgár and Tiszapolgár 1 Chernykh 1992; Hansen 2009; Pernicka/Anthony 2010. 2 Pulszky 1877. 3 Korfmann 2004. 4 Eliade 1980. 5 Windler et al. 2012. 6 Lichter 2001; Zalai-Gaál 2008; Schier 2010. 7 Higham et al. 2007. 8 Reingruber/Thissen 2009.