The Early Neolithic Settlement of Movila lui Deciov in Romanian Banat

Abstract Since 2018, excavation work at the well-known site of Movila lui Deciov has been resumed by an international excavation team from the University of Tübingen together with the National Museum of Banat in Timişoara. The site was discovered at the beginning of the 20 th century by Kisléghi Nagy Gyula, who also carried out the first excavations. Further excavations were undertaken between 2001 and 2004 by Banat Museum in Timișoara and a team from the University of Calgary, Canada. The Early Neolithic settlement is delimited by a circular ditch, which was made visible by geophysical measurements and confirmed by sounding excavations. So far, three successive Early Neolithic settlement horizons from the beginning of the 6 th millennium BCE could be proven. The archaeological finds from the Movila lui Deciov provide a good insight into the specific character of the oldest Neolithic in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin. A large series of radiocarbon dates makes it possible to reconstruct the settlement sequence chronology at this site particularly well. The micromorphological analyses and evaluation of the bioarchaeological remains allow us to understand in detail the adaptation of the Neolithic immigrants to the natural conditions. In addition to the usual domestic animals like sheep, goat and cattle as well as cultivated plants such as emmer, einkorn and legumes, hunting, fishing and the gathering of wild plants still played significant role in the diet of the Early Neolithic settlers.