Linear Pottery CULtUre on the Lower DanUbe

Garvăn D. and Frînculeasa A. 2021. Linear Pottery culture on the Lower Danube. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73/1, 421-437. Archaeological excavations carried out at Sudiţi (Buzău County, Romania) some decades ago unearthed several Linear Pottery culture features which were subsequently interpreted and used by various researchers in an attempt to explain the origin of Chalcolithic cultures (such as Boian). The poorly published findings generated conflicting or arguable theories. Even if it is not the only discovery of its kind, the Neolithic feature from Sudiţi is the most complex one from Wallachia. Until new, accurate field research is undertaken, this old discovery is still appropriate for further discussion, offering some valid points regarding the relation between the local culture and Linear Pottery at the turn of the fifth millennium.


IntroDuctIon
Although more than half a century has passed since the Sudiţi investigations, there is still little information about the evolution of the Linear Pottery culture on the Lower Danube. Apart from the Sudiţi site, where several complexes (deep dwellings or pits) attributed to the Linear Pottery culture were researched, the other data are exclusively related to the presence of ceramic fragments in various local cultural contexts such as Dudeşti, Vădastra I and Boian -Bolintineanu.
LIneAr Pottery cuLture on the Lower DAnube.
A number of discoveries were made in the southern half of Wallachia, near Bucharestsome of them in archaeological contexts belonging to the Dudeşti culture, such as the finds at the eponymous site (Comşa 1969) and Cernica (Comşa 1978, 14). A few Linear Pottery culture sherds originate from Măgura, in the Teleorman valley, from a level with mixed Dudeşti and Vădastra materials (Frînculeasa 2010, 50, 51). Recently, Linear Pottery culture along with Dudeşti and Boian -Bolintineanu have been found at Pietrele (Hansen et al. 2017, 22, fig. 25).
As regards the area around the Olt River, in addition to the Vădastra find, there are those from Slatina -Crişana II, Piatra Sat -Nucet and Farcaşu de Sus -Pe Costă, in the Dudeşti/Vădastra I levels (Nica 1997, 107).
To this list of finds of ceramic materials, specific to this culture, we should add a number of decorative elements considered to be of Linear tradition. One should mention the deco-ration consisting of parallel lines, which sometimes end in a short, oblique line, encountered in some Boian -Giuleşti settlements in north-eastern Wallachia, at Siliştea -Conac, Lişcoteanca -Movila din Baltă (Pandrea 1999, 26, fig. 1, 2) and Pietrosu -La Arman (unpublished), or maybe the one consisting of triangles or parallel lines, made by incision, with the inside spaces filled with stitches. the sIte From suDIţI (buzău) AnD the LIneAr Pottery cuLture (A stILL soLItAry DIscovery) The Sudiţi site (Gherăseni commune, Buzău County) lies in the north-east of Wallachia, in the Bărăgan Plain, about 25 km from the foothills, on the bank of the Călmăţui River. The Neolithic and Chalcolithic occupation is spread over a large area (approx. 10 ha), overlap-   1997 (4) and the current orthophotograph (5) ping almost the entire space between the villages of Sudiţi (Gherăseni commune) and Bălaia (Smeeni commune), on the right bank of the river (45.015274°N; 26.822364°E) (Fig. 2). The site was identified by V. Teodorescu in 1961, following some surface research. The excavations were carried out in 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. Following the results obtained after the first excavation campaign, the "Sudiţi aspect", resulting from contacts between Linear and Dudeşti and Boian -Bolintineanu communities, was defined (Teodorescu 1966).
The materials attributed to the Linear Pottery culture lay in a 0.25 m thick layer, alongside other Dudeşti and Boian -Bolintineanu and Boian -Giuleşti materials. Some overlapped complexes were decisive in establishing the stratigraphy. On this basis, it was established that Linear communities had preceded the Boian -Bolintineanu and Giuleşti ones (Teodorescu 2009, 619), and that there could have been an archaeological level more ancient than the Linear one (Teodorescu 1966, 223-225).
Six pits were attributed to this community, amongst them CL 1/1964 and CL 2/1970, which were interpreted as dwellings on basis of their shape, size and layout. Pit CL 1/1964 had an oval shape, 0.30-0.35 m deep, with sides measuring 3.55 × 2.95 m. Pit CL 2/1970 was 0.30 m deep, with sides measuring 4 × 2.75 m. The remains of a hearth were preserved inside, and the outline was bordered / delimited by 11 postholes (Frînculeasa 2010, 45).
