Tringham With National Science Foundation support Dr. Ruth Tringham and her collaborators will conduct three seasons of field research at the archaeological site of Podgoritsa in Northeast Bulgaria. Dating to the Neolithic period, this "tell" or habitation mound was occupied from ca. 5000-4500 BC. Prior work indicates that this period spans the interval when agriculture was introduced into Eastern Europe. The mound, because it consists of a stratified series of household areas which preserve abundant cultural remains, provides an excellent potential window into how human populations adapted over this period. The research team will conduct a general regional survey and focus, in particular on the geographic distribution of important resources such as flint which was used to produce stone tools. The area around the tell will be intensively sampled through surface collection and sub-surface soil probing. Finally extensive mound areas will be excavated to expose house remains and collect cultural materials. These latter will be analyzed by a team of specialists. The significance of the Podgoritsa project lies at two levels. First it will provide important new information on the culture history of Eastern Europe and help to document the expansion of settled village life. However the research will also address questions of general theoretical interest for the study of agricultural societies and these involve population growth and expansion, the social consequences of sedentism, the intensification of production and the role of the household as an organizing social and economic unit. The work will also aid the development of archaeology in Eastern Europe and help to forge stronger scientific ties between Bulgaria and the United States.
