Marta, Liviu: The Late Bronze Age Settlements of Petea-Csengersima (Satu Mare, 2009)
III. Habitation of te Suciu de Sus Archaeological Culture
was 12-20 m2 at Culciu Mare29 and 28-32 m2 of the dwellings researched in Ukraine, west of the Carpathians30. The dwellings at Petea—Csengersima were researched only on one side of their surface, and they seemed to be similar in dimensions (S23 complex 1 with one side of 3,55 m), as they had close dimensions to the large surface dwellings (complex 22 with one side of 5,8 m and S 26 complex 2 partially uncovered over an area of 6,70 x 3,80 m)31. For the Suciu de Sus dwellings at Petea, we could approximately establish only the orientation of the deepened dwelling in complex 22, with long sides, on the N-NV — S-SE direction. It resembled the dwellings from Culciu Mare, oriented north with their short side, because the wind in the Satu Mare Plain blows from north-east32. The dwellings of the Suciu de Sus culture at Petea-Csengersima preserved some characteristics of the early dwellings of the culture. Similar elements occurred besides the specific elements of the Bronze Age: the choice for surface dwellings, the oval shape and the little deepened into the ground dwellings, the rare hearths and the post holes33. Hearths No Suciu de Sus hearth in the position in situ was found at Petea—Csengersima. The fill of many pits revealed hearth fragments that occurred in two ways. Most of the pits uncovered only small fragments of the hearth crust. They occurred together with plant remains, ashes, burnt bones and pottery that was sometimes secondary fired. It is possible that the fragments in the day of the hearths came off when the burnt remains on the hearths were broomed. The second situation is represented by the pits that comprised a great quantity of hearth fragments, suggesting that they were deposited within demolished hearths34. For example, pit 13 contained grouped pieces of a hearth, in the south-eastern part of the pit, 15 cm above the base. The pit also contained many ceramic fragments (a quarter were secondary fired) together with wall fragments, ashes and plant remains. Pit S 27 complex 3 (Fig. 9) was particular because of the 7 pieces of hearth found together with a complete pot and many ceramic fragments of an amphora and 2/3 of a cup (PI. 31/9-14, PI. 32). It is worth mentioning the presence of some demolished hearths in two side pits (S37 complex 12 and S37 complex 13, Fig. 10). One of them contained 19 hearth fragments, and the second contained 24. Pits Like any other prehistoric settlement, Petea-Csengersima settlement revealed a great number of pits. They clearly occurred as deep as the sterile soil. It is certain that they began from above it but, in most of the cases, the limits of their margins couldn't be established in the cultural layer that had a similar colour to the fill of the pits. Clues on the existence of several pits occurred when excavating the cultural layer: some different coloured spots or an assembly of artefacts on small areas, but their margins were not clearly delimited. Throughout the excavation of the deepened complexes at Petea-Csengersima a clear difference was observed between the colour of all pits fill of the Suciu de Sus culture and those of the Lăpuş II—Gáva I habitation horizon. The Suciu de Sus pits had usually light 29 Bader 1978, p. 66-67. 30 Balahuri 1966/ 1967, p. 79; Balahuri 1969, p. 63-65. 31 The assembly of daub in the setdement at Oarţa de Jos had wide surface, but its dimension was not mentioned (Kacsó 2004, p. 53-54). 32 Bader 1978, p. 67. The setdement at Diakovo was special for the varied orientations of the dwellings: dwellings I and V were oriented east-west, dwellings II and III were oriented north-west — south-west, and dwellings IV and IX were on the north-east - south-west direction (Balahuri 2001, ris. 62, 65). 33 The comparison with the setdement at Solotvino would be relevant — as it was the most intensely researched settlement in the first phase of the culture (Kobaly 1997; Vasiliev et al. 2002, p. 30-32). 34 S7 complex 3 (Fig. 4), S 27 complex 3 (Fig. 9), S37 complex 12 (Fig. 10), S37 complex 13 (Fig. 10), complex 76 (Fig. 19), complex 129 (Fig. 19). 16