Identical situations were also identified in settlements attributed to the Linear Pottery culture east or west of the Eastern Carpathians. Ten pits were found at Târpeşti (Neamţ County), and based on their sizes (sides of 5 × 3 m and depths of 0.9-1 m from the excavation level), only one was labelled as a dwelling (Marinescu-Bîlcu 1981, 8). Remains of Linear dwellings, largely destroyed by later occupations, were also researched at the Isaiia settlement (Iaşi County) (Ursulescu et al. 2001, 111;2002, 161, 162;2005, 189). Fourteen deep dwellings and about 30 pits were investigated at Olteni (Covasna County) (Buzea et al. 2010, 286), considered to be one of the largest settlements in Romania. Boian -Giuleşti and Precucuteni I materials, which seem to be contemporaneous at this site, were also found here (Buzea et al. 2010, 286).
The situation in Sudiţi may be an exceptional one due to the presence of successive occupations over a very short period of time, but the contextualisation of the archaeological material discovered by V. Teodorescu remains problematic. In most cases, Boian -Bolintineanu or even Boian -Giuleşti materials were found at the upper part of Linear Pottery culture pits, which can be explained by their being filled in different stages (Frînculeasa 2010, 47, 48).
The ceramic inventory from Sudiţi is not very large, as the number of ceramic fragments is a little over 100. Two vessels, which today are part of the Buzău County Museum exhibition, were restored ( Fig. 3: 1, 2). Almost the entire amount of pottery belongs to the category of fine ware. The only criterion of assignation was the decoration. The similar features of Neolithic coarse pottery (particularly the Linear and Dudeşti, but also Boian), the absence of distinctive ornamental elements and the context of discovery were impediments to separating this ceramic category based on cultural and chronological criteria. The typological repertoire is rather poor, partly due to the difficulty in identifying/separating the material. The "truncated cone-shaped bowl" (Fig. 4: II) is a frequently encountered form at Sudiţi. This form is considered to be of southern influence (Dudeşti or Boian) and attributed to the final stage of the Linear Pottery culture (Teodorescu 1966;Ursulescu 1990, 17). The spherical bowl (Fig. 4: I) and the high-necked vessels (Fig. 5: I) are specific to this culture and, in the area east of the Carpathians, are considered to be typical of the middle and late stages according to the chronology proposed by N. Ursulescu for this territory (Ursulescu 1991, 17, 18). Three types of decorations can be encountered at the settlement in the Călmăţui valley: the incised type (which prevails) ( Fig. 3; 4: I), the type that combines notches with incisions (less common) (Fig. 5: I4) and the plastic type (perforated or unperforated protuberances) ( There is information about the archaeological contexts of Dudeşti (Comşa 1969) and Cernica (Comşa 1978, 14), where Linear pottery was found alongside Dudeşti pottery. Linear pottery was discovered at Vădastra in a level corresponding to the end of the Dudeşti culture (Teodorescu 1966, 224), and in Slatina, Piatra and Farcaşu de Sus in Dudeşti/ Vădastra I levels (Nica 1997, 107). Linear materials were found alongside Dudeşti and Bolintineanu ones in Cernica ( Fig. 6: 1-7; Cantacuzino and Morintz 1968, 12, fig. 4), Pietrele ( Fig. 6: 8; Hansen et al. 2017, 22, fig. 25), and Coroteni (Bobi 1987, 329, fig. 4: 1), whereas inside the Carpathian arch, at Hărman, they occur in association only with Bolintineanu pottery (Alexandrescu 1971). Linear, Bolintineanu and Vădastra I ceramic fragments were found at Ghinoaica (Frînculeasa 2010, 51) and Vadu Soreşti (Drâmbocianu 1980). Several Vădastra fragments were also discovered at Sudiţi (Frînculeasa 2010, pl. 37: 6-10), but in unclear contexts. Linear ceramic fragments associated with Vădastra were found in Boldeşti as well (Frînculeasa 2010, 51). As previously mentioned, Dudeşti, Vădastra I and Boian -Bolintineanu fragments were discovered alongside Linear pottery in the Sudiţi settlement. At Voetin (Vrancea County), the Linear settlement overlapped a Starčevo-Criş settlement, which, in its turn, was covered by a settlement attributed to the Spanţov phase of the Boian culture (Bobi and Paragină 1992, 25). A Linear settlement overlapped by a Boian-Giuleşti settlement was also discovered in Vrancea County, at Gugeşti (Bobi 1979, 26, fig. 4: 6-8).
