Cercetări arheologice sistematice în cuprinsul sitului hallstattian Tărtaria-Podu Tărtăriei vest. Raport preliminar al campaniilor 2016–2017
Scheduled archaeological excavations on the Hallstatt age site from Tărtaria-Podu Tărtăriei vest. Preliminary report of the 2016–2017 campaigns

Summary/Abstract: The discovery of the prehistoric site from Tărtăria-Podu Tărtăriei vest (Alba County) was made in 2012by large-scale preventive archaeological field investigations occasioned by the construction of the A1 motorway along the Mureș river valley. The site is located north to Tărtăria village (Săliștea commune), on a plateau situated on the upper left terrace of the mentioned valley. In 2012, throughout an open area archaeological excavation was completely investigated an area of about 2 hectares (on the southern and eastern limits of the site), where significant archaeological features and vestiges were discovered, providing major new data and finds for Middle Hallstatt period – the Basarabi pottery style. The most important ones are two ditches marking the southern and eastern limits of the site, two bronze hoards (comprising over 400 bronze and iron objects, dated to the middle period of the First Iron Age / the Middle Hallstatt period – the Bâlvănești-Vinț series of bronze hoards, 8th c. BC)and a collective grave. Since 2016 was initiated a scheduled archaeological project, aiming both field excavations and geophysics surveys. As a result, a large-scale magnetic survey and aerial photography were made for documenting the setting of the prehistoric site. Considering the evidence provided by the 2014 and the 2016geophysics surveys, was set an excavation perimeter in the northern part of the site, by opening two main trenches. In 2017, a third main trench was added to these two ones. Six new archaeological features (pits) were uncovered(all assigned based on the inventory to the Middle Hallstatt period – the Basarabi culture), and was finalised the field investigation for other two, which were identified in 2016. The finds comprise a considerable amount of pottery (including entire vessels with characteristic Basarabi style decoration), as well as a portable hearth, a fragmentary zoomorphic figurine, a miniature stone axe reused as pendant, and a series of metal object – two iron knifes, an iron blade and a bronze hair-pin with the ending in “8” shape. Also were taken a series of aerial images, and in late autumn 2017 was made a preliminary geomagnetic prospection on the western part of the site. Considering all the data recorded up to now and the preliminary analysis of the very rich archaeological finds from Tărtăria-Podu Tărtăriei vest, one can consider this site as a very important one for the study of middle periodof the First Iron Age in Transylvania and neighbouring areas. Although preliminary, the results of the field researches of 2017 made in here emphasize once again the site’s particular features and the necessity for its long term field research and protection

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