Cucuteni
Cucuteni · Cucuteni-Cetățuia · Cucuteni Type Site · Cucuteni Commune Iași
Eneolithic Precucuteni → Cucuteni A–B (5200–3500 BCE)·Precucuteni–Cucuteni (Western Cucuteni-Trypillia)·🇷🇴 Iași County, Comuna Cucuteni, Cucuteni village 30 km west of Iași on Moldavian Plateau (Dealul Gosan promontory, Cetățuia), Romania
John Chapman, Michail Yu. Videjko, Bisserka Gaydarska, Natalia Burdo, Duncan Hale · CC BY-SA 3.0
About
About Cucuteni
Cucuteni (Cucuteni-Cetățuia) — eponymous promontory type site of Cucuteni-Trypillia culture discovered 1884 by N. Beldiceanu on Dealul Gosan above Cucuteni village, 30 km west Iași. Stratified Precucuteni → Cucuteni A–B (c.5200–3500 BCE) tell — painted pottery (red/white/black bichrome-trichrome), anthropomorphic vessels, Dniester-Prut horizon. Defines Romanian Cucuteni phases Cucuteni A (4600–4050), A–B, B (4100–3500). Museum at Piatra Neamț and Iași displays trichrome ware. UNESCO tentative Cucuteni-Trypillia 7009. Promontory fortified by ditch-rampart, with burned houses and clay figurines.
Why it mattersEponym of Cucuteni — Western name of mega-culture spanning 350,000 km²
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Cetățuia — fortified elite or village?
Theories
- 01Cucuteni A as Precucuteni evolution
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.5200 BCE Precucuteni; Cucuteni A c.4600–4050 BCE peak
- Period
- Eneolithic Precucuteni → Cucuteni A–B (5200–3500 BCE)
- Culture
- Precucuteni–Cucuteni (Western Cucuteni-Trypillia)
- Builders
- Precucuteni–Cucuteni farmers (Boian–Gumelniţa circle)
- Purpose
- Promontory tell defining Western Cucuteni chronology and trichrome painting
- Abandoned
- c.3500 BCE (Cucuteni B collapse)
- Rediscovered
- 1884 N. Beldiceanu; 1909–11 H. Schmidt, 1960s M. Petrescu-Dîmbovița
- Excavation
- Excavated
1884
Beldiceanu discovers Cucuteni-Cetățuia
4600 BCE
Cucuteni A trichrome fluorescence
1909
Schmidt defines Cucuteni chronology
On the ground
Structures & features
47.2764° N · 26.9377° E · 260 m · 3 mapped features
Cetățuia Promontory Tell
tellDealul Gosan promontory tell 200×80 m with Cucuteni A–B stratigraphy 3 m
47.2766° N · 26.9378° EDitch-Rampart of H. Schmidt 1909
earthworkOuter ditch 20 m wide excavated by Schmidt defining Cucuteni A
47.2760° N · 26.9370° ECucuteni Museum Deposit Iași
museumTrichrome vessels and anthropomorphic figurines in Iași/Piatra Neamț museum
47.2770° N · 26.9385° E
Gallery