page_title: Rotbav Archaeological Site
section_title: Archaeological Site
hierarchical_section_title: Rotbav Archaeological Site / Archaeological Site
caption_attribution_description: English: Vessel of the Gáva culture from Rotbav, Transylvania, Romania
context_page_description: Rotbav “La Pârâuț” is a Bronze Age site in southeastern Transylvania, Romania, located at the southern border of the modern village of Rotbav, in Feldioara Commune, and 20 km north of Braşov, capital of the county by the same name. The settlement of Rotbav is situated upon a high terrace formation above the Olt River. Its importance lies in a long stratigraphy comprising the timespan from the Early Bronze Age to the Bronze Age / Iron Age transition. It is the most extensively researched site of this period in the region.
context_section_description: According to radiocarbon data, the Bronze Age settlement of Rotbav was inhabited between 1900/1800 and 1200/1100 BC (calibrated data). The site was then abandoned-possibly due to climatic deterioration and erosion processes-and never settled again. Agricultural use of the area started at the latest with the establishment of the medieval settlement of Rotbav around 1250 AD.
  Stratigraphy
  The stratigraphic sequence covers six distinct building phases.  The first three belong to the early Middle Bronze Age Wietenberg Culture, followed by two of the Late Bronze Age Noua Culture. The latest building phase belongs to the Gáva Culture, which marks the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition. Additionally, in a small part of the site traces of the Late Copper Age Baden-Coṭofeni Culture were discovered.
  Rotbav 1-3: The Wietenberg Settlement
  In the first three building phases belonging to the Wietenberg Culture small houses of about 20-25 square meters were documented. They were constructed of wooden posts and wattle covered by daub, some daub walls were ornamented with spirals. The flours were of pisé. Such constructions leave few traces and are archaeologically almost invisible, so that only a minor number could be documented. Inside the houses storage pits and fireplaces were found, separate storage areas for vessels are attested, too.  In addition, special fireplaces used in cultic activities existed near the houses. They consist of round burnished clay surfaces decorated with spirals; in pits below them fragments of miniature wheels and wagons were found. On the basis of palynological and archaeozoological data, the diet mainly consisted of einkorn wheat, barley and bromus, cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. A lucky find is a vessel from a pit containing the carbonized rests of a gruel made inter alia of acorns and meat. The cemetery was placed on the north border of the settlement; so far two urn graves were excavated. Presumably only a very small part of the population was actually buried, the Wietenberg Culture´s cemeteries are generally very small. In the case of Rotbav, the dead were well burnt, then the bones were collected and put in the funerary urn, which was put in a bigger pit and surrounded by river snail shells. The characteristic find category of this period is the fine pottery, which was produced in large numbers and extensively decorated. The hard, well-burnt red or black ware bears incisions, stamps and impressions, which were finally filled with a white substance, probably made of bones or lime. The earlier pottery shows geometrical motifs, in the second and third phase S- and Z-shaped hooks appear, which were most probably abstract representations of animals with a symbolic meaning in the community´s cosmology.
  Rotbav 4-5: The Noua Settlement
  At the beginning of the 15th century BC, after the last phase of the Wietenberg Culture, a sudden change in the development of the settlement appeared. The architecture, the funerary rite, the pottery and material culture in general changed.  These changes resulted from the arrival of a new population from the Eurasian steppes, the so-called Noua-Sabatinovka-Coslogeni culture, in southeastern Transylvania. Houses are now characterized by massive limed floors, the fireplaces were situated outside. The cemetery of the new population lies to the south of the settlement. Inhumation graves in stone cists are now typical, the dead lie crouched on one side. Burial goods include vessels and food (animal bones). The pottery comprises much fewer shapes and is largely undecorated and coarse. The fine ware is represented exclusively by two- and one-handled drinking vessels (“Kantharoi”). A special feature of the earlier Noua building phase is a so-called  “ashmound”. These round heaps formed of greyish sediments are typical for settlements of the Noua-Sabatinovka-Cologeni cultural complex. Until recently they were believed to represent the remains of houses or burned waste. New evidence shows that the “ashmounds” are not randomly formed mounds of waste, but special, collectively used places at 
caption: Vessel of the Gáva culture from Rotbav, Transylvania, Romania
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