Sultana, a Unique Site in South-Eastern Europe
by Radian Romus Andreescu
The Eneolithic settlement of Sultana, commune of Mânastirea, Calarasi county is a special case of Romanian Eneolithic. It was the first Gumelnita site submitted to scientific research in the ‘20s of the last century. More recently, after 1975 it was researched almost entirely. Unfortunately, the results of these researches remained unknown. Instead, remained the archaeological material that, by its originality and great sight makes of Sultana a special site within the Eneolithic Age.
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Fig. 1 – Sultana – south view
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Fig. 1 – Sultana – south-west view
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The settlement lies about 800 m from the village of Sultana, in the location named Magura Sultanei, on the high terrace of the Iezerul Mostistea lake. A large part of it was eroded by the lake, only a rest of the settlement with the diameters of about 30x35 m has been preserved (Fig. 1).
From the few data available we know that the cultural layer was about 4 m thick and comprised the rests of the three evolution phases of the Gumelnita civilization, Gumelnita A1, A2, B1.
We researched at least eleven aboveground dwellings, of relatively small sizes, rarely longer than 4 m and wider than 3 (only one of 7x4 m), north-southward oriented. Some of them had clay floors built on a beam bed, and the fireplaces, present in all the dwellings, were usually set in the north-west corner. The walls had wooden pillars with clay bound wattle, and the roof must have been of reed. The settlement had also a defence ditch, about 6 m deep, that was doubled inside by an earth vallum about a meter high and 3-4 m wide.
The archaeological inventory is very rich, some of the materials are true unique pieces within the Neo-Eneolithic civilizations.
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Vessel
lid painted with graphite
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First we should mention that the gold pieces treasure, the largest discovered to the north of the Danube, made up of three anthropomorphic figurines, saltaleoni and a small chain of seven loops with a total weight of 36.170 gr. (Fig. 2).
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Fig. 2 Anthropomorphic figurines and gold
ornaments
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Fig.
3 The vessel with “lovers”
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The most outstanding of the pottery pieces is the one named “Lovers” from Sultana, undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of prehistorical art, no less precious than the famous “Thinker” from Cernavoda. On the bottom of a decorated plate with white and red rhombs there is a modelled couple sitting on a bench. The man holds the woman by the shoulders who rests her arms on the belly (Fig. 3). The symbol of this piece reminds us of a true mythic theme of Gumelniţa society.
Other two special pieces are two anthropomorphic vessels modelled in the shape of the human body, splendidly decorated with geometric motifs painted in white and red (Fig. 4).
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Fig.
5 Vessel with anthropomorphic attributes
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Anthropomorphic vessels
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Another vessel with anthropomorphic vessels has the human face modelled under the lip, and on the maximum diameter the upward palms were modelled (Fig. 5).
Two lids with horned animal protomas on the rims displayed modelled human figurines and depicted complex religious themes probably linked to certain agricultural events. A zoomorphic vessel, painted in white and red displays a realistic bird head (Fig. 6). There are also numerous clay and bone anthropomorphic statuettes (Fig. 7).
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Fig.
6 Zoomorphic vessel
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Fig.
7 Clay statuette
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Many vessels, some of them large, are decorated with geometric motifs, sometimes very sophisticated, painted in white and red or with graphite (Fig. 8).
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Fig.
8
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Food vessel painted in red
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Vessel painted with graphite and in white;
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Vessel with tulips
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These are just a few examples that make the site of Sultana a unique settlement within the Eneolithic civilization in south-eastern Europe.
I. Andrieşescu, Les fouilles de Sultana, Dacia, I, 1924, p. 51-107.
E. Alexandrescu, Şimon M., Unicat al artei neolitice “Îndrăgostiţii” de la Sultana, Magazin istoric, 4 (265), 1989, p. 12.
C. Hălcescu, Tezaurul de la Sultana, Cultură şi civilizaţie la Dunărea de jos, XIII-XIV, 1995, p.11-15.
C. Isăcescu, Staţiunea eneolitică de la Sultana - com. Mânăstirea, Documente recent descoperite şi informaţii arheologice, Bucureşti, 1984, p. 11-20.
C. Isăcescu, Săpăturile de salvare de la Sultana, com. Mânăstirea, jud. Călăraşi, Cercetări Arheologice, VII, 1984, p. 27-42.
S. Marinescu-Bîlcu, Die Bedeuntung einiger Gesten und Haltungen in der Jungsteinzeitlichen Skulptur der Ausserkarpatischen Gebiete Rumaniens, Dacia, N.S., XI, 1967, p. 47-58.
S. Marinescu-Bîlcu, Barbu Ionescu, Catalogul sculpturilor eneolitice din muzeul raional Olteniţa, Sibiu, 1967.