In south-western Ukraine, ceramic fragments with a decoration typical of the Dudeşti culture were found in a Linear complex at Kamyane-Zavallia (Kiosak 2017, 253-268, fig. 9: 12-14). The lack of contexts and the period in which materials attributed to the Linear Pottery culture were investigated explain the absence of radiocarbon dating. The only option is to relate to the neighbouring areas and cultures. Radiocarbon dating carried out in Linear Pottery culture settlements (Nowak et al. 2017, fig. 6;Kiosak 2017, 258;Lazarovici and Lazarovici 2006, 463) points to a chronological interval closer to the Vădastra, approximately between 5200 and 5000 cal BC (Mirea 2015, 45). As for the Dudeşti culture, the most relevant radiocarbon dates are those from Măgura (Thissen 2013, 25, tab. 1). Attributed to an early stage of the culture, they are placed within an interval between 5500 and 5300 cal BC (Mirea 2015, 45). For the Boian -Bolintineanu phase, there is no radiocarbon dating from the settlements, and the dates from the Cernica graveyard (Stratton et al. 2018) are not relevant; however, some finds or associations of materials indicate the contemporaneousness of this phase with the Vădastra I (Neagu 2003, 145). Some authors consider the Boian -Bolintineanu phase to be an integral part of the Vădastra culture (Boroneanţ 2005, 64). The Linear Pottery culture and the Giuleşti phase of the Boian culture played an important role in the emergence of the Precucuteni culture, which shows that the two were contemporaneous. In north-east Wallachia, the Giuleşti phase has a longer evolution than in the Danube valley. Radiocarbon dates are also scarce for this period. The earliest ones carried out at the Isaccea site indicate an interval of 4900-4800 cal BC (Carozza et al. 2020, 151, fig. 9).
The Linear finds south of the Carpathians prove the existence of a period of cultural contacts, with the Dudeşti, Vinča B2 culture as the lower limit and the Boian -Giuleşti as the upper one.

DIscussIons (on the nAture oF the Presence oF the LIneAr Pottery cuLture on the Lower DAnube)
The Sudiţi finds attributed to the Neolithic drew the attention of the researchers of the age, who formulated points of view regarding the internal evolution, the connections/contacts with the neighbouring area and the role played by the Călmăţui group in the emergence of the Boian and Precucuteni cultures.
As early as the first publication, inferences on the cultural identity of the archaeological features discovered here were presented: "…these more or less still Linear tribes (later of Sudiţi aspect)…" (Teodorescu 1966, 231). The wording of the 1966 text suggests the existence of two moments in the evolution of the complex here: the first one -the coming of Linear communities, the second one -the synthesis between the newcomers and the local communities (Dudeşti).
According to E. Zaharia, the Sudiţi finds are a late stage of the Linear, of the transition from the Dudeşti to the Bolintineanu (Zaharia 1967).
Based on the results obtained at Târpeşti, S. Marinescu-Bîlcu considers that the late Linear communities descending from Moldavia and the Bolintineanu ones had mixed at Sudiţi, thus excluding the participation of the Sudiţi aspect in the formation of the Precucuteni culture (Marinescu-Bîlcu 1968, 400).
E. Comşa would view the Sudiţi stratigraphy as uncertain and would attribute CL 1/1964 to the Dudeşti culture, arguing that the Linear pottery in the fill must have been an import, as it occurs also in a pit at Dudeşti eponymous site. Furthermore, he would acknowledge the antecedence of the Linear pottery from Dudeşti and Ghinoaica to that from Sudiţi (Comşa 1969, 572).
Studying the Hărman Linear material, A. Alexandrescu noticed its resemblance to that of Sudiţi, but considered the emergence of mixed elements to have resulted from the contact between Linear and Bolintineanu communities (Alexandrescu 1971, 13, 14).
Employing stylistic criteria, N. Ursulescu proposes three stages of evolution of the Linear Pottery culture in Moldavia and north-east Wallachia. As early as the first phase, these communities, who "dislocated and assimilated the Starčevo-Criş ones", would spread as far as the north-east of Wallachia (the Călmăţui valley -A/N) and even further south, coming into contact with the Dudeşti communities, in the second phase (Fundeni) (Ursulescu 2000, 252). During the second phase, that synthesis between the east-Carpathian and southern (Dudeşti) communities may have occurred, which the Iaşi-born scientist would regard as "a local aspect -the Sudiţi aspect" (Ursulescu 2000, 253, 257). It is then that some of the Linear communities from Moldavia would enter Transylvania, and the influence of southern cultures on the Linear one would become increasingly stronger, this being the beginning of the formation process of the Precucuteni culture (Ursulescu 2000, 258). It results, from the aforementioned, that N. Ursulescu also acknowledges the existence of two moments in the evolution of the Linear Pottery culture at Sudiţi.
