Raport arheologic: Cheia/comuna: Târgușor/județul: Constanța/punct: Vatra satului (2004)

The settlement, with a certain occupation level, is situated in the hearth of Cheia village, on a small promontory, at approx. 500 m N from Casimcea stream and 700 m NE from La Izvor Cave. At the NV edge of the settlement, in an area heavily damaged by agricultural works, a flattened tumulus can be seen. This year’s excavations focused on a burnt down house and the realization of perieghesis to identify the natural resources specific to the area - deposits of silex, limestone, lutery and Neo-Eneolithic dwellings. We continued the investigation of the unburned house LI discovered in 2002. The inventory of the house consists of flint microlites, blades, graces, nuclei, bone tips, horn, sherds. The objectives of the next campaign: - taking the sediment from the domestic area corresponding to SL I to carry out analyses of micro/macro fauna; - carrying out some prospections in the area of tumulus situated at the NV settlement to identify the cemetery. The resort at Cheia can be compared, from an archaeozoological point of view, with two other resorts Hamangia, that at Techirghiol and that at Durankulak. Thus, the large and small horns hold almost equal percentages (like NR), with a plus for cattle at Cheia and Techirghiol and with a plus for ovicaprine at Durankulak; the suines are reduced in number, even absent at Cheia; hunting plays a secondary role. The domestic pig (Sus domesticus) is absent from the faunistic spectrum of Cheia. This should not surprise us, as domestic suines are poorly represented in Hamangia settlements. An explanation would be that domestic suines are generally considered as a sign of the sedentarization degree of prehistoric populations. Other classes of animals discovered at Cheia are: Bivalvia (shells), Pisces (fish), Reptilia (reptile) and Aves Așezarea, cu un sigur nivel de locuire, este situată în vatra satului Cheia, pe un mic promontoriu, la aprox. 500 m N de pârâul Casimcea și 700 m NE de Peștera La Izvor. La marginea de NV a așezării, într-o zonă puternic afectată de lucrări agricole, se poate observa un tumul aplatizat. Cercetarea din acest an s-a concentrat asupra unei locuințe incendiate și realizarea unor periegheze pentru identificarea resurselor naturale specifice zonei – depozite de silex, calcar, lutărie și a locuirilor neo-eneolitice. S-a continuat cercetarea locuinței neincendiate LI descoperită în 2002. Inventarul locuinței consta în microlite de silex, lame, gratoare, nuclee, vârfuri de os, corn, fragmente ceramice