Hoisesti – La Curmătură 1, Neamt county. An archaeological survey in Eastern Romania

Abstract

Field survey activities in the Verdele brook basin, South of Hoisești village, Neamț County, have led to the identification and integration of new sites in the national archaeological database. At first, we made a visual analysis of the Verdele brook basin (left tributary of the Bistrița River), a stage followed by the identification of the places that presented specific parameters of areas with archaeological traces. In this context, South of the Hoisești village, on the left high terrace of the Verdele brook, on a flattened hillock delimited by two fossil riverbeds, we identified many archaeological traces. The fieldwalking activity continued during four agricultural seasons in which we took in consideration the distribution of the artefacts, the degree of damage inflicted to the area and the way the use of agricultural machinery was affecting an archaeological site. In order to confirm the presence of the archaeological content, the artefact distribution and the need to recover and protect the heritage, non-invasive investigations were performed, which proved the existence of a Eneolithic stronghold with three linear arranged 19 housing structures. As a result of this evaluation, it was proposed to carry out an archaeological survey in which the main objective was the research of a rectangular house. After removing the topsoil containing archaeological remains, was reached the archaeological level represented by the remnants of a burnt housing structure. The archaeological investigation started at the Hoisești-La Curmătura 1 led to the identification of some specific characteristics of the Eneolithic settlements with an area of less than one hectare located on minor watercourses and in the vicinity of some sources of liquid salt. In the same context, by recovering a batch of pottery fragments from the Middle Bronze Age, additions will be made regarding the occupation space and the connectivity in the central area of the Cracău-Bistrita Depression.