Landscape and Demographic Dynamics in Southern Romanian Bronze Age
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Cristian Schuster Landscape and demographic dynamics in Southern Romanian Bronze Age. The Lower Argeş Basin Keywords: Bronze Age, demographic dynamics, Lower Argeş Basin. Cuvinte-cheie: epoca bronzului, dinamica demografică, bazinul Argeşului Inferior. Ключевые слова: эпоха бронзы, демографическая динамика, бассейн Нижнего Арджеша. Cristian Schuster Landscape and demographic dynamics in Southern Romanian Bronze Age. The Lower Argeş Basin In our intervention we will try to put together a picture as close to the real one as possible regarding the dy- namics of the settlements from the Bronze Age in the larger basin of the Lower Argeş River. This study is mostly based upon the personal investigations from Mihăileşti-Tufa, Adunaţii-Copăceni, Varlaam, Mogoşeşti, Mironeşti and Radovanu, all villages ave situated on the right bank of the Argeş River, Schitu, Bila and Cămineasca, on the Câlniştea River, and Bucureşti-Militari-Câmpul Boja and Ciurel, which ave situated on the right bank of the Dâmboviţa. Here are rendered considerations regarding the environment, the economy practiced by communities and the possible inner factors that could make a contribution to the variation of the demographic dynamics. Cristian Schuster Mediul ambiant şi dinamica demografică în epoca bronzului din sud-estul României. Bazinul Argeşuluii nferior În intervenţia noastră încercăm să alcătuim un tablou cât mai apropiat realităţii cu privire la dinamica aşezări- lor din epoca bronzului din bazinul mai larg al râului Argeş. Studiul se bazează în special pe investigaţiile persona- le de la Mihăileşti-Tufa, Adunaţii-Copăceni, Varlaam, Mogoşeşti, Mironeşti şi Radovanu, toate localităţi situate pe malul drept al Argeşului, Schitu, Bila, Cămineasca, amplasate pe râul Câlniştea, şi Bucureşti-Militari-Câmpul Boja şi Ciurel, aflate pe malul drept al Dâmboviţei. Sunt prezentate aprecieri vizavi de relaţia mediul înconjurător, eco- nomia practicată de comunităţi şi posibile resorturi interne, care au contribuit la fluctuaţia dinamicii demografice. Окружающая среда и демографическая динамика на юго-востоке Румынии в эпоху бронзы. Бассейн Нижнего Арджеша В статье предпринимается попытка как можно ближе к реальности воспроизвести картину динамики распространения поселений эпохи бронзы в регионе Нижнего Арджеша. Исследование основывается, в большей мере, на собственных раскопках автора, проводившихся в Михэйлешть-Туфа, Адунаций-Копэ- чень, Варлаам, Могошешть и Радовану, все населенные пункты на правом берегу Арджеша, Скиту, Била, Кэминяска на речке Гылништя, и Букурешть-Милитарь-Кымпул Боя и Чурел, находящиеся на правобере- жье реки Дымбовица. Представлены оценки относительно условий окружающей среды, экономики сооб- ществ и возможных внутренних рычагов, которые влияли на изменения демографической динамики. introduction Multidisciplinary analyses (paleontology, It seems that the natural phenomena were dendrochronology, archaeozoology, paleo-an- one of the most important factors that influenced thropology etc.), realized especially in the East- the population dynamics in Southern Romania, Mediterranean, Central and North-European areas more exactly in Oltenia, Muntenia and Dobrogea. and, more recently, in Eastern Europe and Roma- We consider here the climatic aspects, seismic nia (more timidly) outlined the image of climatic movements and volcanic eruptions, both from the turbulences, sometimes associated with natural mentioned area and from closer, or more remote disasters (Schuster 2005a: with literature; Schus- neighboring areas that could influence, through ter, Fântâneanu, Crăciunescu 2005: 9-14). These a chain reaction, the space between the Southern features affected the life of the Bronze Age com- Carpathians and the Danube. munities from the North-Pontic area and, through Revista Arheologică, serie nouă, vol. IX, nr. 1, 2013, p. 117-130 118 Cristian Schuster their movements to the west; they affected those the opinion of Petre Coteţ, during the first phase communities living in Southern Romania, but also (Danube); „the Quaternary lake” had withdrawn those from the larger Lower Argeş basin. from the spot where the river left the defile and went up to the Argeş and Burnaz Plain. Subse- About the landscape quently, in the Günz phase, the Burnaz, Burdea The Lower Danube, therefore the southern and Boian Plains etc., then in the Günz-Mindel Romania also, had been, most than others, the re- phase the Bărăgan Plain, in the Mindel-Riss phase gion where the environment, with its relief forms the Mostiştea, in the Würm I-Würm II phase the (the mountains - in Dobrogea, but also the Car- region of Brăila, while in the last phase, Würm III pathians and the Balkans – the highlands, plains, (= Holocene), north-eastern