Malnas Bai, Bodoc commune, Covasna county

Site description. The site is situated on a promontory of the Baraolt Mountains, named by locals "Fuvenyesteto" (translated: sandy mound, gravel mound), that rises 20 - 25 m above the confluence of the Somos brook with the Olt. The fortification system of the settlement was placed exactly in the area where this promontory "departs" from the larger plateau representing the lower terrace of the Olt.

The history of the settlement includes four layers (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, numbered from bottom to top), attributed, especially on the basis of the patterns of the pottery, to the Cucuteni A2 -3 phase. The archaeological finds, the observations made during the excavations, as well as the interdisciplinary investigations conducted, contributed to a better understanding of the Ariusd - Cucuteni civilisation, in general, and of the inter-Carpathian aspects, particularly (the environment and its exploitation, the fortification system, the manner of building the dwellings, the land cultivation techniques, the economic role of animal breeding and hunting, domestic trades, spirituality).

In the Heidelberg laboratory were obtained the following radiocarbon datings, carried out on samples, coming from the complexes belonging to layer II:

Hd - 15082 (bones): 5407 +/- 20 BP = 3475 +/-bc = 4337 - 4240 CAL BC (16)

Hd - 14118 (coal): 5663 +/-42 BP = 3713 +/-bc = 4576 - 4465 CAL BC (16)

Hd - 14109 (coal): 5497 +/- 100 BP = 3547 +/- 100 bc = 4460 - 4244 CAL BC (16)

Hd - 15278 (bones): 5349 +/- 40 BP = 3399 +/- 40 bc = 4306 - 4049 CAL BC (16).
Other datings 14C, yet unpublished, were obtained in the Gliwice Laboratory (Poland).

On "Fuvenyesteto", next to the Ariusd - Cucuteni settlement, were uncovered also traces of the Cotofeni and Wietenberg cultures, that do not appear as distinct layers.

• Laszlo, Santierul arheologic Malnas Bai (The Archaeological Site of Malnas Bai), Materiale, Tulcea, 1980, 124 - 126.
• Idem, Date noi privind tehnica de constructie a locuintelor neolitice (Recent Data on Neolithic House Building Techniques), Arheologia Moldovei, XII, 1988, 23 - 31;
• Idem, Recent Data on Neolithic House - Building Techniques and Foundation Sacrifices, Third Symposium on Upper Neolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Populations of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. Summaries, Budapest, 1990, 17.
• Idem, Neue Angaben uber die Befestigungsanlagen der Ansiedlungen der Ariusd - Cucuteni Kultur, Actes du XIIe Congres International des Sciences Prehistoriques et Protohistoriques, 2, Bratislava, 1993, 352 - 354;
• Idem, Le sud - est de la Transylvanie dans le neolitique tardif et le chalcolitique. Nouvelles donnees et considerations, The Fourth Millenium BC. Proceedings of the International Symposium Nessebur, 28 - 30, August 1992 (Edited by Petya Georgieva), Sofia, 1993, 62 - 76;
• Idem, Nature et culture en Transylvanie orientale dans le neolitique. Contributions archeologiques et archeozoologiques a la connaissance du developpement de la civilisation Ariusd - Cucuteni - Tripolie, Nature et Culture. Actes du colloque International de Liege, 13 - 17 decembre 1993 (sous la direction de Marcel Otte), I, 499 - 528 (în colaborare cu S. Haimovici);
• ERAUL, No. 68, 1996;
• M. Mantu, Câteva consideratii privind cronologia absoluta a neo-eneoliticului din România / Some considerations regarding the absolute chronology of the Neo-Eneolithic in Romania), SCIVA, 46, 1995, 213 - 235;
• A. Laszlo, Malnas, Situri arheologice cercetate în perioada 1983 - 1992 (The Archaeological Sites Studied in the 1983 - 1992 Period). The National Commission for Archaeology. The Museum of Braila, Braila, 1996, 68 - 69;
• Idem, Malnas Bai, Cronica cercetarilor arheologice 1983 - 1992 (The Chronicle of Archaeological Researches 1983 - 1992.) The National Commission for Archaeology, Bucharest, 1997, 52 - 53.