DISTRIBUTION OF CERAMICS IN THE LARGE SETTLEMENT OF CORNETI-IARCURI AND ITS SETTLEMENT HISTORYRESEARCH PROJECT: A-6-8 General Information | EventsThis research project seeks to carry out a comprehensive study of ceramic products from the prehistoric settlement of Iarcuri (Romania) based primarily on chemical analysis of ceramics. The study aims to shed light on questions concerning the centralized/decentralized production, distribution and influence of ceramics.RESEARCHSince the summer of 2010, the Museum fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte (MVF) has participated as a cooperative partner in the Romania-based international research project Corneti-Iarcuri, which began in 2007. Iacuri is the largest known prehistoric settlement in Europe. It was secured by four defensive walls, the outermost measuring 15.8 km in length and comprising an area of 17.2 km2. This area contains three additional wall installations.In addition to the MVF, participants in the project which examines this large settlement and its natural and cultural surroundings include the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitt Frankfurt am Main, the Banater Museum in Timioara (RO) and the University of Exeter (GB). Magnetic measurements, land surveys, and selected excavation sections have revealed the settlements dense interior development, and have dated the structures to the late bronze age.From 2009 to 2011, systematic land surveys of around 90 ha of surface area within settlement rings I and II were conducted which yielded more than 130 kg of prehistoric, primarily late bronze age ceramics (around 15,000 fragments). Further study and excavation will be conducted in the years to come, and is expected to provide a wealth of supplementary material.Ceramics will be subjected to chemical analysis, beginning with those found in central Iarcuris, for the purpose of identifying various work areas or raw-material sources. It may be that different production techniques were used in various parts of the same settlement, or that ceramics in a settlement of this size are uniform, and thus were produced more or less centrally. The group will also examine whether in Iarcuri the production of ceramics intended for everyday use was in the hands of individuals, or whether it was in fact a self-sustaining activity carried out within small groups. It is also possible that products manufactured outside the settlement may be identified.Next, the research results will be compared with ceramics from contemporaneous settlements in the immediate vicinity and beyond. Because in the case of a settlement the size of Iarcuris, one is fundamentally dealing with a central place, it is conceivable that objects (including ceramics) from this site may have reached the surrounding countryside. Thus far, connections have generally been established in terms of stylistic similarities or differences. Systematically surveying the various groups of ceramic wares produced in Iarcuri on the basis of scientific analysis will enable us to quantify the settlements influence on other settlements. The survey will examine whether there is a stock of non-locally produced ceramics, and if so, what percentage of the total number of artifacts it represents, and whether it is only linked to certain parts of the settlement or a specific type of vessel. The group will also address the question to what extent the influence of the wares produced in Iarcuri diminishes as the distance from the settlement increases. It may also turn out that the production of ceramics was partially carried out in the surrounding region, and that the central settlement of Iarcuri was supplied from there.