Instituții și
Persoane implicate:
| Nume |
Prenume |
Rol |
Instituție |
| Hansen |
Svend |
participant |
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin, Germany |
| Bălan |
Gabriel |
participant |
Muzeul Naţional al Unirii, Alba Iulia |
| Burlacu-Timofte |
Raluca |
participant |
Muzeul Naţional al Unirii, Alba Iulia |
| Ciugudean |
Horia |
participant |
Muzeul Naţional al Unirii, Alba Iulia |
| Rustoiu |
Gabriel Tiberiu |
participant |
Muzeul Naţional al Unirii, Alba Iulia |
| Uhnér |
Claes |
participant |
Roemish-Germanischen Kommission, Germany |
| Kalmbach |
Johannes |
participant |
Roemish-Germanischen Kommission, Germany |
Raport:
The Sebeş - Moldiţă site is located on a gently sloping terrace used for agriculture, some 250 m southwest of the small Secaş river, about 2 km southeast of the city of Sebeş (Pl. 1/1). The dominant feature on the site is a large burial mound, about 50 m in diameter, situated on a low hillock. Field walking at the site has not found any datable material, but it seems that the burial mound is part of a larger mortuary landscape, as a second substantial mound is found in a similar position on the left side of the Secaş river 1.3 km to the north west (in Sebeş – Podul Pripocului site area) and another possible mound is located about 1 km southeast of the survey area. Furthermore, a low rise indicative of a mound largely destroyed by ploughing was observed 170 m northeast of the large burial mound during field walking at the Sebeş site, and a small hill which might be a third mound is located at the northeastern border of the survey area 245 m away from the first mound.
Geomagnetic prospection. The location was surveyed by the Muzeul Naţional al Unirii Alba Iulia and the Römisch-Germanische Kommission – Frankfurt am Main during April 2017 (Pl. 1/2). A five-channel SENSYS MAGNETO®-MX ARCH magnetometer was employed with the sensors positioned in 50 cm distances on a 2 m wide hand-drawn fiberglass cart. Geo-referencing was made with a Leica DGPS with the rover on the magnetometer. Acquisition of data was made with RTK fix with a positional accuracy of (±0.02/±0.02m). Initial data processing and interpolation was made with the SENSYS MonMX, DLMGPS and MAGNETO® - ARCH software package, and post-processing was performed with Oasis Montage 8. Analysis and evaluation of the data was made in QGIS 2.18.
The survey area in Sebeş is 270 m long. It starts by a small access road that runs parallel to the A1 motorway in the southwest and follows the terrace slope towards the Secaş river in the northeast. The southwestern part encompass a 70x70 meter square around the large mound whereas the northeastern part constitutes an 60 m wide and 220 m long strip which covers the presumed destroyed burial mound and the southern section of the possible mound 245 m northeast of the large mound. The total survey area covers 1.7 ha (Pl. 1/3).
The southwestern section of the survey area has a large semicircular anomaly, made up by a 1 to 2 m wide band with negative nanotesla values ranging between - 0,2 to – 2. The anomaly has a diameter of close to 50 m. Extending from the southeastern limit of the semicircle to the northern boundary is a 40 m long and up to 3 m wide anomaly with values between 1.2 to 4 nT. When comparing the magnetogram with a digital terrain model generated from GPS data acquired during the geomagnetic prospection it is evident that the semicircular anomaly does not correlate well with the outline of the mound as the highest point in the terrain is located about 20 m southwest from the centre of the semicircle, and as the northeastern part of the semicircle lies outside the extent of the mound. Although the mound is damaged by modern ploughing and likely by erosion, it does not seem plausible that this can account for the difference (Pl.1/3/A).
There are no strong anomalies inside the mound, but the central part has a diffuse 6x6 m anomaly with low nT values which might be a pit or the remnants of a wooden chamber. There is an oval 20x10 m anomaly with low nT values on the southeastern side of the mound and the 40 m long anomaly mentioned above follows part of the northeastern mound outline. The locations of these two anomalies in relation to the mound might indicate that they are extraction pits for earth used in the construction of the mound. This notion may be supported by that extraction of earth in these two positions on the terrace slope would have made the mound appear larger and better defined when viewed from the Secaş river.