While the northern, western and southern connections of the Linear Pottery community from Sudiţi are emphasised repeatedly, there are no clear data to ascertain the cultural relationship with the eastern territory (Haşotti 1990, 21).
S. Pandrea rules out the participation of the Sudiţi aspect to the formation of the Giuleşti phase, but admits there may have been a coexistence of the two ceramic styles (linear and Giuleşti), which is an idea based on the discovery of vessels with a decoration consisting of incised lines, sometimes interrupted by small alveoli, found at Siliştea -Conac and Lişcoteanca -Movila din Baltă (Pandrea 1999, 26, fig. 1, 2).
Reassessing the excavation data and V. Teodorescu's manuscripts, one of the authors of the present paper concluded elsewhere that the Linear Pottery culture from Sudiţi represent a particular phenomenon within the cultural evolution of north-eastern Wallachia that should be inserted between Dudeşti culture (Fundeni phase) and Boian culture (the Giuleşti phase), prior to or at least contemporary with the formation of the Precucuteni culture (Frînculeasa 2010, 56).
Traditions and influences of the Linear Pottery culture preceding the emergence of the Precucuteni culture were specified and observed following the discovery of vessels with anthropomorphic features at Dodeşti -the Stoicani-Aldeni cultural aspect (Niţu 1974), Isaiia -the Precucuteni II-III culture (Ursulescu and Tencariu 2004), or in the Bucovăţ cultural environment (Lazarovici 1979;Maxim 1999).
These are some of the theories regarding the finds of Sudiţi and their role in the new cultural constructions. Although many years have passed since the excavations carried out here, the echo of these finds has not disappeared. The lack of excavations in the area, which could confirm or refute what V. Teodorescu reported, makes it more and more difficult to discuss such an issue. The data on the Linear Pottery culture in eastern Romania still lacks substance. More recent discoveries, such as those from Isaiia (Iaşi County) and Olteni (Covasna County) are yet to be expounded in a conclusive manner. The data from Olteni are little known, but we believe they may have a significant impact on the interpretation of the occurrence of Linear, Boian and Precucuteni I materials in the same archaeological context (Buzea 2002, 183-225). As regards the ceramic inventory of Isaiia, it allowed J. Braungart to define three phases of evolution of this culture. He places the Sudiţi, Vadu Soreşti, Dudeşti, Vădastra and Hărman finds in the second phase (Braungart 2014, 25).

concLusIons
Analysing the evolution of the Linear Pottery culture on the Lower Danube, or its influence on the origin of contemporary or posterior cultures, is still far from being easy/accessible. Using only one element (pottery) within a model, namely the establishment of contact chronology based on "imports", we believe that such an analysis is inappropriate in the absence of additional elements. In establishing a relative chronology, the association of "imports" with indirect finds, which points to the contemporaneousness of cultural influences, complicates or at least raises questions regarding the absolute nature of this methodology. Acknowledging chronological gaps, cultural isolationism and conservatism seem easy answers, which are nevertheless difficult to prove only by studying the pottery. Certain materials are not "imports", but bear mere similarities or influences marked by the "fashion" of the age (Frînculeasa 2007, 35); however, they may also indicate access to technologies and innovations in the production of pottery and/or of other artefacts.
The finds attributed to the Linear Pottery culture in Romania led to the reassessment of the local cultural framework following the evolution of the Starčevo-Criş culture, which represented the engine for the cultural homogeneity of a large area north of the Danube in the 6 th millennium. Unlike the previous stage, the end of the 6 th millennium and the beginning of the following one represented a chronological segment which was culturally heterogeneous and fragmented. Within this local picture, the discovery of Linear ceramic Fig. 7. Distribution of cultures discussed in the text fragments south of the Carpathians marks a very culturally dynamic period, characterised rather by local evolutions, which however do not exclude contacts and interaction. The Sudiţi finds seem to represent a certain kind of cultural manifestation with a strong local imprint, generated both by the geographical context and by the interaction between the Linear Pottery culture and the contemporary cultural environment (Fig. 7). The lack of consistent discoveries might mark a reality in which the Linear Pottery culture interacted with the local cultural environment and influenced it on a more or less archaeologically noticeable level.