The Coțofeni culture (), also known as the Baden-Coțofeni culture, and generally associated with the Usatove culture, was an Early Bronze Age archaeological culture that existed between 3500 and 2500 BC in the mid-Danube area of south-eastern Central Europe.
The first report of a Coțofeni find was made by Fr. SchusterFr. W. Schuster, 1867, Ueber alte Begräbnißstätten bei Mühlbach, în Programm des evangelischen Untergymnasiums zu Mühlbach und die damit verbundenen Lehranstalten Mühlbachs, 1866-1867, p. 3-16. in 1865 from the Râpa Roșie site in Sebeș (present-day Alba County, Romania). Since then, this culture has been studied by a number of people to varying degrees. Some of the more prominent contributors to the study of this culture include C. Gooss, K. Benkő, B. Orbán, G. Téglas, K. Herepey, S. Fenichel, Julius Teutsch, Cezar Bolliac, V. Christescu, Teohari Antonescu, and Cristian Popa.
Geographic area The Coțofeni culture area can be seen from two perspectives, as a fluctuation zone, or in its maximum area of extent. This covers present day Maramureș, some areas in Sătmar, the mountainous and hilly areas of Crișana, Transylvania,H. Ciugudean, 1996, Perioada timpurie a epocii bronzului în centrul și sud-vestul Transilvaniei, Bibliotheca Thracologica, XIII, Bucharest, 1996.Z. Kalmar, 1983, Descoperiri Coțofeni în bazinul someșan (Someșuri, Crasna, Almaș), in ActaMP, VII, 1983, p. 61-68. Banat,H. Ciugudean, 2000, Eneoliticul final în Transilvania și Banat: cultura Coțofeni, Bibliotheca Historica et Archaeologica Banatica, Timișoara, 2000. Oltenia,D. Berciu, 1939, Arheologia preistorică a Olteniei, Craiova, 1939. Muntenia (not including the North-East), and across the Danube in present-day eastern Serbia and northwestern Bulgaria.S. Alexandrov, 1990, Cultura Coțofeni în Bulgaria (Doctoral thesis, advisor. D. Berciu), Bucharest, 1990 (mss.).
Chronology
Absolute chronology
Bronze Age in Romania Unfortunately, most of the Coțofeni culture chronology is based on just three samples collected at three different Coțofeni sites. Based on these radiocarbon dates, this culture can be placed between roughly 3500 and 2500 BC.P. Raczky, 1995, New data on the absolute chronology of the Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin, în Neure Daten zur Siedlungsgeschichte und Chronologie der Kupferzeit des Karpatenbeckens, Inventaria Praehistorica Hungarie, Budapest, 1995, p. 51-60.
Relative chronology Cultural synchronisms have been established based on mutual trade relations (visible as imported items) as well as stratigraphic observations. There is an evident synchronicity between:
Coțofeni I - Cernavoda III - Baden A - Spherical Amphorae;
Coțofeni II - Baden B-C Kostolac;P. I. Roman, 1977, Noțiunea de "cultura Kostolac", in SCIVA, 28, 1977, 3, p. 419-429.P. I. Roman, 1980, Der "Kostolac-Kultur"-Begriff nach 35 Jahren, in PZ, 55, 1980, 2, p. 220-227.
Coțofeni III - Kostolac-Vučedol A-B.
Relations with contemporary neighbouring cultures
During the evolution of the Coțofeni culture, there were clearly relationships with other neighbouring cultures. The influence between the Coțofeni and their neighbours the Baden, Kostolac,D. Nikolić, 2000, Kostolačka kultura na teritoriji Srbje, Centre for Archaeological Research, 19, Beograd, 2000. Vučedol, Globular Amphora culture as well as the Ochre Burial populations was reciprocal. The areas bordering these cultures show cultural traits that have mixed aspects, for example Coțofeni-BadenI. Emödi, 1984, Descoperiri ale culturilor Coțofeni și Baden în peșterile Igrița și Izbândiș, in ActaMN, XXI, 1984, p. 405-431.S. Morintz, P. Roman, 1973, Über die Übergangsperiode vom Äneolithikum zur Bronzezeit in Rumänien, in Symposium Badener Kultur, Bratislava, 1973, p.259-295. and Coțofeni-Kostolac finds. These finds of mixed aspects suggest a cohabitation between related populations.P. I. Roman, 1982, Constituirea noilor grupe etnoculturale de la începutul epocii bronzului, in Carpica, XIV, 1982, p. 39-49. It also supports the idea of well established trade between cultures.
Gallery
See also Bronze Age in Romania Yamnaya culture Basarabi culture Otomani culture Pecica culture Wietenberg culture Prehistory of Transylvania Prehistoric Romania
Notes
References J. P. Mallory, "Usatavo Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. External links