Romanian Plain de- meadows), the hydrographic reef (the Danube and veloped there selves. It seems that beginning with its tributaries, the Black Sea), its climate with large the Upper Pleistocene the Danube penetrated the fluctuations, had imposed better or improper cli- terraces of Chirnogi and Băileşti advancing up to mate conditions to the populations that crossed our the Mostiştea River (Roşu 1973). Subsequently territory or temporarily settled for a shorter or lon- (in Würm), the Corabia terrace had been formed ger time. Even beginning with ancient times, the and, during the Holocene, the one of the Călăraşi. Danube was considered one of the most important The Danube also crosses the territory of the waterways of Europe. Geographically speaking, northern Dobrogea, the region that continues up this large river had been divided into three distinct to the tectonic line Peceneaga-Camena (Tufescu portions, out of which the last, the Lower Danube 1974: 156-160). In this area, the hydrographic is the most important in out enterprise. reef is composed of rivers that flow into the big Starting from the area of Kladovo (to the Danube – Cerna, Topologu, and Peceneaga – but south) - Turnu Severin (to the north) the course also of those that flow into the littoral lakes – Ca- of the river Danube tempered itself, while the simcea, Taiţ, Slava, and Teliţa. Interesting and geographic picture generally maintained the same significant are the developments of the Taşaul features: the southern bank reaching heights up to Lake in the Quaerternary, in a space subsequently 100 m, sometimes crumbling briskly to the river, inhabited by several distinct human communities some other times with soft slopes, with a grad- (Popescu, Caraivan 2003). ual decrease; the Pre-Balkan plateau being cut It is obvious that the Danube, by the delta- by important tributaries like Arcar Lom, Tibrita, horn formed even during the Villafranchian at Vit, Osam, Iantra, Rusenski Lom. The Pre-Balkan its flow into the „Quaternary lake”, had a deci- plateau is a highland mostly made of hard rocks, sive contribution, later on „helped” also by the that along the millennia forced the almost straight Argeş, Dâmboviţa, Ialomiţa, Prahova, Teleajen, course of the river (maybe excepting the zone Buzău rivers, by their successive dejection cones Vidin-Calafat); the northern bank, which is a low, and by their aluvio-proluvial depositions, to the floodable region of the Danube, with swampy and formation of the Romanian Plain (subdivided in: sandy terrains, with an environment dominated by Olteniei Plain, Central Muntenian Plain, Transi- hundreds of lakes supplied by flooding and rains, tional Plain of Bucharest and the Bărăgan Plain) but also by the northern important tributaries: (Coteţ 1976; Păunescu 2000: 27 f.). As parts of Desnăţui, Jiu, Olt, Vedea, Argeş, Ialomiţa, Siret, the Romanian Plain the meadows of the Danube, Pruth. The entire northern bank of the Danube, Jiu, Olt, Argeş, and Ialomiţa had been formed dur- on a distance of about 5-10 km looks as a zone ing the Holocene. predominantly covered with lakes and a microcli- In Prehistory, the Argeş was (Schuster, Popa mate supplied by the river course itself. 2000: 11 ff.; Schuster, Popa 2008: 13 ff.; Schuster, For the formation of the Danube in the perim- Popa 2010: 9 ff.; Schuster, Popa, Barbu 2012: 11 eter that we are interested in, of a capital impor- f.), and still is today the most important river in tance could be the changes occurred in the region Central Muntenia. Belonging to the hydrographic of the Quaternary Lake from the Romanian Plain. alochtonous reef (Gâşteanu, Iordan 1070: 33; Ior- The mentioned phenomena took place during the dan 1973: 53), it is supplied over its course of 344 Pleistocene, over the time being studied by a se- km by more or less rich waters of some tributar- ries of specialists (Coteţ 1976; Păunescu 2000). In ies, among which, in this lower part, up to its flow Landscape and demographic dynamics in Southern Romanian Bronze Age. The Lower Argeş Basin 119 into Danube (Iordan 1973: 53 ff.; Ghinea 1996: Găvanu-Burdea Plain dominate the podzolite and 65), a zone of interest for our study that would plain soil. be important to mention is Dâmboviţa, Colen- The Ialomiţei Plain is composed of several sub- tina, Sabar, Neajlov, Câlniştea, Câlnău, Pasărea, units – Târgovişte-Ploieşti, Istriţa, Titu-Sărata and Glavacioc, Bratilov, Cocioc, Ilfovăţ, Dâmbovnic, Vlăsia, out of which of interest for the relief of the Ismar, Milcovăţ. Giurgiu County are the last two. Thus the Titu-Sărata The Argeş River makes the eastern border Plain comprises mostly large interfluves, in our case of the Teleorman Plain, which is also part of the the one between the Argeş and Sabar/Dâmboviţa Romanian Plain. The specialists (Popescu 2005) (Grigore, Popescu,