Considerations Regarding the Archaeological Chronology and the Dating of Early Medieval Settlements in the Bărăgan Plain (8th—11th Centuries AD)1 (original) (raw)

The study synthesizes the current state of research of the issue and briefly exposes the archaeolo¬gical dating methods of a few early medieval settlements from the Bărăgan Plain. The cultural method, the typological method, the topostratigraphic method, the historical or event method, as well as inter-disciplinary methods inspired by contemporary technology are mentioned. Part of them are exemplified through the situation of the Vlădeni-Popina Blagodeasca site. The majority of the settlements evidentiated through survey were dated using the cultural method. The typological method is based upon the description of the archaeological inventory and its correlation with coins, ornaments or weapons as artefacts with increased chronological expression. An important aspect concerns the statistics of fragmen¬tary ceramic material. It has been noted that the proportions attributed to the different categories are very close in the complexes which functioned simultaneously. An example is the grey ceramics which was found in great percentages in earlier complexes. The topostratigraphic method dates the level or com¬plex according to superpositions or interscross. But the archaeological complexes has been dated with key artefacts. It is useful in establishing the evolution of the settlement, but less for an exact chronological classification. At Vlădeni ”Popina Blagodeasca”, the archaeomagnetic method was used to date two archaeological complexes classified at different levels. In the first case, the archaeomagnetic dating confirmed the typological dating. In the second case, the topostratigraphic dating was denied. The monographic studies of the archaeological inventories, the dating based on modern technology, as well as the extension of the database of absolute chronology through interdisciplinary studies, would contribute greatly to solving archeological chronology issues. Regarding the inventory monographs, abalance is made of the results of the ceramic studies carried out until now and raises the problem of comparative studies of contemporary cultures (Dridu, Saltovo-Mayaki and the environment of the First Bulgarian Kingdom). The author proposed new ways to develop the archaeological chronology like a science linked of absolute chronology. Keywords: dating methods in archaeology, cultural dating, typological dating, ceramics statistics, event dating, archaeomagnetic dating, absolute dating, relative dating, Dridu culture, the First Bulgarian Kingdom, the Saltovo-Mayaki culture, the Bărăgan Plain.