With National Science Foundation Support, Drs. John O'Shea and Alex Barker and a team of American and Romanian colleagues will conduct a pilot season of archaeological testing and excavation at the site of Pecica "Santul Mare" in western Romania. The research team brings together expertise in geology, metallurgy, material science and biology, as well as expertise in Bronze Age and Dacian archaeology, to investigate the age and character of this pivotal archaeological site. The great tell at Pecica holds a unique place in the history of European archaeology. As one of the earliest excavated Bronze Age tells in Eastern Europe, its long sequence of occupation provided the standard for dating the later prehistory of Middle and Eastern Europe. The calibration of the Pecica sequence using modern dating techniques such as radiocarbon dating will greatly enhance the research value of Pecica's unique long sequence of occupation and will serve to recalibrate existing collections from literally hundreds of archaeological sites across Eastern Europe. In addition to its chronological significance, Pecica was an important early center for the manufacture and distribution of metal work during the Bronze Age. As such, the site can provide a laboratory for documenting the organization of early bronze metallurgy and trade as well as for understanding the character of social change during the Bronze Age.
The goal of the pilot project is to establish a secure chronological framework for Pecica and to demonstrate the suitability of the site for addressing a broad range of anthropological questions. Specific tasks are 1) clearing of a long site profile from which datable material can be recovered, 2) opening of secondary stratigraphic tests and corings on other portions of the site to assess the variation and intactness of the archaeological deposits across the tell, and 3) limited area excavation to assess the preservation and recovery of differing classes of archaeological materials, particularly plant remains and metallurgical slags, and to collect representative samples of these materials for laboratory analysis.
The Pecica project will generate a plethora of important scientific results. The primary intellectual merit of the research will be the establishment of an absolute chronology for the East European Bronze Age and to demonstrate the potential of the Pecica deposits to answer fundamental questions relating to early bronze metallurgy and social change.
Among the broader impacts of the study is that it will foster international scholarly collaboration in a region that until recently was isolated from most research in the English speaking world. The collaborative work will enhance the sharing of expertise and techniques among American and Romanian researchers and provide major training benefits for American and Romanian students. The project also will ensure that a controlled sample of archaeological materials from this historic, but endangered, site is preserved for posterity.
