Raport arheologic: Vaslui/comuna: mun. Vaslui/județul: Vaslui/punct: Curțile Domnești (2004)

The archaeological excavations at the Princely Courts in Vaslui were resumed, as well known, in 1998 by the Iasi Institute of Archaeology and Târgoviște UV . The main aim of these resumed excavations was setting out the general stratigraphy along the N-S and E-W axes, as well as uncovering the possible architectural vestiges that were preserved within the mediaeval archaeological site of The Princely Courts in Vaslui. The site can be dated back to the 14th - 17th centuries and constitutes a representative monument of the Princely institution in the land, together with the Court Church ("St. John the Baptist" Church close by). During these excavations, we were able to corroborate the hypothesis previously issued that the cemetery developed around the present "St. John the Baptist" Church in Vaslui is a late cemetery that emerged after the last moment the Princely Court itself functioned and dates to the second half of the 16th century, as well as the hypothesis that the sizes of the Vaslui princely residence itself were rather large. However, the most relevant results of the excavations currently conducted were the uncovering of other walls that came from several aboveground constructions, and once formed the annexes of a possible large hall within the Princely Court. During the 2004 excavation campaign we uncovered a series of sherds from the 14th - 17th and especially from the 18th - 19th centuries, coming from household artifacts (pots, bowls, plates, gutter tiles, etc.), but also masonry fragments from the construction, reconstruction and restoration phases of the buildings within the Princely Court of yore. Meanwhile, also during the current excavations we found 22 coins dating to two different phases: the first coin dates to the 16th century and was issued by Ferdinand of Habsburg, while the others are small Ottoman coins from the 19th century. Cercetările arheologice de la Curțile Domnești din Vaslui au fost reluate, așa cum bine se știe, încă din 1998 de IA Iași și UV Târgoviște. Scopul principal al acestor cercetări arheologice, reîncepute a fost acela de a stabili stratigrafia generală de pe axele N-S și E-V, în paralel cu activitatea de descoperire a eventualelor vestigii arhitectonice, care s-au mai păstrat în cadrul sitului arheologic medieval Curțile Domnești din Vaslui. Situl este databil între sec. XIV-XVII și constituie un monument de reprezentativitate a instituției Domniei în teritoriu, la care se adaugă și Biserica de Curte (biserica "Sf