The Eneolithic Cemetery from Sultana-Malu Roşu (Călăraşi county, Romania)
The Eneolithic Cemetery from Sultana-Malu Roşu (Călăraşi county, Romania)

Summary/Abstract: The Sultana-Malu Roşu Eneolithic tell is located 400 m North-East of Sultana village, commune of Mânăstirea, in the Călăraşi county, South-East Romania. This is a settlement from the second half of the fifth millennium (Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI complex). Sultana-Malu Roşu was the first Gumelniţa site to be submitted to scientific research, in the 1920s. After 1975 the site was researched almost entirely. The excavations were resumed by the National History Museum of Romania and the Lower Danube Museum Călăraşi in 2001. In 2002 new excavations were started on the terrace, near the tell. The goal of these new excavations was to discover the cemetery of the tell. It was not an easy task, because at the moment we don’t have a solid method for identification of cemeteries. The methodology used at the Sultana-Malu Roşu cemetery took into account the size of the terrace (about 3.5 ha) and the particular aspects posed by the research of a prehistoric cemetery. In 2003 a series of geo-magnetic prospects were conducted on the terrace, near the tell, in order to identify the necropolis. The area of terrace was divided in a grid of 50 m x 50 m units for a better management of the excavation. Between 2002-2007 we accomplished to dig 22 sections. In this sections we found 12 inhumations graves. The graves were from Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI period and contained human skeletons in crouched (fetal) position, laying on the left or on right side. Funerary inventory was found in four graves only. The burials from Sultana-Malu Roşu cemetery and the elements of funerary treatment identified here confirm similitude to the standard mortuary practices of the Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI complex.

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