Teleac
Franz Becker
Claes UhnérTeleac is a fortified settlement located on the east bank of the Mureş River in southwestern Transilvania about 5 km northeast of Alba Iulia (Fig. 1). The settlement was founded in the 11th century BC and occupied until the 8th century BC. The archaeological material suggests an occupation from the early stage of the Gáva culture to the Basarabi culture (Ciugudean 2009, 2012, 2012). The western and northwestern sides are formed by steep natural slopes and the southern flank is marked by a knife-edge ridge. The southern ridge and the western rim are fortified by a ditch and rampart of seven metres in height and more than 600m in length, thus protecting an area of 30 ha (Fig. 2). The site has been surveyed and excavated in several campaigns from the 1950s onwards (Mitrofan 1967; Horedt et al. 1962; Berciu/Popa 1965), followed by extensive investigations from 1978 to 1987. Around 45 narrow trenches, about 1,5 m wide where excavated in several areas of the settlement (Vasiliev et al. 1991, pl. 1). 57 features, which were interpreted as buildings, were found. Because of the excavation method, some of these features were not fully investigated. At certain points larger areas were opened to document these features to their full extent. Most of them are oval pit-houses with diameters between 3 to 4 m and depths around 0,5 m (Vasiliev et al. 1991, 38-40). Similar types of buildings are known from other fortified settlements, e.g. Mediaş-Cetate (Zaharia 1965, 83-104), Tilişca (Lupu 1989, 36-38) and Dej (Vasiliev 1995, 15; 25, fig. 3). Fig. 1. Location of Teleac in Transilvania Fig. 2. Teleac seen from north Investigations From end of June until early September 2016 the Romano-Germanic Commission in cooperation with Muzeul Național al Uni-rii in Alba Iulia carried out new excavations on the site. The aim of the investigations is to understand the nature of the settlement with focus on the general themes: settlement structure, economy, palaeoenvironment and the role of the fortifications. The location of the trenches was based on recent geophysical surveys (Fig. 3). A 20x20 m trench was opened directly north of the fortifications and a 10x10 m trench in the northern part of the settlement. The larger trench has several well defined anomalies, two of which have turned out to be Early Medieval pit-houses. An earlier surface building has als been found, along with a beehive shaped pit, which contained large fragments of a portable stove. Fig. 3. Overview of the settlement plus geophysical survey. Red = 10x10 m trench, blue = 20x20 m trench, red line = Fortification and ridge Berciu/Popa 1965 = Berciu, I.; Popa, A., Aşezarea hallstattiană fortificată de la Drîmbar-Teleac. Apulum 5, 1965, 71-90. Pare 1998 = Pare, Ch., Beiträge zum Übergang von der Bronze-zur Eisenzeit in Mitteleuropa. Teil I: Grundzüge der Chronologie im östlichen Mitteleuropa (11.-8. Jahrhundert v. Chr.). Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 45, 1998, 293-433. Székely 1966 = Székely, Z., Aşezări din prima Vîrstă a fierului în sud-estul Transilvaniei (Braşov 1966). Vasiliev 1995 = Vasiliev, V. (1995): Fortifications de Refuge et Établissements Fortifiés du Premier Âge du Fer en Transylvanie. Bibliotheca Mvsei Marisiensis Seria Archaeologica 12 (Bucareşti 1995). Vasiliev et al. 1991 = Vasiliev, V.; Aldea, I. A.; Ciugudean, H., Civilizația dacică timpurie în aria intracarpatică a României. Contribuții arheologice : așezarea fortificată de la Teleac (Cluj-Napoca 1991). Zaharia 1965 = Zaharia, E., Remarques sur le Hallstatt ancien de Transylvanie. Fouilles et Trouvailles de Mediaş. Dacia N.S. 9, 1965, 83-104.
