The Settlement Complex Orlovka-Kartal and the Early Copper Age in the Northwestern Black Sea Area

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The joint project conducted by the Free University Berlin and the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin together with scholars from the Republic of Moldavia and the Ukraine is devoted to the investigation of the early Copper Age culture system in the steppes of the northwestern Black Sea, an area that owing to its geostrategical position was predestined to become a contact zone between two cultural spheres in prehistory. The investigations focus on the interactions between the sedentary Bolgrad-Aldeni culture and the nomadic Sceptre-bearing group of the early Ochre-Grave culture, interactions that marked the development of the local early Copper Age and at the same time embody the first hitherto known cultural contacts within the above-named geocultural framework. Thanks to the outstanding participative work with colleagues from the Ukraine and Moldavia, interdisciplinary research project could be achieved, which embraces the fields of archaeology, climatology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology and anthropology. Thereby, we had the fortuitous opportunity to carry out systematic investigations at Orlovka-Kartal near Reny (Ukraine), the sole multilayered and well-stratified, prehistoric site in the steppes of the northwestern Black Sea area, as well as to initiate research at the likewise important sites of Cealic near Taraclia (Moldavia) and Kosary near Odessa (Ukraine). The results gained from these undertakings have enabled us to largely accomplish our endeavours to investigate the culture historical relevance o the settlement of Orlovka-Kartal, and to address the complex of questions concerning the role played by the northwestern Black Sea area in the context of the emergence and development of the European Copper Age.