DATE PRELIMINARE PRIVIND AŞEZAREA MEDIEVALĂ TIMPURIE DE LA BELCIUG - JUD . PRAHOVA
Preliminary Data about Early Middle Age Settlement from Belciug, Prahova County

Summary/Abstract: The archaeological surface surveys carried out in february 2009 along the line of the Bucharest-Ploieşti highway lead to the identification of two new archaeological sites close to the settlements of Belciug and Sicrita, both in Prahova county. Following the identification and evaluation of these discoveries rescue excavations were carried out on both sites. This article presents a first review of the early medieval site identified in the settlement of Belciug, located on an old terrace of the Teleajen river. Several habitation levels were revealed, comprising: two archaelogical levels from the second stage of the Iron Age; one from the 6th to 7th centuries AD; two inconsistent medieval levels (16th to 18th century AD); and four medieval inhumation graves. The early medieval settlement of Bleciug has been the subject of one of the most extensive programmes of archaeological research in the whole of Wallachie. It has been possible to determine the internal organization of the settlement, the shape and dimensions of the dwellings and the layout of the supply holes. The stratigraphic sequence of archaeological complexes may reveal details about the settlement’s chronology and evolution. The few small pieces of metal discovered are also helpful in establishing chronology. The analysis of the ceramic assemblages, which are extremely rich for the period, can provide a more precise chronological framework. The thickness of the layer in which archaeological materials attributed to this chronological period occur is unusual. In many other sites of this period a habitation level could not be identified, the archaeological material being focused in complexes (dwellings, holes). Although several complexes were identified superimposed upon another, the archaeological level is compact and contains no evidence for an abandonment layer that could prove the existence of several phases of habitation. The evidence and discussions presented here are preliminary, pending further detailed analysis of the archaeological material and stratigraphic record. It is possible to establish that the settlement was occupied for a long period of time, the layering of several complexes seeming to indicate the existence of several phases in the evolution of the settlement.

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