Virag, Cristian: Situl neolitic Halmeu - Vamă (Satu Mare, 2015)

Abridged version

that are bordering a ditch with a big quantity of daub in it. The ceramic material is mixed (Neolithic, Bronze Age), but the presence of two Mediaeval iron knife blades and fragments of an iron vessel associated with the beams leads us to attribute the feature to a Mediaeval building.

S. Ill (15.7 X 2 m) (fig. 24)

The trench S. Ill cut part of the ditch surrounding the small hill at its midwestern side. The digging of the trench could not be completed due to the heavy rains from September that lead to the rise of the groundwater level and the flooding of the ditch.

We can draw some conclusions at this point such as firstly it is very likely that we deal here with an anthropogenic ditch that served to the fortification of the settlement from “Király Domb I” in the Mediaeval period. This conclusion is also confirmed by the presence of stones, consistent burning traces, traces of posts and a narrow ditch at the bottom of the main ditch, with a gray filling, all these elements appear to be traces of a palisade.

2002

The initial aim was to research the central part of the Király Domb II small hill but for objective reasons (as it was cultivated with strawberries) the only thing we could do was to open a trench (S IV) of 23.70 x 3 metres (fig. 25).

Stratigraphy-0 to -0.20 m: plought top soil layer with materials in disturbed position from different periods-0.20 to -0.45 m: Mediaeval culture layer -0.45 to -0.95 m: Bronze Age culture layer -0.95 to -1.50 m: Neolithic culture layer

Features

Cx. 8 Mediaeval feature dug in steps; its maximum depth is 2.6 m and the maximum width 2 m. The filling is diverse, reason for which the upper part of the ditch with black, highly pigmented soil was named Cx. 8A. The bottom of the ditch with sandy yellow soil with limonite was named Cx. 8B. One cannot specify the exact chronological relationship between the two features until a detailed processing of the material is made, but both can be assigned to the 15th -16th centuries;

Cx. 9 Mediaeval feature, 15th -16th centuries;

Cx. 10 Bronze Age feature, partly captured in square 1, near to the south-western section

of the trench;

Cx. 11 two rectangular lenses of sterile soil with no ceramic material. Stratigraphically, they can be linked to Cx. 9;

Cx. 12 A Neolithic feature, partly captured, perpendicular on the long sides of the trench (3x2 m), with a shallow bottom, irregularly shaped, a greyish-brown filling and many ceramic materials (fig. 27);

Cx. 12 В Neolithic feature, partly captured, parallel to Cx. 12 A, also irregularly shaped, descending in steps to a maximum depth of 2.40 m, with a greyish-brown filling with a big quantity of ceramic and lithic materials;

Both Cx. 12 A and Cx. 12 В revealed Neolithic pottery painted with black bituminous substance or with a red substance.

G. 10 Neolithic feature, irregularly shaped (1.05 x 0.70 m) with a greyish-brown filling;

G. 11 Neolithic feature, rounded shaped, partially captured on the northern side of the

trench, with a diameter of 0.70 m and a greyish-brown filling;

G. 12 Neolithic feature, rounded shaped, partially captured on the southern side of the trench, with a diameter of 1 m, greyish-brown filling and a maximum depth of

0.70 m;

Abriged version

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