Studies in the Neolithic settlement of Pietrele and landscape development in the Lower Danube region.

罗马尼亚皮埃特雷尔的考古发掘与古生态研究相结合，从一开始就指导了调查，非常成功，揭示了公元前6千年和公元前5000年在多瑙河下游的全新图景。最近两年的研究表明，皮特雷尔不仅在铜器时代有人居住，而且在新石器时代中后期也有人居住。因此，可以记载公元前5200至4250年间的整个时期。Pietrele是该地区唯一已知的持续时间如此之长的定居点。因此，它是一个了解从新石器时代晚期到铜器时代转变的杰出遗址。同时，多瑙河下游优秀的地质档案为将聚落置于其景观背景中打开了可能性。一个巨大的古湖覆盖了下多瑙河流域的大部分地区，这一证据为该地区的史前景观提供了新的线索。考古调查将建立罗马尼亚南部新石器时代中晚期的放射性碳年表。罗马尼亚南部的新石器时代二十多年来一直被忽视。问题之一是，铜器时代的创新是否可以用新石器时代的发展来解释，或者是从外部引入的。景观开发的研究远远超出了以前的研究，因为它现在侧重于代表从新石器时代到铜器时代的时间跨度的沉积物序列。根据在皮埃特勒和多瑙河三角洲之间进行的这一阶段考古遗址附近的取心，我们想要弄清楚古湖的范围，它发展的原因，它在新石器时代是否已经完全存在，以及它如何影响多瑙河下游的聚落发展。对新石器时代和铜器时代遗址的堆积沉积的研究应提供有关土地利用强度的信息，有助于评估人类对湖泊生态条件的影响。环境变化将通过对沉积物样本的地球化学和其他分析来检测。将根据OSL和14C测年建立年代地层学。着眼于新石器时代和铜器时代，有助于确认聚落作为湖泊文化的特殊地位。最后，考古学和沉积学/古生态数据将被整合到新石器时代和铜器时代聚落发展和环境变化的模型中

The connection of archaeological excavation and palaeoecological research in Pietrele/Romania which guided the investigations from the beginning has been very successful and revealed an entirely new picture of the 6th and 5th millennium BC at the Lower Danube. The recent work in the last two years made clear that Pietrele was inhabited not only during the Copper Age but also in the Middle and Late Neolithic. Thus the entire period between 5200 and 4250 BC can be documented. Pietrele is the only known settlement with such a long continuity in the region. Therefore it is an outstanding site for understanding the transformation from Late Neolithic to Copper Age.At the same time excellent geoarchives at the Lower Danube open the possibility to place the settlement in its landscape context. The proof of a large palaeo-lake which covered large parts of the Lower Danube valley shed new light on the prehistoric landscape in the region.The archaeological investigation will built up a radiocarbon based chronology of the middle and late Neolithic in South Romania. The Neolithic in Southern Romania has been neglected since more than two decades. One of the questions is, if the copper age innovations can be explained by the neolithic development or were introduced from outside. Research on landscape development goes far beyond the previous studies as it now focuses on sediment sequences representing the time span from the Neolithic to the Copper-Age period. Based on corings close to archaeological sites of this phase, which will be conducted between Pietrele and the Danube delta, we want to figure out the extent of the palaeo lake, the reasons for its development, whether it already existed to its full extent during the Neolithic period, and how it affected settlement development along the Lower Danube. Studies on colluvial deposits at Neolithic and Copper-Age sites should provide information on land use intensity helping to assess the human impact on the ecological conditions of the lake. Environmental changes will be detected by means of geochemical and other analyses of sediment samples. A chronostratigraphy will be established based on OSL- and 14C-dating. Focusing on the Neolithic and Copper-Age period should help to confirm the special position of the settlements as a lake culture. Finally, the archaeological and sedimentological/palaeoecological data will be integrated in a model of the Neolithic and Copper-Age settlement development and environmental changes