In the summer of 2021, the excavation work on the Movila lui Deciov could be continued after no work could take place in the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic. In the exposed excavation trench A-B, two Early Neolithic settlement layers are clearly visible, which, according to the evaluation of a first radiocarbon date series, date to around 5800 and 5700 calBC. Afterwards, we record redeposited find material from the beginning of the Middle Neolithic in this area, from the time around 5600 calBC. There are few finds of this date, but no clear features in the settlement areas uncovered so far.

For the older Early Neolithic settlement horizon, we were able to document larger parts of a residential house in post construction in the north of the excavation trench. According to the evaluation of the radiocarbon dates, this feature should be roughly contemporary with the enclosure ditch of the settlement. In the second Early Neolithic settlement phase, several very large pits were excavated from the upper layer, which penetrated the lower settlement horizon. The largest pit complex in the south-west has a diameter of 6m in the sections exposed so far, but continues across the north-eastern profile. The backfill consists of laminated layers that can be macroscopically determined as ash bands, charcoal layers and strata with burnt clay. Apparently, this pit complex was repeatedly used for pyrotechnic activities. It could be a very large earth oven, used for example for firing large, relief-decorated storage vessels, of which larger fragments were found in the fill sediment. An alternative interpretation would be the secondary deposition of fire debris in this depression, originating from another source in the immediate vicinity. However, it could also be a pit complex where material was regularly deposited or dumped, for example as part of settlement activities, waste disposal or in connection with ritual acts.

In order to clarify the history of deposition, Prof. Dr. Christopher Miller from the Geoarchaeology working group took several micromorphological samples from the pit profiles in summer 2021, which will be examined in Tübingen in the coming months. The fill sediment was exposed in natural layers. During the last excavation season, the stratigraphically most recent depression reached the grown soil at a depth of about 2.50 metres. With the help of the results of the micromorphological investigations, we hope to be able to adapt the excavation work even more precisely to the features in order to be able to record the rich information from this unique find archive as comprehensively as possible.