Raport arheologic: Scânteia/comuna: Scânteia/județul: Iași/punct: Dealul Bodeștilor (La Nuci) (2003)

The Cucuteni A3 settlement of Scânteia is situated on the Dealul Bodești, about 1.5 km south-east from the village. The north-west part of the site was partially destroyed by hydrographical works. The magnetic prospecting revealed that the settlement seems to cover more than 8 ha. Our research started in 1985. We investigated especially the north area of the site. We discovered and excavated 11 dwellings and 214 pits. Houses were built with a platform made of wood and clay. All of them were destroyed by fire. Some of them offer interesting information regarding their internal architecture. Judging by its inventory, House 1 was a shrine; other houses were related to religious purposes, too (House 8 contains a decorated fireplace and House 4, a big pythos with the sacred couple). A large number of anthropomorphic statuettes (over 900) and pots were found, as well as other religious vessels. The archaeological material is very rich in the area of the houses and in the pits (some of them also relating to religious practices). In 2003 we researched the entire west part of Houses 11 and 10. Both houses (House 11, about 10.50 m x 5.50 m; House 10, about 10.75 x 7.25 m), had the long axis oriented to the E - W. Other two earlier complexes belonging also to the Cucuteni A3 were discovered. In L 10A we found a fragment of a human jaw belonging to a 16 - 18 year old man and a very interesting anthropomorphic idol with traces of a "rucksack". Twenty pits were discovered. Pit 195 was the most interesting. At –0.80 m where the pit was identified we discovered a bull skull and a large bowl, broken in situ. At –1.10 m in the central part of the pit a fragment of a female skull (30 - 35 years old) was found. In this pit at a different depth we found also some entire cups and a plate, sherds belonging to different other types of pots, flint tools, anthropomorphic idols, etc. Așezarea Cucuteni A3 de la Scânteia se situează din punct de vedere geografic în Podișul Central Moldovenesc și se află la o distanță de cca. 35 km S de Iași. Situl se găsește la cca. 1,5 km SE de satul Scânteia (reședință de comună), pe drumul spre satul Bodești, pe marginea de V a Dealului Bodești. În anul 2003 s-au încheiat cercetările pe latura de V a Suprafeței III și s-au delimitat în întregime locuințele L 10 și L11. In anul 2003 au fost descoperite și câteva bile de oxid de mangan, care prezintă analogii cu descoperirile de la Dumești, jud. Vaslui și constituie dovezi incontestabile ale prelucră