Raport De Cercetare Arheologică Preventivă Ocna Sibiului-Centrul Cultural, Piaţa Traian Nr. 9

Abstract Preventive archaeological excavations conducted in May 2021 at the Ocna Sibiului Cultural Center (Sibiu County, Romania) revealed structural remains of a modern-period building and evidence of repeated terrain leveling associated with the former bank of the Vișa River. Seventeen excavation units and three trenches documented brick and stone foundations, collapse layers, and complex stratigraphy reflecting multiple construction and reconstruction phases. The most significant discovery was a Middle Bronze Age occupation level attributed to the Wittenberg culture. In excavation unit C13, a prehistoric complex (CX1) consisting of burnt clay (daub) and numerous ceramic fragments was identified within a 70 cm-thick cultural deposit. The feature was recorded at depths between 1.0–1.15 m below the present surface. Additional Wittenberg pottery fragments were recovered from adjacent contexts. The excavation thus contributes both to the understanding of modern urban stratigraphy in Ocna Sibiului and to the identification of a previously undocumented Bronze Age settlement horizon in the area.