Dniester-Prut interfluve Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The rocky hill from Saharna Mare, situated at 1 km south-west of the present day village of Saharna, constitutes the high terrace of the Dniester's right bank, with lofty and steep flanks on its northern, eastern, and south-eastern sides. With a surface area of ca. 12ha, the hill has witnessed human habitation since the end of the 2nd millennium BC. A semi-oval "stronghold", measuring 60×64 m and dated to the 10th–8th century BC, has been archaeologically attested at this location. The fortification's southern boundary is marked by the interfluve's steep hillslope, while the eastern, northern, and western ones by a man-made defensive work composed of a palisade (a "wall" of two rows of timber, with the gap between them filled with clay and rocks) and a ditch adjoining to the front. Towards the 8th–6th century BC, the inhabited area from Saharna Mare witnessed a considerable expansion to the central and north-eastern parts of the promontory, forcing the erection of a newer, more complex and sturdy fortification system, which was again rebuild during the 5th–4th century. The defensive system was composed of a "wall", stretching for ca. 385m and
with a width of ca. 5.6m, which was built from a wooden case with a core (emplecton) made from a mixture of dirt, sand, gravel, and rocks. To the exterior of the south-western side, a ditch, 15m wide at the top and 6m at the bottom, was dug parallel to the "wall". The defensive potential of the fortress was augmented by three bastion positioned in front of the defensive line, in the central area and on the flanks. During the 2010 campaign the entire area in question was magnetometrically surveyed, as to trace the path of the fortification works that were archaeologically attested, and to identify new archaeological complexes. The resulting magnetometric map highlights the paths of the archaeologically identified fortifications, as well as the existence of other magnetometric anomalies which may represent other various archaeological complexes.