The excavation work in the summer of 2024 served to finalise the large trench ABC, the uncovering of which had already begun in 2018. The name corresponds to the successive extension of our original trench A, first in a north-westerly (B) and finally south-easterly (C) direction. As a result, a square sondage trench with an edge width of around 10 metres was uncovered down to the natural subsoil (Fig. 1).
The most important result of the excavation is the uncovering and documentation of Early Neolithic house floors, which belong to the earliest settlement phases at this site. In the eastern area of the trench, the preservation of finds was particularly good due to the collapse of either the roof or a house wall, so that several broken vessels could be recovered in situ (Fig. 2). The finds correspond to the oldest Neolithic period in Banat. In addition to ceramic vessels, numerous flint, bone and antler tools and another small axe made of nephrite were recovered.
After the removal of the former house floors, the foundation ditches of the houses were documented. These were linear trenches with posts embedded in them. Some of these linear structures had already been found in previous years and could now be joined together to form entire settlement structures. The result is an agglutinative arrangement of house units organised radially around the site. The settlement plan was evidently changed at least once, as the overlapping foundation structures show.
According to a series of meanwhile 47 radiocarbon dates, the settlement sequence on the Movila lui Deciov can also be described quite well in absolute chronological terms. In the central area, the foundation of the settlement can be recorded around or shortly after 6000 calBC and can be traced continuously over at least three Early Neolithic settlement phases up to around 5600 calBC. In the southern periphery of the Early Neolithic settlement, which was surrounded by a settlement ditch, our excavation trench D also shows a later settlement during the Early Neolithic around 5400 calBC. A Late Neolithic house, dating to around 4700 calBC, was also recorded in this area. During this period and shortly afterwards, the central area was also used as a burial ground.
Also in the summer of 2024, a team from the Romano-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute was able to extend the geomagnetic measurements around the site (Fig. 3). The measurement image clearly shows a silted-up river course immediately north of the Early Neolithic core settlement, which is intersected by the present-day irrigation canal. It is possible that the Early Neolithic settlement was built on the banks of this watercourse. In the area to the south of the core settlement, further settlement structures can be seen, some of which appear to have been enclosed by fences. Alongside the geophysical measurements, some of the settlement structures were specifically drilled in order to obtain an initial date. These cores have yet to be analysed.
