Geography

In 2011 the Museum for History and Archaeology
of Prahova County conducted a series of rescue archaeological
works in the area surrounding the city of Ploieşti. As a result,
six tumuli (detected prior to this excavation at Ariceştii-
Rahtivani (2), Păuleşti (3) and Strejnicu (1) were investigated.
Inhumation graves were uncovered (both principal and secondary
ones) with the individuals lying crouched on dorsal or lateral
decubitus positions, having their legs constricted, fallen or
lying laterally. Few grave goods were present. The burials
were dated to the Bronze Age, probably the Jamnaja funerary
horizon. Two other funerary complexes discovered at Păuleşti
and Strejnicu were attributed to horsemen populations from the
beginning of the IInd millenium AD. The grave from Păuleşti
contained, alongside the human remains remains, parts of a
horse skeleton. The human skeleton was lying on the back,
head towards the west, arms along the body, legs stretched.
The horse parts comprised the skull and the extremities of the
legs, found together with a horse bit, two arrowheads, a ring
and an iron object (whose functionality could not be determined
because of its precarious state of conservation). The tomb from
Strejnicu (probably a cenotaph) contained only the skull and
leg extremities from a horse, together with a horse bit, an
arrowhead and another iron object whose functionality could
not be determined for the same reason as above.

County Museum of History and Archaeology Prahova has conducted archaeological research since 2008 inside the St. Nicholas parish precinct, Slobozia district of the city of Câmpina. The site identified here is placed on a high terrace at the confluence of rivers Doftana and Prahova, in the sub-Carpathian hills at an altitude of 500 m, near the Carpathian Mountains. After the archaeological research conducted in 2008-2010 in the south of the parsonage over 30 graves dating from the Bronze Age were discovered. Regarding the funeral rites both inhumation and cremation are present, the first prevailing. It is remarkable the diversity and complexity of rituals present in this prehistoric cemetery. Inhumation graves have rectangular pits with rounded corners. Pit depth is about 40-50 cm for inhumation tombs. For cremation tombs the bones were placed in small pits lined with stones, over which a small mound was made. Cremation burials were identified at 30-50 cm deep, while inhumation graves at 60-90 cm. Above the interred individual a mound of stone and/or soil was arranged, exceeding in size the dimensions of the pits. These mounds were visible and marked the graves. Some graves, both inhumation and cremation, were plated on the sides and bottom hole with rocks. In the case of cremation graves, the bones were placed, after they were collected from the pyre, in an urn (container) or fitted directly into the pit. The pieces of bone found in the inventory of such tombs show traces of secondary burning, which indicates that they burned together with the deceased. The buried deceased were laid down crouched on the right or left side, rarely on the back, their arms were taken to the front. They were oriented approximately east-west, head east or west. There are also two skeletons with the head oriented to the north. The grave inventory consisted of vessels, but also pieces of jewelry made of bone, bronze, amber, glassy paste, clay. The richest in terms of inventory are graves 2, 6, 7, 11, 14, 20, 27. There are graves with a pot or two, but also three cremation graves that have four pots and remains from other vessels. Most of the deceased had deposited in the area of the head (towards the face or neck) decorated or undecorated pottery. The most frequently encountered form is the cup with one or two raised handles. Bowls, amphorae and jugs are also present. Some of the pots from cremation graves were placed upside down. Ornaments occur relatively frequently in the inventory of graves. There are small parts, made neatly. On the left arm of the deceased in the tomb 26, who belonged to a child, is a small bronze bracelet. In a grave (M5) a bronze earring was found in the area of the right ear, two bronze earrings in tomb 20. In the same tomb were found three „pearls” of clay and four of green or white, translucent glassy paste. A small wand of bone was discovered in an amforoidal dish which was placed in a cremation grave (M27). The same situation was found in another tomb (M6) where an ornament of bone was found along with the bones deposited in a beautifully decorated urn. A bead of amber was discovered along with a cup in the M10 inventory. A bone needle was found in the M31, and 30 tali, some of them processed, were found in M30. In M30 were also found two pieces made of a bronze plate with jagged edges. In some graves animal bones were discovered, probably from the offerings made near the deceased. All vessels from these tombs show traces of secondary burning. They are modeled of clay, not always of best quality. They are decorated with incisions, stitches and vertical grooves resulting specific motifs for the late phase of Monteoru culture. A bowl decorated with stitches discovered in M2 with a form of Kantara is specific for Tei culture. In another tomb (M32) was found a cup decorated Tei manner. More undecorated vessels, with raised handles, can be attributed to Noua cultural background. Another Noua pot discovered in M23 was decorated with circular grooves placed under the rim and was provided with small lugs applied below the rim, symmetrically arranged. A truncated cone cup with slightly curved walls had besenstrich decor. Anthropological examinations showed that the tombs belong to young people, aged 25-35 years, men and especially women. In 2010 graves were discovered belonging to children, some under the age of three years. Also, there are a few graves attributed to people who are aged over 50 years old. It should be noted for the inhumation graves that despite different orientations, all individuals were sitting crouched ventral, dorsal less, which indicates certain beliefs about this position through analogies with fetal position. Based on the rite, ritual, archaeological inventory, but also from absolute dating, the cemetery seems to have functioned in the Late Bronze Age. The exceptional nature of this cemetery is the appearance in it of tombs dating from three distinct cultural manifestations, namely Tei, Monteoru and Noua, a unique situation in Wallachia until now, in fact in the entire area of such cultural manifestations.

This paper draws attention to the unexploited potential of cartographic material related to Ploieşti city, Romania, from the oldest reports to the modern. The cartographic document may bring valuable, more often than not original, information in order to improve understandings of behavioural patterns and the evolution of prehistoric communities. The study of the distribution and dynamics of burial mounds (tumuli) associated with the Bronze Age, within the perimeter of Ploieşti city and its metropolitan area, is one of the first applications of this kind of analysis made in Romania, and succeeds in showing the importance of using direct or indirect data from this category of cartographic documents for archaeological studies. Moreover, it demonstrates that, because geosystems and social systems are not static in space and time, a diachronic cartographic study provides the opportunity for a phenomenological focus on the evolutional issues of tumuli – spatiality, boundaries, distances and density.