DISTRIBUTION OF CERAMICS IN THE LARGE

SETTLEMENT OF CORNETI-IARCURI AND ITS

SETTLEMENT HISTORY

RESEARCH PROJECT: A-6-8

General Information
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Events
This research project seeks to carry out a comprehensive study of ceramic products from the
prehistoric settlement of Iarcuri (Romania) based primarily on chemical analysis of ceramics. The study
aims to shed light on questions concerning the centralized/decentralized production, distribution and
influence of ceramics.

RESEARCH
Since the summer of 2010, the Museum fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte (MVF) has participated as a
cooperative partner in the Romania-based international research project Corneti-Iarcuri, which
began in 2007. Iacuri is the largest known prehistoric settlement in Europe. It was secured by four
defensive walls, the outermost measuring 15.8 km in length and comprising an area of 17.2 km2. This
area contains three additional wall installations.
In addition to the MVF, participants in the project which examines this large settlement and its
natural and cultural surroundings include the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitt Frankfurt am Main,
the Banater Museum in Timioara (RO) and the University of Exeter (GB). Magnetic measurements,
land surveys, and selected excavation sections have revealed the settlements dense interior
development, and have dated the structures to the late bronze age.
From 2009 to 2011, systematic land surveys of around 90 ha of surface area within settlement rings I
and II were conducted which yielded more than 130 kg of prehistoric, primarily late bronze age
ceramics (around 15,000 fragments). Further study and excavation will be conducted in the years to
come, and is expected to provide a wealth of supplementary material.
Ceramics will be subjected to chemical analysis, beginning with those found in central Iarcuris, for the
purpose of identifying various work areas or raw-material sources. It may be that different production
techniques were used in various parts of the same settlement, or that ceramics in a settlement of this
size are uniform, and thus were produced more or less centrally. The group will also examine whether
in Iarcuri the production of ceramics intended for everyday use was in the hands of individuals, or
whether it was in fact a self-sustaining activity carried out within small groups. It is also possible that
products manufactured outside the settlement may be identified.
Next, the research results will be compared with ceramics from contemporaneous settlements in the
immediate vicinity and beyond. Because in the case of a settlement the size of Iarcuris, one is

fundamentally dealing with a central place, it is conceivable that objects (including ceramics) from this
site may have reached the surrounding countryside. Thus far, connections have generally been
established in terms of stylistic similarities or differences. Systematically surveying the various groups
of ceramic wares produced in Iarcuri on the basis of scientific analysis will enable us to quantify the
settlements influence on other settlements. The survey will examine whether there is a stock of nonlocally produced ceramics, and if so, what percentage of the total number of artifacts it represents,
and whether it is only linked to certain parts of the settlement or a specific type of vessel. The group
will also address the question to what extent the influence of the wares produced in Iarcuri diminishes
as the distance from the settlement increases. It may also turn out that the production of ceramics was
partially carried out in the surrounding region, and that the central settlement of Iarcuri was supplied
from there.