For the period of time between the second half of the 12th century BC and the beginning of the 8th century BC in the area of the Tisza and Dniester about 140 fortresses were attested. Most of them (121) are concentrated in the area of Gáva-Holihrady culture and the rest ones, less numerous, are known in the cultures of Vârtop, Chişinău-Corlăteni, Babadag, Cozia-Saharna, and Insula Banului. To fortify these cities different defensive elements were used, such as ditch, palisade, “wall” of wood and earth, stone “wall”, etc. This article is devoted to the analysis and classification of stone walls, which had a narrower spread in the Early Hallstatt time. So far such defensive constructions were certified only in the area of cultures of Gáva-Holihrady (on 16 sites) and Vârtop (on 2 sites). Depending on the technique of building, stone walls can be divided into two types: I – with one casing (Bodoc „Vârful Comorii”, Lesivka, Şeica Mică „Cetate”, etc.); II – with two/three casings (Călineşti Oaş „Dealul Hurca”, Shelestovo „Tupcha”, etc.). Similar stone walls belonging to the same period have been discovered in several fortifications in the neighboring regions, especially in the cultures of Kyjatice, Lausitzer, Urnenfeld, etc.
Keywords: area of the Tisza and Dniester, Early Hallstatt, fortifications, stone wall.
Revista Arheologică, serie nouă, vol. XI, nr. 1-2, 2015, p. 68-81