The magnetogram has many anomalies indicative of metal debris, which is to be expected from a field used for modern agriculture. Apart from such readings the area northeast of the mound is mostly empty. Anomalies tell-tale of archaeological features appear first some 170 m from the mound in a position which corresponds well with the low rise in the terrain which was seen as a possible indication of burial mound where the upper part is essentially destroyed by ploughing. This area has 10 to 12 mostly circular anomalies, 1 to 3.5 m in size (most have a diameter of circa 2 m) with nT values between 2 to 3. The anomalies are arranged in a ring with a diameter of 22 m. Two circa 10 m wide anomalies with irregular shapes are found 15 m east of this anomaly concentration (Pl.1/3/B).
The northeastern section of the survey area where a third possible mound is located has two irregular shaped anomalies similar to those found east of the 22 m wide anomaly concentration described above. The area where the possible mound is located does not have any anomalies suggestive of archaeological features (Pl.1/3/C).
Evaluation of data. Based on the magnetogram and the local topography, it is probable that the large mound in the southwestern part of the survey area and the anomalies arranged in a ring indeed are burial mounds. The anomalies that make up the latter mound may be stones or pits that mark the outline of this otherwise largely destroyed feature. The 6x6 m anomaly in the central part of the large mound might be in line with excavated Eneolithic / Early Bronze Age earthen burial mounds from the surrounding region that have central pit graves or wooden funeral chambers -nota 1, but it should be emphasised that this anomaly is diffuse and difficult to interpret.
Given that no ceramics were found during field walking at the site after ploughing it is unlikely that that the irregular shaped anomalies around the burial mounds correspond with settlement activities, which supports the tentative interpretation that they may be extraction pits for soil used to erect the monuments. The nature of the small hill in the northeastern part of the site is difficult to assess, but given that the area has two anomalies indicative of soil extraction pits the possibility remains that it is a burial mound as well.
Rezumat:
Situl din punctul Moldiţă se află pe o terasă uşor în pantă de pe partea stângă a râului Secaş, la 2 km sud-est de oraşul Sebeş (Pl. 1/1). Complexul cel mai important al sitului este reprezentat de un tumul de mari dimensiuni, de aproximativ 50 m în diametru (Pl. 1/2). În timpul cercetărilor de teren efectuate în aprilie 2017 nu au fost descoperite materiale care să dateze situl. Tumulul de aici poate fi considerat ca parte dintr-un peisaj funerar mult mai vast, care include un alt tumul situat pe o poziţie asemănătoare, lângă râul Secaş, la 1,3 km nord-vest (în zona sitului de la Sebeş – Podul Pripocului) şi o posibilă movilă funerară la 1 km sud-est de aria cercetată. Mai mult, sunt indicii că alte două movile deranjate de lucrările agricole se află în apropierea tumulului.
Suprafaţa totală acoperită de ridicarea magnetometrică este de 1,7 ha (Pl. 1/3). Analiza magnetogramei, dar şi topografia locală, sugerează că movila de 50 m în diametru (Pl. 1/3/A) şi alte două anomalii dispuse în cerc din apropiere (Pl. 1/3/B şi C) sunt movile funerare. Aceste ultime două anomalii ar putea fi interpretate ca pietre sau gropi dispuse circular în jurul unor movile. În centrul tumulului principal a fost observată o anomalie de 6x6 m (Pl. 1/3/A) care ar putea sugera prezenţa unei gropi funerare centrale sau a unei camere funerare din lemn, similare tumulilor cercetaţi din epoca eneolitică / bronzului timpuriu. Trebuie specificat că această anomalie este difuză şi greu de interpretat.
Note:
1.
1) H. Ciugudean, The Later Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age tumulus-burials in central and south-western Transylvania (I), în Apulum 32, 1995, p. 27; Idem, Mounds and mountains: burial rituals in Early Bronze Ag Transylvania, în S. Berecki, R. Németh, B. Rezi (ed.), Bronze Age rites and rituals in the Carpathian Basin. Proceedings of the International Colloquium Form Târgu Mureş, 8 - 10 October 2010, Târgu Mureş, 2011, p. 21-57.
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