Sultana-Malu Roșu (Sultana Tell and Eneolithic Flat Necropolis)
Sultana-Malu Roșu · Malu Roșu · Sultana Tell · Mânăstirea-Sultana
Late Neolithic through Eneolithic (Boian → Gumelnița, 5000–3900 BCE)·Boian → Gumelnița (Kodžadermen-Karanovo VI) Eneolithic·🇷🇴 Călărași County, Mânăstirea Commune, Mostiștea Lake terrace, Danube plain, Romania
About
About Sultana-Malu Roșu (Sultana Tell and Eneolithic Flat Necropolis)
Sultana-Malu Roșu (Sultana Tell and Eneolithic Flat Necropolis) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Călărași County, Mânăstirea Commune, Mostiștea Lake terrace, Danube plain, Romania — Gumelnița type-tell and Eneolithic flat cemetery — 400 skeletons defining Gumelnița burial rite Excavated evidence reveals Boian → Gumelnița (Kodžadermen-Karanovo VI) Eneolithic cultural horizons with wattle-and-daub architecture. 2 ha, 400 graves, 150 m west of tell preserves wattle-and-daub burnt houses, tell formation, flexed inhumation cemetery with ochre technique.
Position on Călărași County illustrates largest gumelnița cemetery (400 graves) — eponymous for sultana-malu roșu burial tradition and gumelnița social stratification.
Why it mattersLargest Gumelnița cemetery (400 graves) — eponymous for Sultana-Malu Roșu burial tradition and Gumelnița social stratification.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Gumelnița social inequality — cemetery rank vs. tell house size?
- 02Mostiștea seven tells synchrony vs. sequential?
Theories
- 01Lazăr Gumelnița ranked society vs. egalitarian model
- 02Boian–Gumelnița continuity vs. replacement debate
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.5000 BCE Boian founding; Gumelnița tell floruit 4600–3900 BCE; Eneolithic cemetery 4500 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic through Eneolithic (Boian → Gumelnița, 5000–3900 BCE)
- Culture
- Boian → Gumelnița (Kodžadermen-Karanovo VI) Eneolithic
- Builders
- Lower Danube Gumelnița agropastoral communities
- Purpose
- Gumelnița type-tell and Eneolithic flat cemetery — 400 skeletons defining Gumelnița burial rite
- Abandoned
- c.3900 BCE Eneolithic tell abandonment after Gumelnița decline
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed 1923 Andrieșescu, excavated 2008–present Andreescu & Lazăr (Bucharest)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1923
Andrieșescu notes Sultana tell on Mostiștea terrace
2008
Bucharest reopens tell and cemetery, 17 new graves found
2019
Cemetery 94+ graves published with anthropology and aDNA
On the ground
Structures & features
44.2606° N · 26.8674° E · 42 m · 3 mapped features
Gumelnița Tell Stratigraphic Core (Burnt House Horizon)
tellGumelnița burnt wattle-and-daub house levels
44.2607° N · 26.8676° EEneolithic Flat Cemetery (400 Inhumation Graves)
cemetery400-grave Eneolithic cemetery 150 m west of tell
44.2604° N · 26.8671° EBoian-Ghețărie Flat Settlement (Sultana-Ghețărie)
settlementAdjacent Boian flat settlement 320 m east of tell-cemetery
44.2608° N · 26.8680° E