In the late eneolithic, in Oltenia and a part of Banat
there lived some communities so - called Sălcuţa. The development period of this civilization
is characterized by great emigrations, the main perambulation direction in the
respective moment going from East to
West.
The research of vestiges such
as Sălcuţa lasts for almost a century, and meanwhile some assessments for this
were elaborated both from a chronological and cultural point of view.
The main stratigraphic information originate in Sălcuţa stratigraphy. In time, these were
correlated to some data from mediums in the
neighbourhood Bulgaria
- Krivodol and Serbia - Bubanj,
coming to the conclusion of a synchronous evolution and a cultural complex
which echoes reached over the Egee
Sea.
A great period, until 1970, it was said that the evolution of this
civilization is extended on four long phases, and these one were being
paralleled to Gumelniţa civilization evolution. The research of the vestiges
from the Ostrovul Corbului, Almajel, Valea Anilor(district Mehedinti), Cerăt, Şimnic, Verbicioara(district Dolj), Drăgăneşti - Olt, Dobrosloveni, Reşca,(district
Olt) locations imposed new cultural and evolutional realities such as:
- phase IV of
Salcuta is a self - contained civilization .
- Sălcuţa culture is subsequent to Gumelniţa
culture and only within its first phase it might have been contemporaneous with
the Gumelniţa communities secluded in the hilly part of Muntenia.
- Cernavoda populations reached Sălcuţa
medium and they are contemporaneous with this one when talking about the
classic phase III. There
are plentiful materials in Ostrovul Corbului, Salcuţa, Vădastra,Valea Anilor,
Drăgăneşti - Olt.
- Sălcuţa populations used the axes made of coppes, the Jaszladany type even in the evolutional phase
III level (Reşca piece), and the metallurgy of copper was highly developed, all
the copper tools categories from that
period being well represented.
In the present moment we consider
that the end of Sălcuţa civilization should not be searched in Sălcuţa phase
III level, but in a chronological moment caught before Sălcuţa IV and after
Sălcuţa III a and Sălcuţa III b phases
of the Ostrovul Corbului. This chronological reality can be found in Sălcuţa,
Almăjel, Cerăt , Şimnic, Almăjel and Drăgăneşti - Olt locations. This was
stratigraphically found by the
scientific explorers but because of the fact that at that time Sălcuţa IV was
considered to be the end, they did not insist on this stratigraphic reality and
it was regarded as belonging to phase III.
Per ensemble, the known Sălcuţa culture silex tools and weapons are
resembling as far as to identical with the similar types found in the area of
the Gumelniţa culture.
The number of Sălcuţa locations, totaly or partialy
studied is little enough. Representative for this point of view is the location
from Piscul Cornişorului, also the informations from the other Sălcuţa
prehistoric communities: Almăjel, Cerăt, Şiminic, Ostrovul Corbului, Curmătura,
Cuptoare ,, Sfogea ,, Slatina - Timiş.
