Cercetări Arheologice Preventive La Șura Mare – Str. Atelierului F.N. Campania 2023 – Suprafața 10

Abstract The preventive excavation at Șura Mare (Atelierului Street), in the Hamba Valley terrace near DN14 (Sibiu–Mediaș), aimed to assess the archaeological stratigraphy affected by planned residential development and an access road. The investigated area (c. 1,100 m²; ca. 200 m long) was divided into 26 squares (7×7 m and 6×6 m), excavated by mechanical stripping of overburden followed by manual investigation of features. Despite difficult weather conditions, the work documented a relatively simple stratigraphy across most of the surface: topsoil, a sterile dark humus layer, a Roman occupation horizon frequently mixing with earlier material, and an underlying prehistoric cultural layer, both reaching down to yellow sandy clay subsoil. The excavation confirmed a multi-period occupation of the zone and refined the local archaeological map by correlating the new surface (S10) with earlier discoveries in the Atelierului neighborhood. Results indicate a prehistoric component dominated by pottery from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (including Noua and Basarabi/Hallstatt-related material), overlain and locally disturbed by Roman-period activity dated broadly to the 2nd–3rd centuries AD. The Roman horizon often reworked prehistoric deposits, producing mixed assemblages. Nine complexes were recorded: a Roman dwelling (CX1), a substantial prehistoric ash deposit/feature interpreted as an ash-pit or ash-rich complex (CX2) with associated vessels, charcoal, burnt clay and small finds (including a hairpin and a fibula), several clay-extraction pits (CX3–CX8), and a sinuous modern disturbance interpreted as a utility trench (CX9). Overall, the evidence supports sustained and spatially variable use of the terrace, with significant anthropogenic disturbance during the Roman phase and better-preserved prehistoric deposits concentrated around CX2.