Valeriu SÎRBU / Magdalena DUTESCU / Dan STEFAN
(Romania)
The ages and space to which Celic Dere archaeological complex belongs to, make it the perfect context in which one may analyze and understand important cultural and ethnic changes of the Iron Age communities from the Lower Danube (7th – 3rd centuries BC).
The excavations undertaken in this site during 1985-2001 (directed by Dr. Simion Gavrila) conducted to the discovery and research of a settlement, a tumuli necropolis and a flat grave necropolis. Due to the complexity of the archaeological in situ contexts and also to their inventory, found both in the necropolis and settlement, only few information were published. The significance of the discoveries imposed a major change in the research strategy beginning with 2005 (the new team is directed by Dr. Valeriu Sirbu).
In order to understand the composite relations developed between the human communities from Celic Dere and their natural environment there were used specific concepts and methods in the field of Landscape Archaeology. Large scale geophysical surveys were used to delimitate the structural assemblages of this site and for the identification of unexcavated features (for example flattened tumuli). The spatial management of the entire research was ensured trough accurate topographic activities both in the case of general terrain analyses and also for archaeological documentation. The information from the old excavations was included in innovative databases and everything was integrated in a GIS system. New excavations were made to verify and refine the results of the analyses made with non-invasive technologies.
The cultural mixture of inventory and rituals in Celic Dere (Babadag – final stage, Getae, Greek imports, pre Scythian and Scythian elements) and also the continuity during centuries of the settlement and necropolis needed an extensive analytical exercise and also a reevaluation of the older results with newly available technologies and theoretical approaches.
This paper will present the results of this interdisciplinary research and the refining and publishing of former interpretations in the light of new technologies.